I'm looking at stepping into another hunting rifle and have been looking at getting into a CZ 557 Sporter in a 30-06, 20.5" barrel, and 7.5lbs. Only down side to me is the lack of a detachable magazine.
Does anybody have any experience with this rifle? What kind of scope are you running? What grain? What distances are you shooting?
Thanks for the advice and guidance!
CZ rifles are good quality, and a hinged floorplate means you don't have a magazine that you'll forget, misplace, or loose, since its always with the rifle. A 20" .30/06 barks pretty loudly, but shooting is not a quite endeavor anyway.
Bullet choice is determined by the game you intend to hunt, and the range across which you intend to shoot. That said, if you are going to restrict yourself to a single load, there isn't much that a 180 gr bullet at 2700 fps won't do. A .30/06 is capable of shooting much further than most riflemen are capable, and if I told you how far I've stretched mine, you might be tempted to call me a liar, so lets just say on the far side of a half mile. Without having all the equipment necessary for shooting at long range, I would urge you to zero a couple of inches high at 100 yards, adjust so that your point of aim and point of impact coincide at 200 yards, then work your way out to 300 under varying wind and weather conditions, making note of your bullet drop and wind drift. By the time you've expended 500 rounds, shooting from field positions, across various ranges, and in a variety of conditions, you will have a good idea of what you can realistically do with your rifle.
Likewise a scope can't be recommended without knowing how your rifle will be used, and the circumstances under which it will be used. A 3-9X40 is so often recommended that there might not be much else to say, except that 3X might be too much magnification in some circumstances and 9X not enough in others. The advantage of the scope sight over irons is not magnification, is that both the reticle, that is the aiming point, is on the same focal plane as the target, so both are in simultaneous focus. The purpose of magnification is to enable the hunter to see is target. Magnification works against field of view, the greater the magnification the less field of view you have. If you have so much magnification that all you can see is hair, chances are you won't be able to make the shot, so the best you can do is attempt to find a balance between the magnification and field of view that is appropriate to your circumstances. Once you've determined what range of magnification is appropriate, you can decide on the make and model. When it comes to optics, choosing the least expensive option is false economy. Pick a good brand like Burris or Leupold, and if you can't manage one of those, choose from the better lines offered by Bushnell.
Equally important as the choice of scope is the choice of scope rings. On the economy side of the equation are the spring steel Weaver mounts, which are a PIA to tighten so the scope is not canted, but once tightened down, the scope won't move, and the large windage screws provide something of a quick detachable benefit. If spending more money makes you feel better, consider the rings made by Near Manufacturing.
Thinking about this now, I hardly ever practice kneeling, going to have to amp-up effort on that one for sure.
