CZ 527 Varmint Range Report

[Red State]

A happy 30th birthday to me! I just got a new CZ 527 Varmint .223 with a Kevlar stock. I plan to provide as much relevant information as I can in this thread. If you have any questions that I don't address, please let me know.

Here are the basic specs of the model:
-.223 (the CZ forum indicates that the 527s will also accept 5.56)
-24" heavy barrel w/ 1:9 twist
-Kevlar stock
-5 round external magazine
-Mauser style bolt action
-Single set trigger
-7.5lbs

 

[Red State]

Initial impressions

So maybe it is just personal preference, but I think that this is a beautiful gun, in a functional sort of way. It is more compact than its 24" barrel would suggest and it comes to the shoulder nicely. The fit and finish indicates that this is a quality gun. All of the parts seem well fitted to each other and the barrel is free floated from the factory. The micro bolt cycles nicely and has a huge extractor. Safety operation is done via your right thumb, but is the reverse of the Rem700 style that I am used to. The fire position is clearly marked and the safety can be eased off silently. The external single stack magazine has a 5 round capacity. Magazine insertion and extraction is smooth and simple.

 

[Red State]

The stock

Although the Walnut and Laminated stocks from CZ look nice, I wanted the toughness of synthetic. The Kevlar stock is black, extremely rigid, and has a rough kind of cobblestone texture. The stock also has a spiderweb textured pattern on it. Interestingly, this spiderweb pattern is not inside the stock the way an injection molded stock might get it's pattern. It looks like a metallic green colored epoxy was lightly drizzled over the exterior of the stock thus resulting in the spiderweb pattern. The epoxy was impervious to my attempts to scratch it and the end result gives the stock a nice textured, nonslip feeling. Another nice feature on the stock is a distinct palm swell for right handed shooters. This swell was very noticeable and felt very comfortable. A Pachmyr Decelerator rubber recoil pad was attached to the end of the stock - and except for one slight rough spot, the mating of the stock and pad was pretty seamless. Sling swivel studs were installed front and back. Something I have never seen before was that an extra set of swivel studs was included with the gun.

 

[Red State]

The barrel

For being a heavy barrel, this varmint barrel is lighter than some tactical or target barrels and may be better described as "medium heavy". Due to the compact nature of the stock and action, the 24" barrel causes the gun to feel a bit front heavy. The rifle's unloaded center of balance is about 3" in front of the front of the magazine.
I like that the 1:9 twist should let me accurately shoot 62 and 69 grain bullets. I do wonder if the 24" barrel is really necessary for a .223? It seems to me that the muzzle velocity benefit of a 24" vs. a 22" barrel must be marginal and I feel that the gun would balance better with a slightly shorter barrel. I welcome other's thoughts on this subject.

 

[pbot]

Nice rifle, congratulations.

We recently picked up the same model, except with a walnut stock. So far I've tried 52gr SMKs and 69gr Nosler bullets in my handloads. It will shoot half inch groups at 100yds with the 52 grainers, but I haven't done much better than 1 inch groups with the 69s. Still working up loads though, so I might be able to improve on that once I find the sweet spot.

They're great guns for the money; I hope that you enjoy yours.

 

[Red State]

The scope

You have read far enough - its time that I add some pictures. Here is a picture of the gun with a scope mounted. Warne high rings (which are sized similarly to many other brands medium rings) are just high enough to get the occular eye piece above the opened bolt. I chose the Weaver Grand Slam Tactical 3-10x40 for this gun for several reasons:
1. I have been wanting to try a mil/mil scope.
2. This model has been getting good reviews as being a good value for the money.
3. At 13oz and less than 12" long, this scope has fairly trim dimensions that help prevent it from making the gun too top heavy.

 

[Red State]

Range day

Out on the range today it was a beautiful morning. Here is the rifle in action. Note how close the open bolt comes to hitting the scope.

If I really wanted to, I could grind down part of the bolt and reblue it. This grinding would allow me to use the Warne medium rings which are about 1/8" lower than the current Warne high rings.

The scope alignment and cheekweld felt fine today, so I will keep shooting it the way it is for at least a little while longer.

 

[Red State]

Understood why you chose Walnut. Pbot, I bet yours is a beautiful gun - the CZ wood seems really nice. A gunstore near me had a walnut stock version on sale/closeout a few weeks ago. I tried to pick it up, but someone beat me to it.

Thanks for the load input. I am hoping that I will be sub moa soon.

 

[Red State]

Range day continued

Had only a short amount of time while at the range today, so I only fired 10 rounds total, and as I went, I followed the Howa recommended barrel break in procedure.

I started with a clean, dry bore. After every shot I did the following:
-Patch wet with Outers Nitro Bore Solvent
-Patch wet with Windex
-Dry patch
-Dry patch
I know there is raging debate about the usefulness of a barrel break in, but I figured that it can't hurt.

When taking my first shot, I was really surprised. THE SET TRIGGER IS REALLY, REALLY LIGHT. Target shooters and varmint shooters will love this trigger! It was a joy to shoot all day and with my limited round count, I never even tried the trigger in its standard mode.

 

[Red State]

The target

At this point, if you are still reading, I thank you.

Here is the sequence of shots at paper:

Shot #1. At 50 yards. My first shot was about 5-1/2" low and just a little left. I was about to calculate the scope adjustment in terms of MOA, and then I remembered that the Weaver is a mil/mil scope. I took a 2nd look at the target and measured that my hit on paper was a little over 2 mils from the bullseye. I spun my scope dial up 2.1 mils and spun it right two clicks, and then let loose another round...........
Shot #2. At 50 yards. SUCCESS. In the red! I think I just fell in love with mil/mil.

At this point I took advantage of a line break to move the target out to 100 yards.

Shot #3, #4, & #5. At 100 yards. These three rounds were all shot without examining the target, so I don't know which is which. I do know that they all impacted just north of the bullseye and that it looks to be roughly a MOA group. Due to time constraints, I was rushing a little bit, but still, not bad results considering that I was using cheap Federal 55gr FMJ.

All of my remaining shots (#6 through #10) were shot at clay pigeons laying on the berm at 210 yards. None were safe. Once I determine my optimal load, I am looking forward to stretching the shots out to 300 and 400 yards.

 

[Red State]

Preliminary conclusion

Really, I think I fell in love today. Its a great gun and I am pleased with my scope choice. In particular, I loved the solidness of the stock and the precsicion of the set trigger.

No rush on any of these modifications, but in the future I may consider a few changes like such as trimming the barrel down to 22" and/or modifying the bolt so that I can mount the scope a little bit lower.

I plan to update this thread as I gain more experience with this rifle. If anyone has questions or input, please fire away.

 

[asahrts]

Great write up, congrats on your new gun.




Finally...

 

[pbot]

I think I fell in love today. Its a great gun and I am pleased with my scope choice. In particular, I loved the solidness of the stock and the precsicion of the set trigger.

No rush on any of these modifications, but in the future I may consider a few changes like such as trimming the barrel down to 22" and/or modifying the bolt so that I can mount the scope a little bit lower.
QUOTE]

The set trigger is nice, isn't it?

James Calhoon http://www.jamescalhoon.com/ modifies the bolt handles and sells mounts to allow you to lower the scope. I haven't done that with ours yet so I can't speak to the quality of workmanship. I did buy a single shot follower from him, and it is excellent.

 

[dugasgunner]

Man, those 527's are growing on me. Your Kevlar is simply great.

 

[jamesb]

Probably the only rifle I regret selling was a CZ 527 in .22 hornet.

 

[dubbleA]

Here's my 527K in 204 Ruger, for some reason the scope's ocular bell has plenty of room when the bolt is pulled back. I have another 527 with nice wood and a Nikon mounted atop her and there is little clearance.I am not real thrilled with the single stage set trigger, while you can set it for 8-10 oz, the overtravel is on the brink of absurd. With the bolt alteration already mentioned, there is a another guy that modifies the magazines so that they dont protrude like the factory mag does.



Here is some load development using 32gr bullet and 10X powder.


Final load....

 

[Badkharma]

Dude, that looks awesome!!!!! Great work





Finally...

 

[Red State]

Update

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I found out another nice thing about this gun...................


The barrel of this gun is marked ".223 Rem". I asked CZ customer service about 5.56 and they confirmed that 5.56 is safe to shoot out of the recent Varmint models.

This is not a huge deal, but its great to have options.

 

[OKcarburetor]

I was on the fence with mine, but I've grown to love it. It seems most people want to mount the scope lower, but i think it functions perfectly for me as is.

My 527 Varmint in .204 w/ Weaver 3-15 x 42 Super Slam:


edit: dubbleA: How far are you seating the bullet off the lands? I've been loading for the magazine with mixed results.

 

[ifit]

527s are awesome, had one couple years back but my situation at the time forced me to sell which i had no choice. hopefully will be gettin another one soon.

this is my best 5 shot group

 

[EAJ]

Congrat's on the new rifle.

I have a Weaver 6-20x40mm AO Grand Slam mounted on my 527 Kevlar and have experienced excellent results using Back Hills .223 60 gr Hornady Vmax.

If you enjoy shooting single shot you may want to check out James Calhoon’s single shot follower on his website. It’s quicker and easier at the range than constantly reloading the 5 round magazine.

 

[armoredman]

I have the 527M, in 7.62x39mm, but I am really leaning towards a 527 in .223, full size, one of these days. SO much fun to shoot!

 

[Red State]

NICE GROUPS.

ifit and dubble A, I hope to duplicate your results soon. My goal is to find a really accurate load for paper shooting that is also good to go to buck the wind out to 600 yards. Realistically, I may be talking about two different bullets.

 

[Red State]

By the way, EAJ, your gun looks great! Seeing that picture which you have posted on other threads really motivated me to get the Kevlar stock.

 

[Red State]

Really appreciate the 60gr VMAX tip, EAJ. I will be trying a box of those once the barrel break in is complete.

Has anyone here had success with the Federal Match load using the 69gr Sierra MatchKing?