New to the CZ rimfires

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Gary W. Strange

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I bought a new CZ 455 American on line a few weeks back on close out, from an on line dealer. I have many, many firearms of all makes and calibers. I have more .22’s than any, simi-auto pistols, revolvers, double and single action, pump, lever and simi-auto rifles. A new Browning t-bolt, which left a bit to be desired in a bolt action .22. I also have one of the Weatherby mark xxii bolt actions, that came out some years back in .17 hmr. I love the Little Weatherby but looking back, I wish I had got it in .22 long rifle. Out of all the guns I have, a true, finely made .22 bolt action alluded me. I have thought about buying one of the Kimber’s or some of the nice German .22 bolt guns, but never did. I ordered this CZ expecting something just a little more than a Marlin. Wow, was I surprised. I took this gun out of the box and was blown away by it’s looks. It is well fitted, finished with very nice bluing and the wood is great, just enough grain and figure to make it what I would call simi-fancy walnut. I put a Bushnell elite 4200 on it in Waren rings and took it to the range. I could not get my .22 guide rod in my bore sighter in the barrel. I have never seen that happen on any .22 I own or the many I have used it on for others. It has a very tight bore and I bet the chamber is likewise tight. I got it sighted in and got several small nickel to quarter size groups. I got home and cleaned it and started reading about CZs and found little bad written about them. On looking it over, I seen the trigger guard was just stamped, sand blasted steel, at least it was steel. I found a nice milled and nicely blued one on line from a company in Oklahoma, and also ordered a Timmey trigger for it. With just these two additional things added. I will finely have my fine high end bolt action .22, for way less than what I ever expected. Just what time I have spent with this gun. I can say CZ rimfires are a whole lot better gun than what the price suggest. I know people will say there are more accurate and better .22s but for what they cost and what you get is a lot. I am not looking for it to be a one hole target gun, just one that will shoot small groups and give consistent minute of squirrel or crow groups. What experience has others had with CZ rimfires? What is weak about them? What is strong? Anything that one should be aware of out of them?
 
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Possibilities, 10 shot, 50 meter group from a rimfire challange. CZ 452 Varmint. Front bag only
 
CZ 452's are great. I finally gave up trying to talk my buddy into selling his and got a new CZ 455 in January 2017. But the 455 turned out to be great also. Hearing a lot of good stuff about the new 457 but so far I haven't even seen one in person. Seems to me that CZ makes a heckuva good rimfire rifle. Can't think of any bad points on my 455, and the good point is that it really shoots.
 
We have tribal matches were we shoot thumb tacks at 50yards. The CZ, for me, rules. My 452 is with tangent rear sight. Currently, it has a 4-12 Bushnell scope. Rifle looks right to me with Schnabel forearm and plain wood. Happy camper here.
 
It keeps going....I am another CZ fanboi they are fantastic....try a center fire...love my 527 as well
 
fpgt72 said:
It keeps going....I am another CZ fanboi they are fantastic....try a center fire...love my 527 as well
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I am looking at a 557America in 6.5 Swiss. I never knew CZ stuff was such as it is. I have a CZ 75 in 40 S&W for years and I have shot it a lot and never had it to jam or any other problems. The CZ 75 is priced reasonably for what you get. It is sad American gun makes can’t put out such as this. I looked at savage rimfires and they left a lot to be desired. The just didn’t feel right. I know Ruger makes the America but it just doesn’t look and feel right. I read an article, after I got it, talking about the action wall being as thick as a center fire. It’s just so well made for the price. I bought this one on clearance at less than $325.00, and that was the only reason at the time. I just wanted a bolt action rimfire in .22 because I didn’t have a true turn bolt .22. This little CZ has lots of potential in the looks and shooting department both. I shoot .22s more than all else. I love to squirrel hunt with a rimfire and just carry the Grandkids out and shoot cans. This gun will fit the bill in both of those roles. It’s just nice to see a firearm that is old school made with quality. I am going to definitely look into the 527 deeper.
 
29 here between their BRNO predecessors, 452s, 527s, 550s, and their 75-based and 97 B handguns. NONE of them have been disappointing in terms of quality, accuracy, reliability, or fun to shoot. As gotboostvr said, they tend to multiply. :)

Far and away the most comprehensive CZ rimfire forum is here: https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=18
 
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There is a lot out there about these rifles. This is just the same synopsis that you can find elsewhere, but IME, it's true:

Gary W. Strange said:
What experience has others had with CZ rimfires?
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Generally good. The 452 was very well made, but they are gone.... except for the engraved ones that cost $$$$. The 455 has a little cost cutting, but has the ability to change the barrel. The average 452 was generally slightly more accurate than the average 455. The 457 includes improvements that people have been asking about for over a decade (safety, triggerguard), but retains the 455 barrel modularity. IMO, the bad press of the 455's accuracy pushed them to make a couple of special versions (MPR, VPT) to make sure that any press reads that a 457 shoots better than a 452 or 455 (even if it is a special version.)

Gary W. Strange said:
What is weak about them?
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$25(on sale) to $30 for a plastic mag. It is a good mag, but it is just polymer.
Backwards safety and sheet metal trigger guard on 452, 455
457's have some special versions that cost more
452 and 455 need metric ringmounts (largely solved now); the bolt throw can impede the use of big scopes (revised for 457).
452 and 455 have a basic trigger, which can be lightened by adjusting the spring. It will still creep. There are "tube and spring" kits available to reduce both pull and creep. There are sear kits available.
A Timney trigger is going to cost $130 (current), which for most people is 1/3 of the cost of the rifle.

Even if you end up doing a lot of aftermarket improvements:
1. For resale it is still a CZ and not an Anschutz.
2. It's still not as good as a rifle built specifically for competition (although 455/457 could be rebarreled)


Gary W. Strange said:
What is strong?
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Generally accurate, generally well made sporter.
Good value since the next accuracy rung costs significantly more.
Some people win the wood lottery. (Other people get plain looking Turkish walnut).
 
I have owned 452's in 17 Mach II, 22 Mag and (2) 22 LR's that all shot as good as my 52B Winchester. The 455 that I have now is not there yet, but I still have some ammo testing to do. There will be a 457 in the future.
 
Whatever you do, stay away from the Rimfire Central website. They will talk you into buying more of these things.

I have a 452FS. It’s an amazingly nice rifle.
 
The rimfire chicken shooters I'm acquainted with said the 452 and the Savage MK II were a toss-up in the accuracy department. I always liked the looks of the 452 but never got around to buying one. The along came the 455 and it gained the reputation of not being as accurate as the 452. I have always wondered if the barrel swap feature had something to do with this. Now we have the 457 and it looks as if they have gone to the Savage/Marlin style of receiver/bolt. One of the chicken killers told me a couple of weeks ago that the new 457 is proving to be very accurate. I'm sort of considering one but am going to wait a bit to see if what he told me proves out.

What Crunchy Frog says is true. There are a lot of CZ lovers there. Don't say anything negative about them either or your whiskers will get singed.
 
doubleh said:
One of the chicken killers told me a couple of weeks ago that the new 457 is proving to be very accurate. I'm sort of considering one but am going to wait a bit to see if what he told me proves out.
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I know two silhouette shooters that showed up with them this season.
I don't know if they are inherently more accurate then the 452's but the triggers are remarkable right out of the box, leading to better offhand scores.
 
My 453 has a single set trigger so it needed no upgrade

The go to ammo for CZ’s seems to be Wolf Match Extra

Mine needed at least a hundred rounds each before they settled in
 
Gary W. Strange said:
What is weak about them?
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The only thing that I don't like about my 452 is the stock trigger. It's not terrible, but it's not great. The good news is that it can be fixed: search the interwebs for Yo Dave.

Gary W. Strange said:
What is strong? Anything that one should be aware of out of them?
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The fit and finish tends to be a throwback to 50 years ago with nice stocks and good bluing. Most of all, though, they are accurate. Really accurate. Like wait-is-that-five-touching-at-fifty-yards? accurate. You're going to enjoy that 455 for a long, long time.
 
doubleh said:
There are a lot of CZ lovers there. Don't say anything negative about them either or your whiskers will get singed.
Click to expand...

Man oh man is that true!
For the longest time I thought one of the qualifications to owning a CZ was that you had to be an *******......
 
I usually tune the triggers on all my rifles and believe I've done so on my 455, but have had it a while and don't remember doing it. One of the problems with the mechanism is that the trigger is held back to remove the bolt and that flies in the face of having a great trigger stop with the factory trigger. Mine's okay, but nothing great to write here about.
 
The 457's solved that problem with a fully adjustable trigger.
The one I recently shot had 0 creep, was probably 1-1/2# and 0 overtravel.
 
Picher said:
I usually tune the triggers on all my rifles
Click to expand...

I just put a Freedom Fat Trigger in a Canick hand gun I bought. Was sitting at the kitchen table working on it and the wife asks
"do you own any guns you haven't messed with the trigger?"
My answer was "why yes, I have a new 10/22 in a box on the shelf waiting for a scope."
 
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