CZ 527 7.62x39...are people shooting steel surplus ammo? How do they hold up to it?

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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I know CZ says the gun is designed to fire 7.62x39 steel surplus. But I worry about it creating harm on the barrel. Fine for my SKS which was 200 bucks. But a thousand dollar CZ...

Does that not rapidly accelerate wear on the barrel and extractor?

Or is it unproven?
 
If it's corrosive ammo and you don't clean your rifle it will rust and create harm on the barrel. If it's non corrosive it is just like any other ammunition for wear. Steel cases can be harder to extract than brass cases but the extractor should be robust enough to do it.

Not much point in owning a rifle in 7.62x39 if you aren't going to take advantage of low cost surplus ammunition , that's most of the appeal to the x39.
 
Why would you buy a $$$ gun, and run cheap ammo thru it? That like buying a High Performance V8 and buying low grade gasoline. Why didn't you just get a Howa Mini, or Ruger Axis in 762x39, if you're just going to run steel case, corrosive surplus?
 
I guess it kinda comes down to 'cost savings' on surplus ammo, or 'time savings' on cleaning if you run non-corrosive ammo.

Also accuracy might be better with better quality non-corrosive ammo, so it kinda depends what you want to do. However, since the CZ 527 is a bolt action rifle, I would say you aren't likely to run as much ammo through it as a semi-auto, so you might be better off with 'quality' non-corrosive, vs. 'quantity' corrosive.
 
Even if you don't want to use the steel cases and corrosive primers, surplus ammo provides you with an inexpensive source of powder and bullets. A similar weight of game bullet could be used in place of the FMJ with the same powder charge in a brass case, and the FMJs could be kept for plinking and small game hunting with reduced loads. If I had verified the priming was corrosive, I'd probably still use the surplus brass and primers for assembling some form of Mexican Match, and clean the rifle with dish soap and boiling water when I got it home.
 
The Kurgan said:
Agreed. But I would also want to point out how effective and accurate x39 is when using quality commercial hunting ammunition.
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Sure you can buy or load quality ammunition for the x39 but you can do that for plenty of other cartridges too.

Like with most things it comes down to what an individual wants to do with their rifle. Shoot in volume? Well steel cased ammunition makes sense for that as it's inexpensive. Steel case ammo runs from dirty corrosive surplus to new manufacture of reasonably good quality like Barnaul.

If it's being used as a hunting rifle and low volume shooting then buying brass cased ammo and not worrying about it might be the better option. But if that's the plan then again, there are plenty of other cartridge options to go with.
 
The Kurgan said:
Agreed. But I would also want to point out how effective and accurate x39 is when using quality commercial hunting ammunition.
Click to expand...

Ironically CZ's website mentions steel surplus may function better

"Built to CIP specifications, our 7.62×39 chambers are ideal for shooting steel-cased surplus ammo. Designed to shoot .311 bullets, some American brass ammo may not perform as well as the imported steel-cased variety because of SAAMI brass dimensions and varying bullet diameters."

I don't mind the accurate difference since I'd only shoot the thing within 50 yards or so (Crown land fun gun) but I wouldn't want to kill the barrel with steel core ammo. Then again, how many rounds would that take to get to that point...
 
I shot a few hundred rounds of surplus through one of my 527’s. It’s not a rifle I would baby, I had picked it up for $700 used. No loss in accuracy or accelerated wear. My only complaint is the magazine design, which led me to feel the rifles were too dainty anything other than range use, which they were great for.
 
OkayShooter said:
Why would you buy a $$$ gun, and run cheap ammo thru it? That like buying a High Performance V8 and buying low grade gasoline. Why didn't you just get a Howa Mini, or Ruger Axis in 762x39, if you're just going to run steel case, corrosive surplus?
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And just where do you find a Howa Mini for much cheaper than a CZ 527 on the current market?
A couple years back when they were 600$ in a scoped package they were a great deal now I see them creeping closer to the thousand mark.
Still a great little rifle BTW.
 
Sun_and_Steel_77 said:
And just where do you find a Howa Mini for much cheaper than a CZ 527 on the current market?
A couple years back when they were 600$ in a scoped package they were a great deal now I see them creeping closer to the thousand mark.
Still a great little rifle BTW.
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I'm just saying if you worried about the cost, and running surplus ammo. Get something less quality.

Tenda has the 527 for - 989

Howa mini - 823 or package for 949

Axis II Scout - 669$

Or there always the Ruger Ranch or ZASTAVA .. ALL under the cost of a CZ 527..
 
Folklorestatus said:
I shot a few hundred rounds of surplus through one of my 527’s. It’s not a rifle I would baby, I had picked it up for $700 used. No loss in accuracy or accelerated wear. My only complaint is the magazine design, which led me to feel the rifles were too dainty anything other than range use, which they were great for.
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What's wrong with the mag design? I have the 452 and the complaint I have about that is the release seems flimsy but that's a rimfire.
 
I didn’t find feeding reliable enough. In the end when it comes to mausers, I’ll stick to a fixed internal mag from now on. That’s just my preference. Also the mag release spring is of a questionable design and on one of my rifles and I had insert a plastic fulcrum for the mag release to even function.
 
I have owned a few in .223 and 7.62 over the years. I can’t be the only one who has experienced 7.62 rounds nose high in the feed lips, fail to be picked up by the bolts on multiple rifles, multiple magazines.
 
mr00jimbo said:
I know CZ says the gun is designed to fire 7.62x39 steel surplus. But I worry about it creating harm on the barrel. Fine for my SKS which was 200 bucks. But a thousand dollar CZ...

Does that not rapidly accelerate wear on the barrel and extractor?

Or is it unproven?
Click to expand...
I have the CZ 527 and shot surplus through it no problem. Clean your gun because it's corrosive.

Also shot over 4 cases of corrosive surplus through a Rem 700 test gun I made up. Still shooting as good as the first rounds I put in it. The 7.62x39 round is not that hot of a round pressure wise and mild steel copper plate jackets have not worn out the barrel so far after 5,000 + rds of it.
 
I haven’t shot steel case corrosive through the one I have but use the steel case Barnaul ammo with no issues
Tried that Ruag brass cased surplus and my gun doesn’t like it I get lots of failed to ignite issues
 
I really only shoot steel non corrosive in mine. Great gun for training up on iron sights and using a bolt in field positions, especially if you hunt with a similar rifle.

Not to mention use as a short range hunting rifle for deer
 
mr00jimbo said:
Ironically CZ's website mentions steel surplus may function better

"Built to CIP specifications, our 7.62×39 chambers are ideal for shooting steel-cased surplus ammo. Designed to shoot .311 bullets, some American brass ammo may not perform as well as the imported steel-cased variety because of SAAMI brass dimensions and varying bullet diameters."
Click to expand...

Notwithstanding CZ’s statement, My own experience has been 4-5 MOA groups with surplus ammo, 1.5 MOA with Federal American Eagle ammo, and consistent sub-MOA groups with hand loads using Hornady’s .310” 123 grain softpoint.
 
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