Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints CZ 527 in 221 Fireball?

Does anyone know if these are still in production?

Looks like it....527 American

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-527-american/

I saw it listed on their webpage, but not in stock anywhere.

They'd sell a heck of a lot more rifles if it didn't have that gay magazine hanging down where you need to be packing it.

I have one -about as fine a little walking varminter ever made.
Shoots anything I've run through it 40gr vmax/nbt up through 55gr blitzkings shoots 45gr barnes tsx great too.
All with AA1680 powder .
Great calling rifle with heavy bullets -55gr blitzkings drop coyotes where they stand.

True that^

Course that can be fixed pretty easily.

They make a limited run every year. I know mine LOVES Re-7, 205M primers and shoots like it has eyes of it's own. Prairie dogs don't know it's not a .223, either. They still go POP!! and land in pieces.
Mine is my favorite rifle. I took it out of the box, cleaned the bore, mounted a scope, and shot groups under a .5" with my handloads, and right at .5" with factory ammo. No bedding, no tinkering, no nothing, just loaded and shot it.
A buddy of mine who was shooting a custom rifle in .221 gave me some data that works, 18.5 Reloader Seven powder, and any bullet up to, and including 52gr. Sierra HPs all shoot under a half-inch.
I tried some Lil Gun, and had issues with it. 1680 was nice, but not as good as Reloader 7. I wasn't looking at speeds, just nice little groups.
I have other rifles for "fast" anyway.

18.7 grains RL7, benchrest primers, 40 gr Ballistic tips.

Well, I talked with CZ. They confirmed that they only make special runs of them. Currently, they're waiting till 2015 for the next run.

Tackdriver22250: Another way to go for a 221 Remington Fireball would be to look for a Remington 700 Classic in this caliber.
I see them offered for sale every once in a while online and now and then at gunshows.
Some advantages with the Remington 700 Classics in this caliber are:
NO hangdown magazine!
NO assbackwards safety!
They hold their values extremely well!
And they are quite accurate.
They are handsome and reliable Rifles.
My Remington 700 Classic in 221 Remington Fireball is surprisingly accurate for a sporter style Rifle.
And this warning - I assume you are going to be Hunting with your 221 Fireball if you get one.
A "turd" here on this thread mentions the use of the Sierra 52 grain bullets in the 221 Fireball - I heartily recommend you DO NOT USE the Sierra 52 grain bullets for Varmint Hunting!
These bullets are about as hard as nails and are highly prone to ricocheting across the landscape even after passing through a Varmint/predator.
I quit using these bullets for Varmint Hunting of any style long ago.
I also refuse to Hunt with anyone that uses these bullets in the field - because of the significant safety concerns.
Sierra also recommends use of "other" bullets for Varminting - these are bullets designed and produced FOR target type useages and designed not to expand.
Yeah you can kill a Varmint with them but you can also kill something you don't want killed far beyond said Varmint.
This warning also - beware of people who classify themselves as turds, because they so very often, are!
I also own a Kimber of Oregon Ultra-Varmint Rifle in caliber 221 Remington Fireball - this Rifle is so accurate its scarey.
I use Nosler 40 Ballistic Tips in this Rifle.
I highly recommend the caliber and the use of "highly frangible" bullets when Hunting with it.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

well said varmintguy. I have built 2 fb on cz action and they both were nice little packages. like you the mag is kinda ugly..i have one in 22 hornet and like it for what it is.
the first fb I built for my hunting partner and I shortened a shot out savage barrel ( from the chamber end) and threaded it for the cz cheap and easy.. shot 3/8 at 300 ....amazing..

I'm just not a fan of the Remington barrels. I've had BDL's and Classics in the past, and they fouled so badly compared to other brands that I've written them off completely.

I do have a spare Savage short action I could build on, but I think the CZ would be a lighter package.

I've found Remington barrels to be highly variable in how much they foul--but haven't found one yet that wouldn't stop fouling with $5 worth of Dyna Bore Coat. My .221 Fireball Remington 700 Classic didn't foul much when I bought it used a few years ago, but now will go several hundred rounds without cleaning and still shoot the same size groups, thanks to DBC.

In about 2003 or 2004 I bought a 700, .221 in Remington's laminated stock. I've read that only 200 were made? It may be my most accurate rifle and on one occasion it put TEN Berger 40 gr. hp's in 0.55". If you don't like the "hangy down thing" look for a 700 in some form or another.

Big fan of both the 700 and the Fireball here but I'll take the CZ action over the 700 every time for that short little cartridge.

JMO,,, fire at will.

PS,,,, Try 40gr V-Max in front of 19gr Reloader 7. Haven't seen a 221 that didn't like that load yet.

I've yet to see a Remmy barrel that accuracy wasn't acceptable but like you, I've seen some of the older ones that were hit and miss as far as fouling went.
Have to say though, I used a cheap SPS 223 barrel on a 222 build a couple of years ago that cleans up almost as well as my P-N's.
Might have been luck, or just maybe they've improved their barrels.
One thing's sure though. It's dam sure accurate after tinkering with both ends.

From my brief search I've seen a trend with the 700 classics that they had some bad chambers. Which would explain the one I found with the set back barrel. I did find another that's NIB, but I don't want to pay that money to find out it's got one of the bad chambers. I see the LSS model seemed to have the problems ironed out, but they're even harder to find.

I think I'll either wait out the new production CZ's or keep my eye open in the forums and auction sites.

I have a CZ-527 American in .223, and like others have mentioned, it is tack driver and as handy as a little .22 rimfire. It amazed me that such a light little gun could shoot under a half-inch consistently and often closer to 1/4 inch. More than 5 shots and the barrel gets warm, though. To me, it is a completely different gun than a 700 and used for different purposes as far as my use goes. The mag is unhandy, but my CZ is light enough that I have lots of options for carrying it.

I had a CZ. Dandy little rifle, but sold it for a Cooper with more barrel; wish CZ would bring the .221out in their Varmint version. Also snagged a new Remington LVSF that was gathering dust at a LGS; seems Rem. and the dealers almost had to eat the big run of .221 LVs they made a few years back, but now they're scarce as hens' teeth on the open market....

The bad thing about a 700 action and the Fireballs, are that they require different bolts. The Fireball-specific guns have the ejector moved to another location for more positive results, and the blocked magazines, of course.