CZ 455 Canadian Bedding Report *Update w/bore scope pics*

RabidM4U5

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New out of the box my 455 :canadaFlag: was not a shooter averaging 1-1.5" @ 50 yards with some 2"+ groups. Needless to say for all the accuracy hype around these rifles I went home mighty disappointed. I did a PHD's worth of research on RFC about the CZ and it re-kindled some hope for my gun. Maybe it just needs some more shooting to "break in" the barrel but by and large many have had good results from bedding this rifle. Thought I'd share my experience. I make no claim to being a master gun-smith I'm just an avid do-it-yourselfer. My work can't hold a candle to some of the masterpieces the RFC guys put out but is a fair representation of what your average Joe can do for themselves.



I started by pillaring using 2 1/8" x 2" brass nipples from home depot. Got my length by using the depth gauge on my calipers from the wood inlet of the bottom metal to the action in the stock and cut/filed the pillars to +0.01" of that. I had made up a couple M6x1 studs when I bedded my .270 so I threaded those into the action holes and wrapped enough tape around them to snug fit and center them in the pillars. Pillars were put over the studs and secured to the action with a nut. Drilling out the stock for the pillars was a bear since I do not have a drill press or any such nice machining equipment. I used a piloted #12 countersink bit with pilot drilled into the center of a 1/4" wooden dowel to help guide my hand drill. This was not perfect and still bounced around the stock, popped out of the inlet, crooked etc... I used a few larger standard drill bits to ream out the stock to my satisfaction that I had enough clearance around the pillar to fit it straight. There is something to be said about the right tool for the job.







I used 5 min epoxy but much of it pushed out the bottom when I inserted the pillars and set up too quick to settle back down when I flipped the rifle resulting in a large void at the rear. The front fared better and they were both solidly located so I reasoned the voids could easily be filled next when bedding the action.
 
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So on to the action I noticed a fairly tight fit between stock and action around the sides which looked to me that without any relief the bedding would turn out much too thin. I didn't have to do this on my Savage or Weatherby so this was new territory with new tools for me. CZ fanboys may want to turn away now... I pretty much ruined my stock by trying to inlet with a dremel and straightedge attachment. Really bunged up my first attempt and kept having to go deeper to try and straighten it out. Not an ideal tool to use, what do you use to remove significant material but keep a nice straight edge?





I mixed up the 3/4 tubes of JB weld I had left and let it sit to thicken while I prepped the action with release agent, kiwi black shoe polish. I removed the trigger assembly but stopped short of the sear since the pin wasn't coming out easy and lacking proper drift punches (again about the right tools...) I wasn't going to wail on it to try and take it out. I put electrical tape around it and puttied for good measure. For the bottom metal I put bedding in at the front and rear action screws. I put the bottom metal in place and held it with tape until the action was inserted and then put nuts over the studs to hold it all together. At the 1 hr mark the JB weld thickened up considerably so now was time to load up the stock and get on with the show!







Surprisingly I did not put enough compound in and scrambled to fill the voids around the action with a toothpick before the JB got too thick to settle in! I ended up with some low spots, air bubbles and voids.



She popped out with an easy tap from a small 2x4.



Nasty void on the right side of the tang, low spots along the left side of the action and my stock now sports quite a bit of "patina" :rolleyes:







Overall it will function just fine I think but I'd really like to know how to get nice crisp straight lines on everything and not mark up my stock so much. Tips? All out of rifles to bed I think I need a new one....:p
 
I just cracked it out of the mold a few hours ago, little dark to do any shooting! lol Nasty weather on it's way might be a week before I can get out to shoot.
 
I use a wooden dowel or a socket with sand paper wrapped around it to keep lines straight and symmetrical on both sides of the stock. Turned out great. Let us know how it shoots.
 
That's a very good first attempt Rabid! It should function just right as long as you kept the torque on the action screws low while the compound was curing. I don't go over 5 in/lbs so I don't introduce any pre-load into the action/stock. Its probably the #1 reason why some bedding jobs don't improve accuracy (I have learned the hard way...).

You can maintain the aesthetic of of the gap between the stock and the action by maintaining the upper edge in the wood the way it came from the factory. I use a dremel for most of the work but start inletting the stock about 1 mm below the upper edge of the stock. That way you get a uniform 0.3 mm gap all around the action (as from the factory) but bellow, there is about 2 mm for the compound.

To get a rid of voids, I apply lots of bedding compound to the stock plus an even layer to the action. I still get voids sometimes.

Good job!
Kody
 
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You did a Great job !!

It's your rifle and you were not happy with the quality of your groupings at 50 yard from a very fine rifle , you at least you had the courage and " Can to Attitude " to try to improve your rifle's accuracy by bedding the action and installing pillars !!

Your spot on , better suited tools help make the job easier , faster and more accurate , less fussing to get to the finished result you are looking for , no matter you did not give up and it look Great !

I hope your rifle will now shoot a one hole at 50 yards !!

Remember to try different types of ammo and different FPS , some rifle like fast some like standard or slow ,,,,, try as many as you can till you find it's favourite , then keep the box , go back to the store and buy alot of the same LOT NUMBER as that was on your test box. Different batches will have different results even with in the same ammo type and brand but made on a different machine or an a different run or day .

All the best , hope it's now a Tack Driver !!.
 
Great info and pictures... much appreciated for the effort to bring us along.

Like everyone else, I would be interested to know how the accuracy has improved. Keep us posted.
 
Thanks guys! I struggle with a perfectionist mentality and little things bug me but I'm getting better at being happy with "good enough". Has anyone ever tried painting the top edge of the bedding to better match the stock? I'm thinking along the lines of putting some bondo in the low spots on the top edge and painting to blend it in since it is purely cosmetic. Since it's not a center fire I'm not going to worry about filling in the voids underneath the action. Crappy weather system moving through that won't improve until mid-next week so range time needs to wait :( My plan for the next range trip is to run a brick of bulk through it while I'm load testing my .270 @ 100 yards then accuracy test on another range trip. I've got 14 kinds of ammo left from testing with my Savage (which only really liked 3 kinds! Picky!) so I hope to see good things happen.
 
That looks like a good job. Mine haven't looked so nice although I haven't had the chance to try them out yet.


I gotta ask, over what kinds of other ammo does your 455 prefer these?

This was my ammo test before the Yodave spring upgrade and with my crummy Bushnell 3x9 rimfire scope.

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What are your thoughts on that Yo Dave spring upgrade? How difficult was the install?

I put in the Yo-Dave kit too. For the money it is an excellent upgrade I don't feel the need to do anything else to the trigger now. It's pretty straightforward to install I had no difficulties. Take your time and test for safety. Due to manufacturing tolerances everyone's will be a little different I had to go down to the thinnest shim to pass bolt closing and bump tests, yours may not even need a shim or it may need the thickest shim. Choose the spring based on the shooting you do, heavier if hunting or light if just benching. Good luck, I'm sure you'll be happy!
 
If you're hunting only, a yodave spring change is not necessary. To achieve the best possible results when shooting off the bench with a CZ it is a very good idea to lighten the trigger pull. The stock trigger may be adjusted to a low of 2 - 2.5 pounds with the internal trigger adjustments, but that's not light enough to give the best chance for shooting to the rifle's potential.

A yodave spring change is often enough in itself without installing the shims. The latter are needed if the trigger has considerable creep. Many CZ shooters posting on RFC report that they simply change to a lighter spring that they picked up at the hardware store. It's not hard to find such springs at Home Depot or Home Hardware. They may not get your trigger below one pound, but swapping the spring is very easy, whether it's a yodave spring or not.

Always test your rifle to see that it doesn't fire unintentionally because the spring is too light. A good way to test this is to take the action out of the stock, #### it, and then hit the rear of the receiver (not too hard, of course) with a rubber mallet. If you do this test with the action in the stock you may risk cracking the stock if it is hit too hard.

Good explanation Grauhanen.

You can also remove the adjustment nut to lighten up your trigger. Some will even remove the washer but I like to keep it in to support the spring. If that is still too heavy, you can cut off one coil from the factory trigger spring, grind the spring end flat with your dremel and re-install/test. If it is too light, you just re-install the adjustment nut.
I only use Yo Dave when I need to eliminate creep from the trigger or when I need a trigger around 2.25 lbs or less.
 
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