CZ 455 or Anschutz 64?

I quite like my 455 CZ American, but I'm notoriously cheap, which I'm sure is part of the appeal. I also like to tinker with stuff, and the CZ needs that to shoot well. Mine is pillared, bedded, has had the crown touched up, and a lighter trigger spring. Cost me about 50 dollars and a dozen hours of work, maybe.
It probably won't shoot as well as an Anschutz after all that but that's okay with me.
I'd sooner shoot groups a tad bigger with a $600 rifle than spend close to $1500 and wish I hadn't.
I'd buy the CZ first and shoot it for 6 months. If you decide you'd rather have the Anschutz, sell the CZ for $100 less than you paid for it and move on. Life is about the journey, not the destination.
 
Chilly807 said:
I quite like my 455 CZ American, but I'm notoriously cheap, which I'm sure is part of the appeal. I also like to tinker with stuff, and the CZ needs that to shoot well. Mine is pillared, bedded, has had the crown touched up, and a lighter trigger spring. Cost me about 50 dollars and a dozen hours of work, maybe.
It probably won't shoot as well as an Anschutz after all that but that's okay with me.
I'd sooner shoot groups a tad bigger with a $600 rifle than spend close to $1500 and wish I hadn't.
I'd buy the CZ first and shoot it for 6 months. If you decide you'd rather have the Anschutz, sell the CZ for $100 less than you paid for it and move on. Life is about the journey, not the destination.
Click to expand...

The cheaper Anschutz retail for 1200ish and have been on sale recently for about 1000...used on the EE they can be had for 900, keep your eyes peeled!
 
As I've come to understand it Anschütz is a certain standard that is tough to beat let alone match and it is about more than just accuracy alone. For price to performance ratio a CZ build is the way to go if accuracy is #1 priority I'll just point you to djdilliodon's work on RFC. After the custom barrel and smith work the cost is just a few hundred less than the Annie now some may not bat an eye at that and just spend on the Annie for others it is a deal breaker so CZ they go. Canadian availability and price of things like DIP sear, Rifle Basix trigger and custom barrels hurt the CZ build value for us :(. Sometimes you get a factory barreled CZ that is a zinger and nothing but bedding needs to be done but you can't count on it. In fact if you end up with what most would consider a defective barrel from CZ they will deny you warranty replacement of it. CZ must be purchased with barrel replacement as an almost certainty but give the factory barrel a fair chance sometimes they're great.

If you like to mod and tinker do a CZ build and you'll save a few hundred $$

If you just want performance out of the box get Anschütz.

Maybe you'd like both? :cool:
 
If you buy the CZ you will always wonder if you should have just spent the extra for the Anschutz.

Then, (if your like me) in the future just to find out, you will buy an Anschutz anyway which will cost you more $ in the long run. Money you could spend on more ammo.
 
Shot in a rimfire event 2 weeks ago there was a couple 64s and quite a few CZ 455 the CZ scored higher than the 64s,ammo ,shooter could be the difference
but top three shooters
#1 40 xRem
#2 54 Anshutz
# Rem 540xr
 
Hi I have both and will not spend the extra money to buy the Anschutz, the CZ455 is just as accurate. However you could spend another $1000.00 on rear but hook and........ they Anschutz are heavier as well.
 
True enough, poor quality ammo will make anything shoot badly. The problem with comparing ammo is that the same box that will shoot a ragged single hole out of the CZ may look like a shotgun pattern out of an Anschutz, and vice versa. That's a mild exaggeration, particularly when you get into high dollar match ammo like Tenex or X-Act, but still has merit nonetheless.
Most CZ shooters don't find that Eley match ammo works well in their rifles, but SK/Lapua does.
In all honesty, I would expect a three-rifle accuracy pyramid to have the CZ at the bottom, a 64 Anschutz in the middle, and the 54 Anschutz at the top.
Having said that, there hasn't been much difference in my experience between the CZs and the 64 sporters performance wise. Comparing an MPR or MSR to a CZ American or Canadian Edition isn't apples to apples. There isn't much difference between the American and the Varmint, in fact more than one person has said the American may shoot better in some cases.
CZs quality control isn't as stringent as Anschutz, and the price reflects that. To consistently produce top quality rifles means you need to immediately replace worn tooling, hire the most skilled people you can get, and invest heavily in quality control with the honest intention of weeding out any substandard products BEFORE the consumer gets them. That drives the cost up, and it's why out of every 10 rifle owners, 5 will have Savage MKII or Ruger 10/22, 4 will own CZs, and one will have an Anschutz.
Same deal with cars. 5 Dodge, 4 Honda, 1 BMW. I've got Dodge and Honda, btw.. lol.
If I were to buy an Anschutz new I wouldn't stop at the 64. I'd buy a 54 and be done with it. That would hurt initially, I'm sure of that. Then, to get the most out of what I know is a superb rifle, I'm buying higher cost ammo, etc.
Slippery slope once you start down that road..
 
Another factor to consider in my case is that I do not have the equipment or the knowledge to do a lot of tinkering on my guns, so having a top-quality product right out of the box is rather important. What Chilly807 describes in post #21 would be well beyond my abilities, which means I would have to pay someone to do it, and that would bring the cost up quite a bit.
 
My answer is none of the above. Sell your 10/22, save up your pennies, and just get this:

http://www.nordicmarksman.com/1827-Fortner.html

I've had mine for about a week, so far shot about 700 rds of SK+ and Rifle Match through it, and absolutely love it. It's pretty much the last .22 for me, and is something I just don't see myself outgrow (since I have a LOT of room for improvement). The fortner action is probably about as fast as a semi-auto in terms of aimed fire, and is so much fun to use, I sometimes will just operate the action just for the hell of it.
 
If you're not inclined to tinker with guns, the average CZ has a fairly heavy, possibly gritty feeling trigger that doesn't lend itself well to precision shooting without some work. With CZ there's a better than even chance you'll get a well finished, accurate (meaning 1 to 1.5 MOA) rifle. There's a very small chance you'll get an inaccurate rifle, meaning 2 MOA or worse with mid grade ammo.
I think the MPR will shoot with the best of the CZs, although any company can have a lemon. It should certainly shoot as well or better than an average CZ.
That's just one opinion, obviously. I'm quite happy with my 455, great rifle for the price. I don't expect it to keep up with a 64 or 54 MS-R or 64 MPR, though. If it does, I'll have a smile on my face. I keep an eye on the EE for 54 action Anschutz rifles, not many show up.
The recommendation for the Fortner action 1727, I think it was, is well founded if you can spend $3500 plus taxes on a rifle with a clear conscience.
Very nice rifle with a price tag to match.
 
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