cz rifles

[Randall]

any body have any experience with the cz .22's? The 452's with walnut stocks are mighty purdy.
Randall

[bratch]

I want one. I have heard nothing but good things.

[bfoster]

Randall,

I'm a lefty. A few years ago I sold almost all of my right handed bolt action rifles- one of the few right handed bolt actions I retained is an old ZKM 452 which is close to the same thing as the CZ 452's you're looking at.

The rimfire CZ rifles almost all shoot very well, and I speak as a bench rest competitor. In general, it takes a very heavy rifle like an Anschütz 1913, a Springfield 1922 M II, or a "bull barreled" Winchester M52 to outgroup a CZ 452, and they'll not do so by a great deal.

The factory trigger is easily improved by a competent 'smith. The only negative is that the safety (at least used to) operate "backwards".

If you're as much a hunter as a target shot you'll appreciate the lightness of this rifle, particularly if you equip it with a 'scope of modest physical size.

Bob

[Greengiant]

I want one. I have heard nothing but good things.
+1 Im thinking 17 hm2 or 22lr or 22 mag cant decide

[OK CTU]

I have a co-worker that has the .17 and swears by it. He is a firearms instructor and says that in his opinion that the CZ rifles are some of the most accurate out of the box currently offered.

[Randall]

Bfoster, you are right about the rifles, I shot my new 452 American .22 lr sunday the first time. 25mph wind and I still got a .25" 5 shot group with some old PMC zappers. Most ran between .25 and .75"with different ammo.Trigger is heavy so I cut 1.5 coils off the trigger spring. Trigger was a lot smoother after shooting it. I have a Suhl 150 that shoots .2's and some .1's so the cz is not far behind. One heck of a rifle for the money. Randall

[bratch]

Randall,

Quit saying stuff like that or you'll have me spending more money.

[Randall]

Bratch, I believe that was some of the best shooting money I've spent.
Randall

[bratch]

My next few purchase will include a SW 642, a CZ452, and a 1911 .22 of some form. I'm planning on picking up the 22s for some serious trigger time without breaking the bank.

[bfoster]

Randall,

In "reasonably" priced ammunition, many, but not all, of the CZ 452's shoot Federal #712 38 grain copper plated HP's quite well. It might be worth your while to pick up a box or two as you check out your rifle's preferences.

Rim thickness sorting usually does improve (the already good) grouping with this ammunition.

In higher dollar ammunition you might try some of the Wolf match ammunition (there are three grades available); this isn't the steel cased Russian stuff of variable quality that was sold under this label years back. Wolf has a "deal" with Lapua/VihtaVouri: the rimfire ammunition sold under this marque is currently loaded in Germany, it is a real value.

Of course you mayn't be able to resist running a few rounds of Tenex or Midas through your CZ, I don't suspect you'll be disappointed...

Bob

[Randall]

Bfoster, is the federal 712 the bulk pack from walmart? they shoot very good in auto pistols.
Randall

[bfoster]

The 712 appears to be similar to the bulk pack ammunition. However, in my experience, it has more consistent rim thickness- a plus in some rifles.

Bob

[1shott]

For some very good .22 ammo, try CCI Green Tag, compitition ammo, expensive, about $10 per 100, but dang good ammo.

[Scope]

Stepping in to sing the 452's praises. I picked up one of the 452 LUX .22lr rifles before they stopped producing them in large numbers. I managed to get all the goodies like the Walnut stock (the current ones are beech) and the like for only $200 new. Man, this thing shoots like a dream. I've actually done a lot of work on it too, using it as a project rifle and building it up to be a suppressed rifle.

Sorry for the crappy pics, old camera.
Started out as:
http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/cz452small.jpg
At this point, I had already shaved most of the rear sight base off so the scope would fit on the rifle, but everything else was stock.

http://www.scopesux.com/images/100yds.jpg
I managed to shoot this at 100 yds with CCI subsonics, but on a totally windless day.

While out at gunsmithing school, I decided to cut the barrel down and thread it for a suppressor, so I took the barrel down to 17 1/4 inches, and threaded 1/2x28 threads.
http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/czthreads.jpg
AFTER cutting the barrel down, I learned that the last few inches of the barrel are actually "choked", getting tighter right before the muzzle. I lost a little 100 yds accuracy, but the rifle will still make sub-inch groups at 50 yds.

I also did trigger work to it, bedded the action and freefloated the barrel, refinished the entire gun in DuraCoat matte black, and filled in the lettering on the reciever with silver fill-in paint.
http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/czleft.jpg

Using an AR flashhider to protect the threads, but it seems to tighten my groups slightly. I imagine it's deadening a bit of vibration.
Linked for size: http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/czflash.jpg

As for best ammo, I find that CCI Subsonics work the best for me out of the many I've tried. It's a tight fit with the thicker rim, but it sure does shoot great. I'll tell anyone who will listen that the CZ-452 is an excellent rifle, especially for the price. It's definately hard to beat this gun.

[Randall]

Scope, that looks like a pretty decent 100 yd group. what's it measure?
Randall

[Scope]

Scope, that looks like a pretty decent 100 yd group. what's it measure?
Randall

I can't find the target laying around to measure it, but the 10 ring is an inch across. The group is definately sub-inch.

A few pics of the rifle with my suppressor on it. Sexy pics linked for size:

http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/suppside.jpg
http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/suppclose.jpg
http://www.scopesux.com/images/guns/suppfront.jpg

[Joe458Win]

I've got a pair of CZs... a .375 H&H and a .416 Rigby. (If you have to ask what they're for, you wouldn't understand) but they are excellent devices. First rate fit & finish, but the actions are rough, sticky. No less an authority than Col. Craig Boddington warns of this, but I didn't listen to him. Had a .30-'06 CZ that was butter smooth. Anybody else run into rough CZs?

[Randall]

my .22 was rough at first but is smoothing out with use.