a year after its announcement still no rifles on the shelves. a recall that has meant the guns out there have to be sent back. The barrel change ability is eliminated by the recall negating a significant reason to buy one. It reminds me of when Winchester stopped making the model 70 for a while. despite bringing them back they have never gained the market they once had. CZ 527 canceled, so CZ has no bolt actions to sell. With the saturation of the bolt gun market these days. I have to wonder how much money is even out there for CZ to profit by even offering a bolt gun to begin with. I wonder at this rate if they should just say F it and concentrate on handguns

I agree it has been a debacle, huge mistake to abandon the 527. I don't feel too bad for CZ though they are selling all the Python's,Anaconda's and CzechMate pistols they can manufacture.
I think the only rifles they can even sell are rimfire 457's

They started screwing up when they stopped making the standard caliber 550's IMHO

Dunno what's going on with CZ-USA these days. Used to have pretty good contact them, but have not for maybe 3 years.

However, am very glad to still have my remaining 550s and 527s....

John,

Is the lady that had been running the show still running the show? She was doing great things IMO.

Ed,

I don't know--partly because I haven't attended any of the big "winter shows" like SHOT or SCI for a while--because I have also been deliberately "semi-retiring" for several years.

Partly this was because I was learning less and less by going to the shows--because of the increasing turn-over among the people at various companies. When I started going to SHOT in 1988, the same people often worked for the same company for not just years but decades. But after around 2000, they tended to last only 2-4 years at most before moving to another company. I suspect this is partly because "electronic communications" have made it far easier for people to switch jobs, since they don't have to physically move, as they did before.

oh here is another problem, I have a couple crappy magazines for the 527 and they have quit selling them in 221FB they also don't have other parts for the 221,17 hornests 222's etc. namely bottom metal. like I alluded to. I have to wonder how much money they are making on bolt guns anyways. They probably don't place too high of priority on them. I feel like its hard to compete with all the bolt guns that are already out there on the used market. I don't see myself buying another bolt gun, at least I have no plans to, subject to change. but many of the ones I have don't get shot that much. its just the varmint related rigs that see much action.

I've had my hands on a 600. and personally it was felt pretty impressive though I'd never fired it to really know for sure I know there was an early recall for something that I can't remember now but if they can't get product to market that is a problem

I feel like its hard to compete with all the bolt guns that are already out there on the used market.

That's a big part of the problem. Today there are millions of used bolt-action rifles out there, many of which are very "affordable," and a bunch of new ones that can be even more affordable as well, and very accurate. These not just rifles like the Ruger American, but European brands such as Tikka, and even Sauer and Mauser--which are both part of the

Where is the marketing niche for bolt-action rifles these days?

Here is the way I see it.
Remember those old cars you wished you had not sold?
Todays buyers are not interested in what we oldtimers are.
Old muscle cars are not being produced today like yesterday (emissions/etc.)
Appreciate what ya got, cause it is getting rarer!

I handled a couple before they announced the recall, and at least one is still in that store, last time I was there anyway. Makes me wonder if the recall was announced after they began shipping the glued specimens. That one is a Lux, and it seems nicely made, however it is a bit “Euro” for American tastes I suspect. Without the switch feature, I don’t find anything very compelling about it, except that it has some nice irons.

Another recent casualty I find puzzling is the Kadet2 .22 conversion for the 75-series pistols. I have one, and it’s a finely-made unit, and a real bargain IMO for such quality. I’ve also noticed that many parts in their online store are seemingly perennially unavailable, particularly for the 457 rifles. Gotta wonder just how serious they are about the U.S. market. Perhaps, like some U.S. companies, they have military or government contracts that are getting the bulk of their attention.

I would guess buying and revamping Colt is taking a lot of their time and money.

I've been trying like hell to find a 600 LUX in .223 for months...no joy.

Miller Hardware in Stephens City, VA had one a few weeks ago. Don’t know if they ship.

Yup, that's my opinion, too. And I believe that Ruger is finding their Marlin resuscitation project much more difficult than they imagined during these times of global material, parts and worker shortages.

heck even the type of bolt action rifles for sale these days seem somewhat disposable. gone are the days of deep blue polished actions and walnut stocks. I personally still prefer a rifle like that over the stainless and plastic that is out there these days. Does ruger even sell the m77 mk2 anymore? the later ones seemed excessively bead blasted. I guess winchester still makes the model 70 in deep polish blue and walnut, but you don't see them on shelves much anymore.

I have the 223 lux. like all the features, shoots great, looking for a 30-06 to come out. not a great fan of the Bavarian stock, but it is walnut and not plastic. handles CFE 223 and 55 gr TTSX and sierra # 1365 real well. to me it is as a hunting rifle should be, walnut, blue, and good open sights, (not that my old eyes can us"em). and the price of $800 or so cant be beat for all the features.

The Lux I handled was also a .223, and I can’t deny it tempted me somewhat. However I was already aware that it had a 1-9” twist, the same as a perfectly good Hawkeye I had sitting at home, and its weight was right up there as well. The only real reason for me to jump on it was the ability to swap barrels, at that time still theoretically possible, if not actually so due to a lack of parts. I passed, deciding to wait and see, and when the recall was announced shortly after, I was glad that for once I’d thought with “the right head” so to speak.

That same store also had an Alpha in 6.5 You Know What, but I didn’t look at it. I did check out one in .300 Win not long after elsewhere, but I don’t have much use for something in that configuration, and again without the cartridge-swapping feature, the appeal isn’t there for me as compared to other stuff. The Trail model has some possibilities, but they were slow to appear, and I see no magazines available for them at present, a serious omission.

The 550 series is a pretty tough act to follow. CZ made the same mistake as Winchester did in 1964. It will cost them as it did Winchester.

Kind of like this ol' 375 H&H BRNO.

Maybe, but they did it for the same reason Winchester did. The 550 much like the Model 70 was time consuming to manufacture. Both being based off of the 1898 Mauser action. There is a whole mess of machining and hand fitting to make them right. All of that time costs a lot of money. Making the rifle right takes time. Realities of the marketplace. I love the 550s I have 4 of them (6.5x55, 270, 30-06, 375 H&H) but they were starting to get expensive. The real loss at least IMO, was that they stopped making the 550 Safari. Zastava Arms US still makes a 98 style action that is blued with a walnut stock. Time will tell if it takes off among us loonies or not.

Just my observation but it appears the gun market in general is flooded. The gun "scares" of the Clinton years both hillary and Bill (throw in Barak and Joe) in effect forced folks to buy rifles whether they needed one or not. The simple thinking was I better get one just in case. Then it just sets in a corner or a closet with few places to use it and even fewer places to hunt with it.

I'd like to do some trading but I have mostly AR's. No one wants to give me anything close to what I have in them which means I don't want to complete a trade if I'm going to lose my shirt on the deal. I will just keep the AR and maybe swap the upper for a different caliber. Any future gun buys will be scrutinized greatly before moving ahead. Throw in fewer hunters and available locations to hunt or shoot and this seems to affect demand. It's too bad about CZ not building bolt actions. I have always heard their rifles are tier one.

kwg

Another observation: it would appear to my jaundiced eye that CZ is maximizing the old "form follows function" ideal, and while it may make for a good lively rifle it doesn't fit my sense of aesthetics, so the chances of my ever buying one is slim to none. I know the gun companies aren't waiting with bated breath for my pronouncement, haha, but I'll bet I'm not alone in that sentiment. Probably a moot point as folks like me are starting to age out and it won't matter anyway.

"Life is too short to mess with an ugly gun."

I always thought the 550 series were huge and clunky. Would make a great safari rifle. But a 243 or 3006 umm no

That's what I'm talkin about!!

Meant EdMs fine Brno!!

I bought one (.223) cause I liked the way it handled - glad I did because it is a phenomenal shooter. I worked up a load with 65 grain Sierra GKs and it’ll keep five under 1/2” consistently. Not wild about some of the synthetic parts but other than that seems like a nice rifle. CZ keeps sending me certified letters saying they’d like it back to glue the barrel in…….I won’t be sending it back and may make a few barrels of my own to interchange?

Nothing special about it really though but am very happy with the accuracy.

PennDog

Why did they eliminate the "switch barrel" capability? I remember being quite intrigued by the option and was waiting to put eyes on one in person. I have never seen a 600 and now I read it cannot swap barrels. That is a deal breaker for me.

If the barrel, after inserted into the receiver, was not tightened properly it could move forward creating excessive headspace and potentially allowing the case to rupture (as explained in the certified letters I have received).

PennDog

Apparently they discovered that it was possible for them to be assembled in such a way that something bad could happen, resulting in them getting their ass sued off. Maybe that actually happened, maybe not. One would think they’d have figured that out before they started selling them, but that applies to a lot of stuff. If they would make it possible to send them in for the swap, that might salvage some enthusiasm, but that’s not gonna happen here I guess. Looks like all I’ll be buying from them in the future is possibly more magazines, or possibly nothing at all since I have plenty of those already.

Some rumors online claim that it is the opposite. CZ fans complaining that Colt leadership is taking charge of CZ. And citing Colt's history of problems. I have no idea if that is true or not, but you might find discussions online or on social media.

As opposed to reason as that sounds, my company “absorbed” a few other telecoms over the years and seemed to adopt stuff from them that, in my mind anyway, diminished our performance, in particular the quality of service we provided. If their practices were so damn great, why were we able to buy them up, instead of the other way around?

No matter now, as long as those pension checks keep rolling in…………..🤑

I’m no engineer, but even I can dream up a way to keep that from happening. However this ends up, I’m no longer interested, having moved on to something else.

Another thing I found annoying is that they put a fast twist on the Trail .223 and a 1-9” on the Lux. WTF is with that?

I think it will turn out fine. Just recommended it as an option to my coworker recently... he wanted CRF. I didn't know about the barrel interchangeability they somewhat botched but overall it looks like a nice rifle for the price. So glad I bought a 527 Rustic in 6.5 Grendel. That sucker is heavy but sweeeeet.

Ok I finally saw one!! It was a 223 trail model. The plastic comb hits my cheek in the wrong spot. And appears non adjustable. The safety is sorta obscured. The bolt wasn’t that smooth. Totally not impressed. Part of that is the tacticool for. Factor which is rediculous. Bring back the 527 please,!

Finally saw a cz 600 alpha in 223 at a store this week. I thought the bolt was ruff and you also have to pull the bolt against spring tension rearward to make the plunger ejector work. I saw a cz 600 trail and thought it was ruff and not very sleek feeling. With what’s out there cz laid an egg with these. Honestly if I want a super short action. I get a Howa mini.

Let’s remember years ago cz screwed up their stock order with hs precision and bought the stocks with a 12” lop. Cz just sold them anyways.

This is a company that confuses me
Moments of Genius and awesome quality

and moments of stupidity

Hank

One thing that has happened in many, if not most, industries is people move on (as MD mentioned with CZ).
When we were young people planned to go to a company to stay their entire working life. Now it’s just, “I’ll work there until I find something better”. Having long term employees meant (often meant that is) having pride in what the company was producing and working not only for one’s self, but also for the good of the company.
The companies are partly to blame for this change along with the high cost of retirement plans.
Now employees put money into 401K’s. There is no retirement plans any more except for the muckity mucks.
My kids have worked for more companies than I have. My step son might be working for three different places in one year.
I think this change started in the ‘90’s with the abandoning of retirement plans. A second reason, is older employees cost more than new ones, why keep a tired 60 year old when a 30 year old is available at 50% to 75% of the cost?

For employees changing jobs is easier than buying a new pickup or maybe as easy as buying a new suit.

CZ screwed up by getting rid of the 550s. Those are great rifles

Since this thread started I found a 600 LUX in .223

Safe to say I am not disappointed in it in the least.

I bought a Range model in 6 creed. I like it. Feed and function is good . 1-7 twist is good. Shoots good. The laminate stock is nice. Trigger is good. The only thing I don’t like is the cut out in the bottom of the stock where it would normally ride on a bag. Never had a stock with this and now I know. Edk

I have seen several CZ600's on the shelf at Red's Trading Post. I think there is one in stock currently.

Is the action "ruff," as cummins cowboy claims to have found?

That might have been true in the 60's, but with modern CNC machines not so much.

The 550 series wasn’t the answer. Those guns are huge and heavy. The actions are clunky and should be for safari cartridges only. They were never going to compete with modern rifles. The truth is how many bolt actions are needed? All new rifles must compete with old ones

give me a few opinion on rifles is like your opinion on optics I will take this as a not valid..

I see the shelves are full of bolt guns and there are plenty to be had at the gun shows. Gee, if only if there were gun smiths who could take them bolt guns and change barrels and maybe put on fixed sights or scope mounts to personalize them. I guess this is part of that "no more shop classes in high school" thing Mike Rowe talks about. CZ at one time had a stellar reputation for building great bolt guns. Sad to see it go.

kwg

Totally agree!

I got a 600 223 for a truck gun. It shoots great. There was a recall and I sent it off, got it back in a week or 2. Great factory trigger and accurate. I don't regret buying it.

My action is very smooth. No complaints on the function or shooting at all. Edk

Ruff is relative I guess. Compared to a tikka or a 527 with close to 2000 rounds through it.