School me on CZ rimfires

My CZ455 in .17HMR. A tack driver! (and for sale, I might shamelessly add)

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That's nice!

Not ready to take on the expense of the ammo for it though! My 455 Supermatch in .22 LR is just fine, although I might consider adding another barrel for it at some point just for the heck of it.
 
I have both, a 455 American and a 452 Varmint, both in 22 LR. I'd say the Varmint is an easier rifle to shoot well, due to it's greater mass. My 455 has pillars and epoxy bedding, a crown touch-up and lighter trigger, and it shoots slightly better than it did previously. A truly skilled shooter would get better results than I have, I'm sure. Equipment only takes you so far, then the shooter's ability takes you the rest of the way. I shoot the 452 Varmint better because it's more forgiving, IMO.
Trigger quality of the two rifles is about equal, both have silky smooth bolts after being broken in, wood quality is about the same.
The barrel mounting system on the 455 seems fine to me, mine certainly isn't a wild shooter. I don't ever plan to change barrels, would have been quite happy with a 452 American if I'd found one, but I didn't.
I think a lot of the anti 455 hype is that it's radically different from the 452 in one aspect critical to a rifleman, the barrel.
In short, if I'd owned a 452 first, I'd probably never have bought the 455, instead I would have prayed the 452 never broke. I might even have joined the legions of CZ owners that turned up their noses at the 455s.
Drawing on the experience of others, or at least what they've shared online, I think the 455 platform MAY be slightly less accurate than the 452, but that's treacherous ground to take a stand on. I wouldn't want to bet any money on that!
I've heard of examples of both shooting very well in some cases, very poorly in others.
The 455 is hands down an easier rifle to deep clean, you can get access to the front of the action and the barrel face very easily.
For what they're meant to be, both platforms are entirely adequate, IMO.

Chilly I agree with you I have a 455 that is coming along slowly and it shoots almost as well as my 452 scout that met the 1/2"@50. Still needs a little more tweaking and there is some left to do as you know you can only make one change at a time to avoid loosing the rabbit.The weather these days is good for morning shooting.May give it another test on Sunday.

R
 
A truly skilled shooter would get better results than I have, I'm sure. Equipment only takes you so far, then the shooter's ability takes you the rest of the way. I shoot the 452 Varmint better because it's more forgiving, IMO.

Maybe the varmint is more forgiving, or perhaps it just has a slightly better barrel. If you've spent a fair amount of time with the 455 and tried several different shooting techniques but haven't achieved any significant improvement one way or the other then you're very likely shooting it at it's maximum capability. I'd bet money that you're a better shooter than either your 455 or 452 is showing you. Equipment is everything in the .22LR accuracy game, the #1 shooter in the world cannot compensate for accuracy that just isn't there. Remember the CZ accuracy standard is 1/2" to 1" at 50 yards.

Drawing on the experience of others, or at least what they've shared online, I think the 455 platform MAY be slightly less accurate than the 452, but that's treacherous ground to take a stand on. I wouldn't want to bet any money on that!

Talking about the platform ie: the action, fit either with a custom barrel, pillar it, bed it and you'd be hard pressed to notice any accuracy difference. There is so much variance in the quality of CZ factory barrels that you cannot make a blanket statement that CZ model 45X is more accurate than 45Y, it all depends on the barrel ya get on it. I can see how the 455 platform introduces more areas for things to go wrong with the barrel. Over torque the grub screws and you distort the chamber. Assemble any one 455 and the variance in receiver face to bolt recess and barrel shank length give you a wide combination of different headspaces. Some custom builders have found the 455 platform to shoot best with tight headspace but CZ only builds them to pass the GO/NO GO test. I recently discovered the bolt guide may have been preventing my barrel from fully seating against the receiver face. CZ may have also gone through a rough patch of Quality Control during the introduction of the 455.
 
Your statement about the bolt the bolt guide answers the situation with red plastigage that wasn't compressed enough to reveal a accurate measurement.As was mentioned before the next size up in plastigage would have confirmed that measurement for you.And then confirmed the bolt guide issue as not allowing the barrel to fully seat.Live and learn we have all discovered small tweaks can help in getting the gun closer to its potential even if it is a CZ.

R
 
Live and learn we have all discovered small tweaks can help in getting the gun closer to its potential even if it is a CZ.

R

Good point, Ron. Sometimes we make a change and expect the skies to split open, the sun to shine, and the angels to sing. I'm not saying that doesn't happen, but more often what you'll see is a minor improvement, like shooting a few points better on each target. It may only be a couple points over the course of a day's shooting, but that's often enough.
I like reviewing targets after they've been scored, to see what's really going on. How many shots were close to scoring higher? What trends are there, for example are most shots high and left? What does that mean, really? Simply that I need to adjust sights, or that I'm putting pressure on the rifle to push the shots there?
One gentleman I shoot with from time to time makes a point of photographing each of his targets at a match, so he can go back and look at them after they've been submitted to be scored. He knows what he scored, that's a matter of record. How he arrived at it, where improvement can be made, that's something else again.
 
Equipment is everything in the .22LR accuracy game, the #1 shooter in the world cannot compensate for accuracy that just isn't there. Remember the CZ accuracy standard is 1/2" to 1" at 50 yards.

maybe we as buyers should demand more out of CZ to manufacture a product that can do better then the industries standard as most gun markers are claiming MOA at 50yrd or 100. CZ can start making a better quality barrels is that too much to ask for? we all want 1/4" @ 50yrds or better don't we? I know I do.... :stirthepot2:
 
maybe we as buyers should demand more out of CZ to manufacture a product that can do better then the industries standard as most gun markers are claiming MOA at 50yrd or 100. CZ can start making a better quality barrels is that too much to ask for? we all want 1/4" @ 50yrds or better don't we? I know I do.... :stirthepot2:
Unfortunately there is no industry standard for rimfire accuracy. Few .22LR manufactures claim or promise MOA (about half-an-inch) at 50 yards. Are there other sporter .22LR rifles makers other than Cooper or perhaps Sako that offer such an accuracy guarantee? Does Anschutz guarantee accuracy with their sporter models? CZ rifles should shoot within 1" at 50 yards, although it is not a hard and fast rule that is written in an accuracy guarantee. The great thing is that many CZ's do shoot much better than that -- less than half-an-inch at 50 yards, for example -- and that, with their quality, and fit and finish, is what makes them so appealing.
 
The members having unsatisfactory results in accuracy should post pics of their whole shooting station. My home built rest, copied off the web of course, weighs in at 30 lbs.
 
My take on CZ is meh, I had a 452 varmint and pillar beded 455 varmint. I managed to shoot challenge groups with both but it was a lot of try,s. I have since sold them both. For there price point they are decent rifles, just not real accurate target rifles. I bought an older Annie match 64 back in January and that 40 year old rifle has it all over my CZs. It was quite easy to shoot a challenge group and the trigger needed nothing unlike a CZ. I have since moved to a new Annie MPR and while sure it's twice the price but it's also 3x the rifle. I see CZ, s up for sale on the ee all the time as they just are not that accurate. My savages were just as accurate for 1/3 less. $.
 
maybe we as buyers should demand more out of CZ to manufacture a product that can do better then the industries standard as most gun markers are claiming MOA at 50yrd or 100. CZ can start making a better quality barrels is that too much to ask for? we all want 1/4" @ 50yrds or better don't we? I know I do.... :stirthepot2:

Those claims are for center fire rifles, are they not? With the caveat of using premium or hand loaded ammo. For CZ to make a better barrel would drive up the cost so much that nobody would be interested in them at their current level of design, fit and finish as you'd simply hop over to the superior Anschütz line. Then they'd have to improve their action design, stock quality, fly trigger standard etc for a further cost increase likely to exceed Anschütz. So no, CZ has their niche at their price point and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

We'd all love to shoot bughole groups but need to be realistic about the capabilities of our "twenny tews". Either a 455 or annie 64 hotroded with a custom barrel is only good for 0.2"-0.3" at 50 yards. Factory CZs, Annies, Savages and the like can hit those numbers but fall short of doing so reliably and consistently. Both Savagecanuk and I strived to beat the 1/2" challenge with all 0.2" and 0.3" groups shooting our 64 MPR and MSR respectively. We each achieved numerous successful targets for the challenge but could not hit that extra goal and posted up with one spoiler group in the 0.4"s. Given more time and more shooting I'm sure we'd have eventually gotten the result we wanted but I ran out of my MSR's preferred ammo and we are in the midst of an SK & Lapua ammo shortage.

That brings me to another point. Not only does beating the 1/2" challenge require an excellent rifle, the rifle must be paired with that special lot of it's preferred ammo. I tested out a box of Eley Edge and Match in my MSR and the results were not pretty. 0/20 groups under 1/2", 0.6"-0.9" average with a handful over 1". Yep, the almighty Annie with top shelf Eley made it astoundingly clear that a proper pairing of rifle to ammo is essential when chasing accuracy, two quality products are no guarantee that accuracy will be obtained. The next best substitute for ammo in my MSR is RWS Special Match at 2x the cost and slightly lesser performance than SK. 22 LR is notoriously sensitive and finicky and we have no control over how the ammo we buy is produced. If ya want 1/4" at 50 yards yer gunna hit that point of greatly diminished increase in accuracy for huge $$. Yer gunna need a Turbo or Stiller action, custom barrel, custom bedded stock, one piece rest, lot test tooonnnnsss of ammo, buy all of that lot you can get your hands on, and plop a tuner on the end of the barrel to tweak out that last 0.0001" improvement. Should only cost $5-7 G when you're done ;) I'm not chasing it....

When you're that serious (or nutty...) about accuracy you step up to center fire. Rimfire is supposed to be fun :d my new favorite discipline is small bore silhouette where you can be competitive even with modest equipment since you as the shooter become the main factor in your results. It's way more satisfying to knock down 5 in a row (or 10 or 15) than to shoot a benchrest group in the 0.1"s.
 
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Unfortunately there is no industry standard for rimfire accuracy. Few .22LR manufactures claim or promise MOA (about half-an-inch) at 50 yards. Are there other sporter .22LR rifles makers other than Cooper or perhaps Sako that offer such an accuracy guarantee? Does Anschutz guarantee accuracy with their sporter models? CZ rifles should shoot within 1" at 50 yards, although it is not a hard and fast rule that is written in an accuracy guarantee. The great thing is that many CZ's do shoot much better than that -- less than half-an-inch at 50 yards, for example -- and that, with their quality, and fit and finish, is what makes them so appealing.

that is why I switched from a Savage MarkII TRR it shoots great but the fit & finish quality of metal on a CZ was night & day over the savage products.
 
Thanks for everyone's input. I finally got my squirrel gun put together. Cz 455 varmint 22lr with talley high rings and a nikon prostaff 2 4-12x40 bdc. Going to the range to get everything zeroed later this week. I have high hopes :runaway:



P.s. I'm thinking about getting a Boyds stock for it. But that's a project for another day.
 
Woohoo! Was starting to think your rifle got lost in the mail lol. I also have a certain CZ to go test again, the weather forecast sucks this week, windy and rainy until next Monday. Shoot me a PM if you're going to head over to Silverdale.
 
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