.17HMR ...Zastava Z5 or CZ455?

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Hey guys looking at the .17hmr world and wanted a really nice precise rifle. The CZ is always a well recommended rifle, but I hear great reviews on quality/price of the Zastava Z5. Anyone have any info that can help me on my decision. I'd like to save the money, but it's not about the money. Anyone have both and can give me an honest comparison?
 
I think the CZ has better wood for sure. The metal work I would say is pretty comparable. I only wish the Zastava came in a heavy barrel as well. The Zastavas seem to hold their value as well as the CZ do. They are cheaper to buy so it isn't too hard to sell them if you want something else. Here is my 22 mag Zastava. It has better than average wood after I refinished it, Still haven't recut the checkering yet. I think they should have put better wood on these rifles in the first place.
Scott...
 

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I'v owned a few of both. The Z-5 has a higher value imho, but if you have the funds for a CZ go for it. Better overall fit and finish with CZ. If you don't you will be well served with a Z-5.
 
dugasgunner said:
I'v owned a few of both. The Z-5 has a higher value imho, but if you have the funds for a CZ go for it. Better overall fit and finish with CZ. If you don't you will be well served with a Z-5.
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I was actually looking at a lot of reviews before I chose to replace a un-replaceable firearm (long, long story short) with either a Zastava Full Stock or a CZ Full Stock in a .17HMR. The general consensus seemed to be the CZ and Zastava were equally accurate, but the CZ was a finer and nicer finish.

The only downside to the CZ was trigger adjustments required the stock to be removed. However, there were a few rare extractor failures in the rim fire Zastava line: anyone else hear of this? :confused:

I did, in the end, go with the CZ because I had been given almost all of the cost of the rifle as a gift for Christmas: I wanted the nicer finish. :redface:
 
Yup, I think I'll start with the CZ first, but is there anything I need to know about them? Model number, barrel type, special editions and other goodies that makes one more desirable than another? I just don't know the CZ line up that well. Is the 455 the better model for the .17hmr?
 
Had a zastava mp-22 had 2 actually. Like a fool sold both. Shot easily as good as my cz's. All metal on that rifle. Very adjustable trigger that turns out to be very nice to pull. Longer barrel on the zastavas then the cz 455's as well. The blueing on my 2 were very very nicely done. Nice and shiny as well unlike the matte blue on the 455. I have a 452 17hmr and get faster then advertised velocity for the 17gr ammo that I have shot. The 452 has a longer barrel then the 455 though as well.

My 452

IMG_2222_zpsa6bd6ddf.jpg
 
In regards to Aniest's comment about some Z5's having a problem with extracting, I have one in .22 LR that had issues with extraction. Every so often (sometimes every few rounds), the case would be left in the chamber after firing and cycling the bolt, and I had to use a cleaning rod down the muzzle to push it out. Unfortunately, I'm new to guns so I'm not 100% sure of the cause, and I got the gun mail-order so I couldn't really send it back without costing half as much as the gun itself. But I can tell you what I do know (and what some of he guys on Rimfirecentral.com told me when I posted there).

The most common issue I heard of with these guns was poor feeding mags. After I posted at RFC, one guy mentioned that some Z5's have tight chambers. I think my issue was related to one (or both) of these. The extractors seemed ok, but I wonder if the poor feeding would cause a round to be pushed into the chamber awkwardly without the extractor claws at the end of the bolt 'grabbing' the rim. This would allow the round to be chambered and fired, but when I pulled the bolt back, it just left the case in the chamber. As for the tight chamber, I had my issues back in the fall/summer, but the two times I had the gun out in sub-zero temps, I had no issues. I wonder if the metal shrunk just enough to open up the chamber a hair. And with the scarcity of .22LR ammo, I couldn't find any other kinds of ammo locally to try. For the record, I used most Remmington Yellow jacket and a few CCI Stingers, but I had the same problem with both. When I mentioned on RFC that I was considering getting some Federal on mail-order, most guys seemed to think that would solve my problem. I didn't end up getting the Federal because of shipping costs, but as long as the Yellow Jackets function ok in the cold weather, I'll keep shooting them for now.

Here are the threads I started on RFC:
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=564864
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=564862

Apart from that, I've heard generally positive things about the Z5/MP22. The wood is kind of a toss up. I don't remember where I read this, but apparently Zastava finishes the wood according to what the distributor wants, so you could get nice wood or ####ty wood. Mine isn't great, but I'm probably going to sand it down and re-finish it. I didn't actually get to handle a CZ, but it sounds like it's nicer than the Zastava. I kinda wish I had bucked up for the CZ (or put aside my feelings about the ugly stock on the Ruger American), but I'm looking at the Z5 as a good 'project' gun and something I can tinker with and learn on.
 
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