SOG VZ-24 7 mm - Guidance needed

[broomhandle]

Hi Guys,

I bought a CZ-24 from SOG advertised as "good" it was made in 1934 for Brazilian rebels! One of 15,000!
The rifle was worn, but solid looking.
I did a quick cleaning of the bore & was happy to see it had a nice crown & a fairly bright bore - slightly rounded worn rifling! A 7 mm jacketed Privi -Partzan loaded bullet fit well at the crown!

It is better than a few M/N rifle I have that shoot well!
I fired three jacked (P P )loaded bullets in it, accuracy was poor! Tried about 5 rounds of my 7mm cast bullet loads. It was much better! (25 yards)

PLEASE read on! I might need a new barrel!

I have now stripped the rifle & discovered the stock bolts were loose, but the capture screws were locked!

The rifle was really filled with old cosmoline & wood dust! The cleaning rod channel was packed with the wood dust & old cosmoline, took about a half hour to remove all the junk.
About two hours more to clean the inside of the stock & barrel action!
Cleaned the bore with a new 7mm brush & a old 30 cal brush. Got lots of fouling & powder residue out of it!
After a lot of cleaning & patching a bit brighter bore too! I'm hoping it will shoot better later on!

I'm going to clean up the wood, had it sitting out in the GA. sun for two days. I'm cleaning some light rust (here & there nothing major) from the barreled action & bolt, with 0000 steel & some gun oil.
I'll get it back together sometime later in the week!

I found a new box of Rem 7 mm jacketed bullets too! I'm hoping they might shoot better then the Privi- Partizan stuff!

My question:
IF I need a new barrel, were do I locate a good 7 mm VZ- 24 barrel? Can it be rebarreled in 308? Is that smart to do?
I looked around on the net & 7 mm military barrels seem to be out of stock -- all over!

I know that Adams & Bennet have a 7mm barrel, but many people say the quality stinks!
I'm told relocating the front sight is a major & costly pain!

Logar Walther makes a long chambered barrel that might work. Do you fellows know of someone here that can mount it? Approx cost involved?

My gunsmith wants no part of any old 7 mm military rifle!

Thanks for any help!
broomhandle

[NickSS]

The only place you possibly could find a barrel is gun parts, SARCO or perhaps Century Arms. As far as putting it on that is very variable and I will not estimate the cost. The Brazilian 7 mms are a nice rifle and were well made as they are pretty standard 98 mouser actions you may be able to find a 308 military barrel easier than the 7mm ones as a lot of countries converted both 7mm and 8mm mousers to that caliber in the 50s to early 60s as a cost saving method of arming troops.

[mroliver77]

Don't panic yet! Keep cleaning this barrel. A good soak with copper eating solution followed by a good scrubbing with a brush followed by a soaking with normal gun cleaner or eds red to disolve powder. These old girls seem to have layers of crud that sometimes(frequently) need to be dissolved one layer at a time. Let the chemicals do the work. Soak for 6-12 hours each time or follow the directions on harsh copper solvents.

After it is good an clean a good workout with some high antimony(or paper patched) boolits help to polish the bore.

If you can get any blue from copper solvent in the barrel it is not clean enough.

Only after it is cleaned well can you asses its condition.
Jay

[frkelly74]

I would really think hard about making any changes to the rifle. It will cost hundreds and seriously decrease the value of the piece. They don't make them any more you know. Clean it up and get a boolit to fit the bore and enjoy. 7mm is a good caliber to work with.


I have some 287221 loverin boolits and will be casting some 287641 soon. if you want to try some we can certainly work out a trade of some kind.

[broomhandle]

Hi Fellows,

Thanks so much for the replys!


I'll keep working on it!

Be well & SAFE,
broomhandle

[6.5 mike]

Take frkelly 74 up on his offer, I got some of the 287221's from him for my old FN 7x57 that has the older bbl specs to paper patch. These are a long heavy boolit that matches the mil-spec 175 gr length. Keep cleaning, & enjoy. BTW, he's a real good man to deal with.

[broomhandle]

Hi frkelly74,

Thanks for the offer! Thats really nice of you!
I will take you up on your offer, if my two 7 mm molds don't work out.

As soon as I get done cleaning the rest of black stuff out of it!
I will try the jacketed bullets & some cast bullets made with my molds first.
I hate to bother other guys with my problems.... then again I don't want to reinvent the wheel (again) !:?

It's funny, that I will get a few light gray patchs out of it. Then let it sit with more solvent in it & I get even more " black stuff" out of it!:confused:
I'm going to run some Chore Boy solid copper wool down the bore later today! I really did not think it was dirty as it has proven to be!

Best,
broom

[frkelly74]

Thank you for the kind words Mike.

The 287221 boolits are ready now, they are as Mike said heavy long boolits. They weigh about 180 gr and are plain base "ring shanks". I have only shot them sized .285 in my Chilean Mauser.

A lot of crud can get incorporated into a bore over in a century. It will take a while and some effort to get it
out. I have considered one of those electric cleaners and some time might pick one up.

The thing about chore boys is there are steel ones that you have to watch out for, they will be unduly hard on a bore. I think the the copper ones will contribute to the green colored patches because they will be attacked by the bore cleaner too. So you may be perfectly clean and still get green patches after scrubbing with copper. That is my theory any way.

I will get some of the 287641 boolits cast soon and personally I can't wait to see how they work.

[broomhandle]

Quote from frkelly74,

"I have some 287221 loverin boolits and will be casting some 287641 soon. if you want to try some we can certainly work out a trade of some kind. "

Hi Sir,

I'm not sharp on mold #'s, what brand molds are they?

I had mentioned I have two molds buried in a ammo box in the garage. I might have them molds you mentioned! As I recall the two I bought used here, were really well thought of!

Best,
broom

[frkelly74]

both are lyman numbers.

[broomhandle]

Thank you Sir!

Best, broom

[broomhandle]

Thank you sir!

Best, broom

[Von Dingo]

Is it one of the VZ's with the integral milled front sight?

[pbbutz]

Slugged the bore yet? I feel that is the first step right after a thorough cleaning of the bore. Without knowing the bore specs, you're just guessing about the whole thing. Keep the gun the way it is. My 2 cents.

[Ed in North Texas]

Is there a crest on these rifles? If they were really made for "rebels", I would expect to see no crest such as the earlier government contracted rifles had. OTOH, some South American nations bought smaller quantities of rifles for their national police forces around the '30s.

As for cleaning, I usually use JB Bore Paste (along with the usual cleaners such as Sweet's 7.62) when cleaning old military weapons I acquire. While doing the cleaning (over several days), I also Kroil the bore (and leave the weapon out in the Texas sun to warm everything up) between cleanings. It is amazing what these old firearms collect over the decades (or even century - just picked up a Krag).

[Surplus Shooter]

You would probably end up putting more into fixing it then you paid for it.

[broomhandle]

Hi Fellows,

We have been gone for a while!
I cleaned the heck out of the bore. I then degreases it with acatone.

Used my pals OUTERS Foul out kit, with a new bottle of cleaner.
The stuff that came out of the bore was realy suprizing for a so called "clean"bore.

A good brushing with a new brush & cleaning with Hoppes made a noticable diffrence in the over all shine of the bore. The larger bore dim. is cleaner & brighter now.
It is now shooting buch better groups!

Best to all & THANKS,
broomhandle

[junkbug]

If the lock screws were tight, but the action is even slightly loose, you may have bedding problems. Even a perfect bore screwed properly in a good action can give crummy accuracy with poor bedding.

You can try making shims for the bottom of the stock bedding area out of thick paper, like file folder stock. Try to cut it so it fits as perfectly as you can make it on the bottom bedding flat. Tat paper is cheap, so you can try over and over until you get it how you want it.

Slugging the barrel is often parroted advice, but you should still get reasonable accuracy with jacketed bullets with a worn bore if everything else is right, without having to do that. Reasonable to me is 4 to 6" at 100 yards with those wretched sights. Maybe better if you have younger eyes.