CZ 527 - 7.62x39 - Other owners?

mysteryfish

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Been eyeing this one up for a while.

Bought it. Lurve it.

Wondering if anyone else out there has one, and if you've bothered to see how far out it can shoot?

Also wondering about what kind of ammo other people are putting through it, and if anyone's using corrosive ammo...

I've put a few surplus rounds through this one, and felt guilty enough to strip it down to individual parts to clean it.

Can't decide if this is necessary of if I'm being paranoid.

I've been told that it will happily consume anything, and there have been no hiccups so far, and no noticeable degradation...

Anyhow, awesome rifle, super lightweight, really well made, and if you're feeling cavalier the ammo is dirt cheap.

Hoping some cheaper 7.62 might show up at some point though, so I can buy non-corrosive at prices like they've got down south.
 
You know, I'm not sure exactly. I can rummage through the random tool drawer and see if I've got a tiny bore gauge & mic...

Where would I measure from though? Lands or grooves? At the muzzle, I'm guessing, but it might be hard to get a useful number...

If it makes you feel better, I'm not noticing any horrible noises or complaints when I fire that surplus Czech stuff through it, and it's my understanding that those bullets are on the larger side.

Might be that I'm leaving a whole bunch of copper jacket inside the barrel though. Hard to tell, and I've only cleaned the thing twice, and I used loads of stupidly hot water, so I was paying more attention to getting my hands out quickly and less attention to the colour of the water.

If you're not on a serious ammo budget, (my primary motivation to buy 7.62x39) you could always opt for another caliber, but I really like these CZ rifles either way. Pricey, especially now, but I'm not unhappy that I spent the money.

UPDATE --- Well, I dug around a bit. No bore-gauge that small, but the micrometer & eyeball method suggests it's closer to .308 across the lands at the muzzle.

it's not exactly precise, but there's a visual difference when I dial the mic to .311. I'll get back to you if I can get a better measurement.

Meantime, that suggests I'm probably putting a pretty good squeeze on those bullets while they're making their way out... Anyone know if I should be worried about this?
 
Late update:

The gun's been out and about a few times with me now.

It loves that surplus ammunition, and I haven't had any problems.

The barrel gets fouled pretty badly after a while, but if I hit it with some of that foaming bore cleaner (wipe-out I think it's called), and let it sit, it comes out real nicely.

I've just been using a push-style cleaning rod with those pre-cut .308 patches, and it does a super job.

Performance wise, I'm hitting club soda cans in the 100+ yard range from a standing position. Not regularly, necessarily, but with confidence I can suggest that this is because of me, and probably not the rifle or the ammunition. Even when I miss, it's knocking chunks of stump off in a hand-spread size pattern around the target.

Only thing I can think of to mention at this point is that after some use, the firing pin spring is starting to break in, and unless I've failed to notice something stuck in the bolt, this is causing the occasional light strike. Those surplus primers are reportedly pretty hard, so this doesn't concern me in the least, and the gun is so easy to re-#### (just swivel the bolt knob up and back down) that it is only a minor irritation.

I suppose if you were trying to hunt with it, you might find yourself inclined to buy commercial ammunition to avoid this scenario, but for the type of shooting I do it's a minor issue.
 
Hornady 123 gr at .310 gives good accuracy in my 527. Several groups under an inch but the odd one at 1 1/2". .310 150 gr not so good - about 3" That's with RL 7.
 
According to Steve Redgwell's article on .303british.com on this rifle:

...It uses a 20 inch .311 diameter barrel with a 1 in 9 ½ inch twist.

:) Stuart

EDIT: OOPS... at the computer FAR too early this morning. Steve's article is on the Remington/Zastava 799. My bad. :redface:
 
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I have a CZ527 Carbine, I have only used Lapua 123gr FMJ ammo in it, it shoots this into 3/4" at 100 yds without any effort, I am excited about this kind of accuracy out of this little rifle so I went ahead and ordered dies and Speer bullets to explore it's potential accuracy, the groove diameter is .311, I am quoting this from another source since I haven't measured it myself, there are plenty of bullets in this diameter available from other mfg's so I don't see any problem in getting any reloading components. This little rifle has alot going for it,very solid all steel build, short, light, steel 5 shot clip mag, single set trigger, excellent open sights, CRF action, takedown bolt for cleaning, nice walnut stock with cut checkering and also a perfect platform for customising if required since it is perfect for a 6 or 6.5x47 or 6.5 Grendel, 6PPC and others based on this head size. I liked it so much I bought a full stock 223 Rem also.
A great buy in my opinion.
bigbull
 
CZ should have shipped the .311 bore unless a .308 was specified, RCBS however do provide both expander plugs in the dies and Sierra claim that it makes no difference at all. A friend uses oversized lead in the .308 barrel and (he had it rebarreled) it gets good results.
I use .311 sierra game kings in hand loads, it takes Roe deer fine in woodland. I wouldnt want to use it over 120 yards though, thats just me. Most of my stalking is up close and very personal in dense woodland, for that its ideal!
 
I have a leftie CZ527 as my varmint rifle (223) and I love it. I really like they way CZ puts them together -I have 2 now-a CZ452 as well. That Minimauser is such a nice piece of work and it is a delight to shoot.
 
Here is a reply from CZ regarding my bore diameter inquiry:

------------------

Dear Sir,
In accordance to C.I.P. standards can be bore diameter 7,62 mm (0,3").

Best regards

RADOMIR J A R K O
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT.

------------------

So there you have it - you are all wrong - it's a .300" diameter :runaway:
 
My CZ 527 Carbine is a pretty good rifle. With Norinco Silverbox non-corrosive it shoots just under 2" groups at 100 yards (5 shot groups). With Igman factory loads it shoots ~3" at 200 yards (5 shot groups). With handloads consisting of Lapua brass, Federal LRP, 25.5 grains of RL7 and Sierra 125 grain .311 bullets it shoots 1" at 100 yards. This winter I am loading some test loads with Hornady's 123 grain .3105 VMAX bullets using Lapua brass and RL7 for spring trials, hope to get it down to 3/4" inch at 100 and around 2" at 200 yards with more load development. Not too shabby for a 18.5" barreled carbine! Took it deer hunting this year (did not see anything with it) and it was a pleasure to carry in the bush due to the light weight and short length.

Once I get a little more used to the 1lb set trigger I hope to shrink the groups slightly. Last couple of times out to the range the set trigger would always bugger me up at least once per group... 1lb pull with no creep is a challenge when wearing winter gloves!
 
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Its a fine little rifle thats for sure!:D
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