Ahsan Ahmed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I have a strong affinity for CZ550 rifles.
However, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with one particular CZ550 (30-06). I have been using rifles for 45 years but never considered getting into reloading simply due to ease of availability of generally accurate factory ammo for the purposes of hunting.
The particular rifle was the catalyst that made me become involved in hand loading rifle cartridges. Prior to that all along, the frustration had been that the rifle (from a cold, clean and/or fouled barrel) always placed the first couple shots inside the bull at 100m and then the group opened up to about 5 inches!
That was regardless of testing with a variety of 150/165gr weights and ammo brands (all factory loads). I wasn’t bothered too much given that it was a plain hunting rifle anyway.
I also partially attributed that to the fact that the barrel although fully free floated isn’t centered in the stock channel but leans very close to the left side. It is apparent that a proper bedding job may be the appropriate thing to do.
I determined that the barrel responded quite favorably with a charge of 56.7gr of H4350 and integrity of 5-shot groups always remained intact – that had never ever been the case previously using factory loads!
Before the ranges had shut down here in ON, I made up a batch of some test loads with a mix of Sako/S&B brass, all other components remaining constant. The only noticeable change between the two groups were elevation shift. Well, a group is always easy to move. I didn't have any opportunity for further range session with this rifle.
Question is – how much would I really benefit from a bedding job given that I do not have the requisite skills to do one – which means spending $ to get the job done? The likelihood is that it might shoot even tighter groups and then again perhaps not …
However, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with one particular CZ550 (30-06). I have been using rifles for 45 years but never considered getting into reloading simply due to ease of availability of generally accurate factory ammo for the purposes of hunting.
The particular rifle was the catalyst that made me become involved in hand loading rifle cartridges. Prior to that all along, the frustration had been that the rifle (from a cold, clean and/or fouled barrel) always placed the first couple shots inside the bull at 100m and then the group opened up to about 5 inches!
That was regardless of testing with a variety of 150/165gr weights and ammo brands (all factory loads). I wasn’t bothered too much given that it was a plain hunting rifle anyway.
I also partially attributed that to the fact that the barrel although fully free floated isn’t centered in the stock channel but leans very close to the left side. It is apparent that a proper bedding job may be the appropriate thing to do.
I determined that the barrel responded quite favorably with a charge of 56.7gr of H4350 and integrity of 5-shot groups always remained intact – that had never ever been the case previously using factory loads!
Before the ranges had shut down here in ON, I made up a batch of some test loads with a mix of Sako/S&B brass, all other components remaining constant. The only noticeable change between the two groups were elevation shift. Well, a group is always easy to move. I didn't have any opportunity for further range session with this rifle.
Question is – how much would I really benefit from a bedding job given that I do not have the requisite skills to do one – which means spending $ to get the job done? The likelihood is that it might shoot even tighter groups and then again perhaps not …
Last edited:
