Hello All,
I am on the verge of making me next rifle purchase, and have settled on the CZ 550 and really like the Bavarian style stock with the schnabel fore end of the 550 Lux.
There are a few calibres that I am considering and the finalists are:
.270 Win - Tried, tested, and true. Great ammo availability, manageable recoil, flat shooting. Replacing my Remington 710 also in .270 so I would be very happy with this calibre and I could stuff the 710 in the truck as a backup gun and only have to take one kind of ammo along.
7mm Remington Magnum - Only available with the 550 Medium Lux, Good ammo availability, more recoil than the .270, but I have fired a 7mm Rem Mag many times in the past and am fine with the recoil, flat shooting, wider selection of factory ammo in terms of bullet weight.
8x57 (or '8mm Mauser') - What can I say... was used as a service cartridge adopted by the Germans in 1905 and still in use today. Popular calibre in Europe. Really think its neat to match a European made Mauser action bolt action rifle with the '8mm Mauser' cartridge. Always wanted a unique calibre tied to my European heritage. But the ammo selection is terrible (poor underloaded American factory stuff or the properly loaded Euro factory loadings by S&B and PRVI Partizan) which I am fine with, not sure of the recoil with the European 196gr loads as I've never fired one, and the ballistics aren't as good as the other contenders.
So my questions to you guys are:
First off:
Is there a difference in the stock styling between the 550 Lux and Medium Lux? If I'm going to buy this rifle it has to have the schnabel fore end, so if the Medium Lux doesn't have that feature in the stock styling then I'm going to have to rule out the 7mm Rem Mag. The reason I ask this question is that on the CZ Europe site they picture the Medium Lux with a stock similar to a mix between the Lux (for the hog back butt stock) and the Standard straight fore end. Other internet searches have resulted in retailers picturing a mixed bag between the two rifles. Can anyone shed any light on this? If the Medium Lux stock is exactly the same as the Lux then the 7mm Rem Mag chambering is definitely a contender.
What are you thoughts between my 3 finalists for calibre choice? (I know the 8x57 is kind of the odd-ball in terms of ballistics but I just think it would be cool to have a more unique European calibre)
Any info, thoughts, comments are welcome.
http://www.czub.cz/en/catalog/364-centerfire-rifles-cz/KM/CZ_550_LUX.aspx
http://www.czub.cz/en/catalog/364-centerfire-rifles-cz/KM/CZ_550_MEDIUM_LUX.aspx
I am on the verge of making me next rifle purchase, and have settled on the CZ 550 and really like the Bavarian style stock with the schnabel fore end of the 550 Lux.
There are a few calibres that I am considering and the finalists are:
.270 Win - Tried, tested, and true. Great ammo availability, manageable recoil, flat shooting. Replacing my Remington 710 also in .270 so I would be very happy with this calibre and I could stuff the 710 in the truck as a backup gun and only have to take one kind of ammo along.
7mm Remington Magnum - Only available with the 550 Medium Lux, Good ammo availability, more recoil than the .270, but I have fired a 7mm Rem Mag many times in the past and am fine with the recoil, flat shooting, wider selection of factory ammo in terms of bullet weight.
8x57 (or '8mm Mauser') - What can I say... was used as a service cartridge adopted by the Germans in 1905 and still in use today. Popular calibre in Europe. Really think its neat to match a European made Mauser action bolt action rifle with the '8mm Mauser' cartridge. Always wanted a unique calibre tied to my European heritage. But the ammo selection is terrible (poor underloaded American factory stuff or the properly loaded Euro factory loadings by S&B and PRVI Partizan) which I am fine with, not sure of the recoil with the European 196gr loads as I've never fired one, and the ballistics aren't as good as the other contenders.
So my questions to you guys are:
First off:
Is there a difference in the stock styling between the 550 Lux and Medium Lux? If I'm going to buy this rifle it has to have the schnabel fore end, so if the Medium Lux doesn't have that feature in the stock styling then I'm going to have to rule out the 7mm Rem Mag. The reason I ask this question is that on the CZ Europe site they picture the Medium Lux with a stock similar to a mix between the Lux (for the hog back butt stock) and the Standard straight fore end. Other internet searches have resulted in retailers picturing a mixed bag between the two rifles. Can anyone shed any light on this? If the Medium Lux stock is exactly the same as the Lux then the 7mm Rem Mag chambering is definitely a contender.
What are you thoughts between my 3 finalists for calibre choice? (I know the 8x57 is kind of the odd-ball in terms of ballistics but I just think it would be cool to have a more unique European calibre)
Any info, thoughts, comments are welcome.
http://www.czub.cz/en/catalog/364-centerfire-rifles-cz/KM/CZ_550_LUX.aspx
http://www.czub.cz/en/catalog/364-centerfire-rifles-cz/KM/CZ_550_MEDIUM_LUX.aspx
