CZ 452 Varmint BR makeover(Range Report)

cycbb486

cycbb486

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Well gang I have decided to butcher my great shooting factory CZ 452 varmint in 22LR.

I like benchrest shooting over any other kind. Many feel it is boring and not the way to showcase your shooting abilities but believe me it is a lot tougher than you think trying to shoot in the low .2's consistently. I am still learning and it will take lots of range time to get good at it.

I have and am in the process of talking with a few guys who have done so. They shoot very well when done up.

So I have my parts on order for the build. The stock is a Don Stith of St.Louis Plains Rifles in Virginia. It will be a 3" wide stock with a straight butt stock in a salt and pepper laminate.

The barrel of choice is going to be a 16 1/2 twist 6 groove reverse taper Benchmark barrel. They have only been around 6 years but are making waves in the rimfire arena. It will finish at 25" to accept a barrel tuner.

The taper of the barrel will start out with a shank that is 1.100" in diameter. It will extend for about 1" past the end of the receiver and quickly taper to approx .750". It will gradually taper back out to .920 at the muzzle end. It will be .920 for the last few inches so a tuner could be attached.

I have allready made a single shot follower out of Delrin that fits in the existing cutout where the clip normally fits in the receiver.

I have found a new part to help make the trigger more consistent on it. I should be able to get it safely down in the ounces. It currently is at approx 10 oz.

The receiver has a hole in it just forward of the clip opening. This hole is not utilized so I will get it tapped to accept a second bolt for securing the receiver to the stock.

Last but not least I am in the process of butchering the bolt handle to put an oversized handle on it. It is almost down to the point where it can be threaded after some cutting and grinding. The labor will begin when I start to shape the new one out of 1/2 or 3/4" aluminium stock.

There will be a few other things that will have to be made but they are the easy parts. Pillars and butt plate.

So begins another adventure.;)
 
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Very good post :cool:

I like all of your decisions for aftermarket parts. Great idea for going for the benchmark. I also think going with the 6 grove over the 2 grove is a better idea. I have heard of the 6 grove shooting better in the colder to medium heat weather as opposed to the 2 grove which seems to work very good in the warmer weather but maybe not quite as good in the colder weather like we have here.

I also really like the idea of reverse taper :cool:

BTW: My brno that I mentioned to you about with the gaillard barrel - I have got the trigger down to about 6.5oz - and I think the trigger mechanism is the same. I can't forget exactly what I did to it but I think a bit of light polishing with my dremel tool (with the cotton bit and polishing compound) and before that I used 1500grit sandpaper. THat made it really smooth and seeemed to lighten it up a bit :)
 
That sounds pretty interesting. Please post some pics during the build and upon completion. BTW, it's mag and not clip.;)
 
Well cycbb486 you're probably going to disagree with my opinion but here it goes...

I would never spend that kind of money on a CZ action. Been there, done that. You will end up with a nice rifle but it will never be competitive (try to show me an important match won with a CZ in the last 50 years...). Even if you're only shooting informally, you will be dissapointed with the results you'll get. Don't get me wrong, a CZ is an incredible value for the price. It's a wonderful gun for plinking and informal target shooting. But it's not a competitive gun and you will never get a .2'' average with it, even with a Benchmark barrel.

If I were you, I would get an Anschütz 54 and a Stith stock and for a fraction of the cost of your CZ project, you would end up with a very fine setup. Anschütz tiggers are the very best, the 54 action is very stong and easy to bed and their barrels are excellent. I rebarreled two 54 actions (one with a Lilja, the other with a Hart) and the gain in accuracy is absolutely out of proportion considering the price of a new barrel. Furthermore, you would have a rifle that would keep its value and that would be easy to sell, which would not be the case with your CZ/Benchmark.

Regards,

Paul
 
250-25x I hear you........................

I should clear a few things up. First of all I do not mean that the CZ will shoot .2's I mean being able to shoot those small groups in any form of shortrange benchrest. I like seeing them small little groups.

That is why I built the alltime best shortrange gun in a BAT actioned 6PPC, the king of the hill. So I know what good is. I am till learning to shoot it and it will take lots of gun time to get consistent.

Yes the CZ is not the acton to be doing this on but neither is wasting money on a Rem 700 or P14 or P17 action (whatever the last 2 are). I have done it on a REM 700 and the money on it I could have had a second gun on a BAT action which is far superior. All I know is that you cannot make a factory action shoot to the standards required to be competitive. This is also dependent on what equipment the other competitiors are using. What I am saying is you do not take a CZ to a bench match and expect to win against a Hall or Swindlehurst rimfire action.

Why am I doing it cause I want to. Just like anyone else wastes money on the previous mentioned factory actions.

Cost wise it is still cheaper than me getting a Anschutz or Feinwerkbau and doing it up. Those guns are big ticket items even in the used market. I have a 450.00 gun and I am dumping some more to get something that I will be more than happy with. You would be hard pressed to find one of those for under 500.00 which I have in the CZ. Yes it is not a CZ but for 1000.00 you have a Hall action.

See to me a gun has to look good as well as shoot well cause if I can't shoot good at least the gun looks good at the range. If it looks good the average Joe thinks it shoots good.;)

My ideal rimfire will be built on a North American action.

Regardless what, we like guns. We all have different tastes and wants.

No hard feelings,
Calvin
 
Calvin,

Now I understand a little better where you are going.

I still have to dissagree with you on one point: the cost.

A '60s vintage 54 can be found around $800-$1200 range. If you screw a 3'' wide aluminium plate in the accessory rail and mount your scope, you'll be competitive and you should be able to get averages around .35'' at 50 meters.

As far as your project is concerned: you start with a CZ452 ($500) and you add $400 for the barrel, $200 for the fitting and chambering , $200 for the stock, $150 for bedding, $150 for its finish....you see, you're already over $1500 !

Also, what do you mean by ''My ideal rimfire will be built on a North American action'' ? Are you talking about a 52, a 40X or a 37 or a custom action ?

Paul
 
Update

on the bolt handle. I thought I had a picture of the bolt B4 I cut it up but I was wrong. Regardless basically the bolt had a round ball on the end. It has since been hacked and ground away on a bench grinder. This is what we have now.

czbolt2.jpg


Threaded and ready to accept my custom made knob when it is completed.
 
Well here

is my first attempt at making a oversized bolt handle. It is nothing special but non the less it is different. It is amazing what can be done with a piece of 1/2" aluminium rod, drill press, dremel tool, sandpaper, and polishing compound.

If I get tired of it I can always make another.

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It may not suit this stock but when the new stainless barrel gets on and the new salt and pepper laminate stock it will fit in just fine.
 
So I ended up

not liking the bolt handle that I had made that I set out to make another. Here is the final product.

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I prefer the shape on this one. It definately makes opening the bolt much easier even on a rimfire.
 
Well the

adjustable sear from Brownells came in today and I also got word that my stock is ready. It should be on its way up by early next week.

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I can tell you it is a nicer looking piece of metal than I thought it would be. I will install it later after the gun is finished.

Calvin
 
Well look

what is on its way up. Should possibly have it by next week. It is a lot bigger piece of wood than I thought it would be. Hopefully the holes line up where I want them......................................?????????????

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DSCN9945.jpg
 
Took about

a 1/2 hr this evening and lapped the bolt with JB. It definately made a difference in the smoothness of opening and closing the bolt.:)

If I feel energetic enough I may give it another go round.
 
I stopped by

the local gunshop today to check the trigger pull weight after installing the new adjustable sear. I was going to wait until later but just had to try it. It averages in the 7oz mark.

I will admit this is only for BENCH SHOOTING. It does not pass the bump test but as mentioned it is for off the bench only. The bolt can be cycled over and over again and it has not gone off. It can easily be made safer with a quick turn of the adjusting screw on the sear.

While there I was given an idea about fastening the receiver to the stock. I have decided to go with the idea one of the fellows at the shop. Why not scrap the center bolt and just use the front hole? I realized it is allready tapped and not used. I will have it opened up and tap it to the standard Remington 10x28. The surface there is flat so it will be very easy to install a pillar. A hole will then be drilled and tapped in the tang area. This will give a wider footprint and make it a lot easier to bed.

So it ended up being what I think is a productive trip to the shop.

I also sat in front of the TV watching Shrek III with my daughter. While doing that I decided to lap the bolt a bit more but this time with Flitz. Turned out very nice. WAY WAY WAY smoother than it ever was.
 
Well I

cz452shooter said:
Stock looks great Calvin :)
Click to expand...

picked up the stock and barrel yesterday. The barrel is what I ordered from Benchmark. It is quite big but it is the approximate size of another CZ benchgun I have seen.

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The stock on the other hand looks much better in the previous pics than it does in person.

Needless to say I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in the stock.:(:(

This one definately slipped by the quality control department. It looks as if the stock was not set in the mill properly when it was milled out. It is ok from the 3" forend back to the butt. On the other hand the forend is out of true. Looking at it from the front the right side is higher than the left and definately thicker. It has to get fixed to make it cosmetically appealing.

Do I have the tools to fix it easily, not really. I found a man with a milling machine who is going to fix it up for me. It cannot look any worse than it does right now. He will square the forend up in the mill and then cut the top sides down close to 1/8" to make them level. He then will have to use a ball end mill and mill the inside corner of where the top of the flat turns up and curves up towards the barrel channel to make the sides even in thickness.

I never took any B4 pics, I should have but it made me ill. I know that it is in capable hands and will be fixed/altered to look more respectable.

I have thought about contacting the vendor but it is a pain to send it back for rectification. I look at this as the majority of the work has been done for me with just the fine tuning required to give it a custom look.

I will post pics of the stock when repaired and then off to Guntech for final assembly.

It is a slightly joyous occasion as I have the parts in my hands.

Calvin
 
sell the junk stock

I had one

same problem

decided not to fix it no warranty will not get another one from them

sell it


get something that works

Jeff
 
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