Why So Many CZ 452/455s on the EE?

The 452's are classic, good looking rifles, if you appreciate that kind of thing.
I do, and it's one of the reasons my 452 Varmint isn't going anywhere soon. It's a good shooter, which is the other reason.

The 455's have somewhat less of a reputation for accuracy, IMO CZ's quality slipped a notch when they introduced the 455 platform.

A lot of folks think a CZ is a magic ticket to tiny groups at a bargain price. The rifle is usually capable of it, unless you get a dud barrel.
When groups don't suddenly shrink, the rifle gets the blame and goes for sale.
 
Chilly807 said:
The 455's have somewhat less of a reputation for accuracy, IMO CZ's quality slipped a notch when they introduced the 455 platform.

A lot of folks think a CZ is a magic ticket to tiny groups at a bargain price. The rifle is usually capable of it, unless you get a dud barrel.
When groups don't suddenly shrink, the rifle gets the blame and goes for sale.
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^This.

The fact that a lot of people don't understand that you have to try different types of ammo to get the best out of your rifle seems to be the cause of many people being dissatisfied with their rimfire.

I have a 452 and 455. Both are great guns that do exactly what I want. The only downside, in my opinion, is the crappy scope mounting options.
 
Selling CZ's? Unpossible!!! I've got a small fleet of them and can't bring myself to sell any of the rimfires. My addiction carries on into the 527's as well, cute little rifles in cute little calibres, 17HH, 221FB, 204Rug, 222Rem, 223Rem and 6.5 Grendel.
 
Still kick myself for selling a 452 Thumbhole Varmit years ago because I thought it was too heavy to carry around. Replaced it with a 452 Lux and a Scout and an Ulta Lux and a Full stock. All 452's. They aren't going anywhere. A 527 full stock in .223 tops the collection off.
 
Great response to my question. Thank you.

For a while there I thought I was going to have to sell my CZ452s before the perceived glut crashes the price. There may be many on the market but the asking prices are holding up well.

Since CZ will not likely manufacture more 452s, I will hang on to my Style, Varmint and Scout (2). For some reason, I like them more than my 1416s.
 
easyrider604 said:
Great response to my question. Thank you.

For a while there I thought I was going to have to sell my CZ452s before the perceived glut crashes the price. There may be many on the market but the asking prices are holding up well.

Since CZ will not likely manufacture more 452s, I will hang on to my Style, Varmint and Scout (2). For some reason, I like them more than my 1416s.
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To be honest, I think the 452, and the Brno 1 and 2, and better than Anschutz 64 actions. Anschutz has a better trigger, high quality barrels ect. 64 actions are light, but they feel cheap to me, the CZ has a much tighter, smoother, more expensive feel.
 
easyrider604 said:
Great response to my question. Thank you.

For a while there I thought I was going to have to sell my CZ452s before the perceived glut crashes the price. There may be many on the market but the asking prices are holding up well.

Since CZ will not likely manufacture more 452s, I will hang on to my Style, Varmint and Scout (2). For some reason, I like them more than my 1416s.
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Yup, no more 452's, and no lefty love for for that very reason.

I've got a pair of lefty Americans, one .22LR and a .17HMR, both wear Leupold 3-9x33 EFR rimfire scopes.
A Silhouette and a Style...the same but different
Rare birds, a pair of 17M2's, one an American, and a Varmint imported from the US.
Full stocks? .22LR and a pair of .17HMR's....I'd trade one of the HMR's for a Full Stock .22 WMR 452 if anyone is interested.
Cute little 452 Scout in a cut down Boyd's Pro Varmint, the GF's favorite!
Last and not least, a 453 Varmint in .22LR, a 452 but better with a set trigger!
I've got a few 455's and 457's as well.
 
cam1936 said:
To be honest, I think the 452, and the Brno 1 and 2, and better than Anschutz 64 actions. Anschutz has a better trigger, high quality barrels ect. 64 actions are light, but they feel cheap to me, the CZ has a much tighter, smoother, more expensive feel.
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Yup, agree. Not only feel cheap, but looks cheap as well. CZ bolts are pretty and substantial and they have a firing pin stop that allows dry firing safely.

I didn't want to admit it...having paid more than twice the CZs for my 1416s. Even CZ magazines feel more substantial than Anschutz.

If luck is on your side, you can have a great CZ barrel that can give an Annie barrel a run for its money.
 
PGW Steve said:
Yup, no more 452's, and no lefty love for for that very reason.

I've got a pair of lefty Americans, one .22LR and a .17HMR, both wear Leupold 3-9x33 EFR rimfire scopes.
A Silhouette and a Style...the same but different
Rare birds, a pair of 17M2's, one an American, and a Varmint imported from the US.
Full stocks? .22LR and a pair of .17HMR's....I'd trade one of the HMR's for a Full Stock .22 WMR 452 if anyone is interested.
Cute little 452 Scout in a cut down Boyd's Pro Varmint, the GF's favorite!
Last and not least, a 453 Varmint in .22LR, a 452 but better with a set trigger!
I've got a few 455's and 457's as well.
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Someday, a 453 will find its way into my safe.
 
This is not good news for people with a serious case of CZitis and who are patiently awaiting the doors to be unlocked to the EE. (Good bye wallet...)
 
easyrider604 said:
As of this minute, there are 19 CZ452/455s of various flavors for sale, just on the first 2 pages of the Rimfire EE.

What's going on?
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At this moment there are some 12 or 13 CZ rimfire bolt rifles on the first two pages of the Rimfire EE, including a 457, the newest model. There's also about 15 or 16 Savage rimfire bolt rifles, not all of them in .22LR. Given a reasonable price, both makes probably sell relatively quickly on the EE.

It may be true that there are more CZ-made bolt rifles on the EE at any time, most of the time. I'll offer a reason why.

CZ makes popular rifles because they are known for being well-made rifles. They also have a reputaion for being good shooters, and many of them are just that. Anyone looking at RFC, the biggest rimfire forum, can find frequent attestations of how great CZ rifles shoot, some of them seemingly rivalling very expensive alternatives. CZ bolt rimfires are also appealing because of their price. They are not nearly as expensive as many new German-made sporters and many CZ models are clos to or only a little more than Savage bolt rimfires.

Combine a reputation for quality and great shooting and a relatively reasonable price, and CZ popularity can be understood.

But do CZ's shoot as well as so often suggested? Probably not. Some do shoot very well, but most are average CZ shooters that meet the CZ standard of 2 MOA groups at 50 yards. (According to posters on RFC who've sent their CZ to CZ USA because it's not shooting well enough, CZ USA tells them if it meets 2 MOA it's not defective.) For comparison, 2 MOA is 1" at 50 yards. That's not nearly as good as many might prefer.

While the vast majority of CZ barrels are of average CZ quality, the fact is that an average CZ barrel is not up to competing well against many more expensive alternatives. A 2 MOA standard is probably reasonable for a mass production rifle, but it's not what many CZ buyers expect or want. To be sure some CZ's produce very good accuracy, but the average one doesn't. From my own experience with about ten of them, not all CZ rimfire rifles shoot equally well or very well.

Even CZ rifles that do shoot well don't shoot well with just any ammo. It's necessary to use good match ammo to get really good results. A lot of newer shooters especially may not be prepared for the expense of match ammo to achieve good accuracy.

In the end, if a CZ rimfire rifle is purchased for target shooting, it may be a little disappointing to many shooters. The result is that they do not keep them.

On the other hand, if a CZ is bought for hunting, plinking, and casual target shooting, shooters should be very satisfied with them. They are very well made and many of them shoot well enough to do as well or even better than many other rifles around the same cost.
 
There is something else going on as well. Rimfire steel shooting is gaining in popularity. Some maybe moving over to Semi-auto rimfire rifles. I have to admit I am getting the itch. Pr. George is very active and the sport has my interest. Thanks John R. I see another $1,400 hole in my Bank account. A Winchester Wildcat and a S&W Victory may be in my mail before Christmas.

I won't be selling my Anschutz though.

Take Care

Bob
 
I have no experience with CZ rimfire rifles but I owned a CZ 22 Hornet back in the 80's and now I have a CZ 527 in 223 Rem/ 5.56 Nato.
The 22 Hornet was bought for a friend who was very frail and wanted something that had very low recoil. The action was very rough on that rifle and I spent hours polishing and filing tooling marks before getting it to feed and operate smoothly. My friend passed away a year later and he left it to me. I kept it for a while and then sold it.
Just recently I bought a CZ 527 because of all the good reports from Hickock 45 etc. The rifle is virtually as new so with my grandsons I went to a gravel pit to do some shooting. It was very difficult to operate the bolt because of binding and getting a cartridge to feed from a full magazine was next to impossible. You could not feed a cartridge slowly at all but if you slammed the bolt it worked part of the time. I have since spent about 5 hours with a fine file, sharpening stones and polishing paper and the bolt operates smoothly with just a hint of binding. Despite polishing the magazine lips and feed ramp it still does not feed well. Next step is to bend and polish the lips.
This is after reading dozens and dozens of forum and Youtube posts detailing the woes of many CZ owners. Many included comments on the rimfire models and there bolt and other problems.
I have owned at least a hundred rimfire and centerfire rifles of many different makes. I have never encountered such poorly finished and rough operating rifles. I thought that 30 plus years after my first CZ that they would be much better but the new one is worse.
In summary the CZ rifles are for sale because they do not all operate properly and the owners are not happy with them. When I get my CZ working decently it will be for sale as well.

PS
After a few hours of work I have the CZ 527 operating smoothly and I like it so much that I will keep it.
 
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remdog said:
In summary the CZ rifles are for sale because they do not all operate properly and the owners are not happy with them. When I get my CZ working decently it will be for sale as well.
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You're saying it's like a self-sustaining loop in which CZ rifles are on the EE because their owners are not satisfied with them and sell to others. The new owners are then are themselves unsatisfied with them and the rifles get sold again, causing the loop to continue in perpetuity.

Since new CZ rimfire rifles are good sellers this theory ought to guarantee a great number of them on the EE forever.

Your unsatisfactory experience with two different CZ centerfire rifles, one of which goes back over three decades and the other in the present adds some weight to your theory, despite positive reviews of such firearms from the likes of Hickock45. Is there any chance that your experience with your CZ's in 17 Hornet and 223 Rem are an anomaly, something unusual and out of the ordinary or expected? Or do these two rifles, out of the many thousands, even tens of thousands, of them sold over the last thirty years prove the point that CZ rifle owners aren't happy with their CZ rifles?
 
remdog said:
In summary the CZ rifles are for sale because they do not all operate properly and the owners are not happy with them. When I get my CZ working decently it will be for sale as well.
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That is certainly not my experience with CZ. I have bought 3 CZ rimfire, 1 centerfire rifle and 3 9mm pistols over the last 10 years. I see more tooling marks on my Anschutz than on any of the CZs.

I think there are lots on the EE because they are popular. People sell rifles all the time for all sorts of reasons. I have sold around 100 firearms between this site and Alberta Outdoorsman. Almost none were sold because they were bad, they were sold because I wanted something else. Buying and selling is a hobby in itself.
 
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