New CZ-550 in .375 H&H

[redneckdan]

My CZ finally arrived last night. Here she is. Didn't have time to do it right so I just snapped a few pics of her layin in the case.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP3839.jpg


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP3840.jpg



I'm anxiously awaiting the end of the work week so I can go play with her.

Man that magnum length action is long. I smacked myself in the nose withe the end of the bolt yesterday while trying to cycle the action with the rifle shouldered.:groner:

[carpetman]

I like the CZ's---except the backwards safety--wish they'd fix that.

[Nobade]

They have. The American model is forward for fire now. I guess somebody listened! Now if they'd get rid of the goofy trigger and go with a nice single stage...

[redneckdan]

Now if they'd get rid of the goofy trigger and go with a nice single stage...

Oh hell no!!! Thats the reason I bought this rifle instead of a ruger #1 tropical. I like the set trigger. Took it out this afternoon with some blasting ammo so I could get chamber headspace readings. I was surprised at how the rifle kicks, its not a sharp wack but more of a shove. This thing is actually fun to shoot. You should see what a 200gr soft point at 3100FPS does to a basalt boulder.[smilie=f:

[Three44s]

Another fan of single set triggers and CZ's ...........

Great new big boomer!!!

Three 44s

[pietro]

Th American Safari I had, drove that stinker forward stock-positioned swivel eye into my off hand, so I removed it in favor of a barrel ring mounted eye, plugging the old eye hole with a thinned/brassie .375 case head.

If/when you take it apart, you'll appreciate the 2nd recoil lug in the barrel channel.

The one I grabbed had zero quality/fitting/accuracy issues - at a new/ordered cost well below anything else in it's class.
I also like the CZ trigger.

They are excellent buys, in a world-class rifle.

I had gone to the trouble of obtaining Burris rings for mine, and mounted a Leupold 3x w/heavy reticle because it seemed derigour - but I liked it better with the iron sights, and so quickly deleted it.

.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Nice looking rifle! Gotta get me one of those!!!

[redneckdan]

Th American Safari I had, drove that stinker forward stock-positioned swivel eye into my off hand, so I removed it in favor of a barrel ring mounted eye, plugging the old eye hole with a thinned/brassie .375 case head.




I tend to hold the stock with my off hand farther back; haven't had problems with the swivel stud yet but I do agree it would be better with a barrel swivel. One question, how did you get the barrel band over the front sight? I'd like to put a barrel swivel on it but all the ones I've found are once piece.

[pietro]

[how did you get the barrel band over the front sight? I'd like to put a barrel swivel on it but all the ones I've found are once piece.]

Buying new, today, you might be able to get a split band from Uncle Mike's or New England Custom Gun - but I had the one-piece band I used in my scrounge box since the 1970's.

It was made from some sort of malleable steel, polished/blued, with half of the swivel eye stud on each end of the somewhat open 3/4 circle barrel band part.

I simply slid it over the muzzle/sight upside-down, swung it eye down and pinched the two halves together.
An internal nut/screw, with a hole through the center to accept the QD loop, both tightened the barrel band halves together and kept the band in place.

.

[9.3X62AL]

I like the CZ's---except the backwards safety--wish they'd fix that.

Uncle Ray, my 550 in 9.3 x 62 (bought in 2002) has the safety as described by Nobade. Your statement DID make me get up--go out to the garage--open the safe--and confirm my belief. YA GOT ME.

Dan, I gave considerable thought to going 375 H&H at the time I decided on the 9.3 x 62. There was a 375 on display at the shop at the time I ordered the 550, and once the 9.3 arrived the size and weight differentials were pretty plain to see. The extra pound or so of weight likely makes the 375 a real kitten to shoot. My experience with a 375 H&H (a pre-war first-year Model 70) was like yours, subjectively--with 270 grainers, it was noticeable but not punishing. Now, you push out 286 grain NosParts from the 9.3 at 2450 FPS.......it does push back some, maybe a taste more than the M-70/375 did. As always, the BEST counter-measure for recoil and report is to have a nice game animal in front of the rifle at the time of firing.

[redneckdan]

Al, I had looked at the 9.3 but then +600 pieces of brass and a die set fell into my lap for under $150. The rifle is not nearly as heavy feeling as a first imagined...but it does have a rugged 'solid' feel to it, especially with 5 rds in the magazine and 1 in the chamber. :bigsmyl2:

[Marine Sgt 2111]

.375 is a great cast boolit platform also. I have a MKX action and a shaw barrel...RCBS 265gr cast FPGC...at about 1900-2000fps....fun to shoot and tough on critters. Nice rifle and I too am a fan of their single set triggers, so much so that I put a single set style trigger on my 98 mauser in .35 whelen. You will really enjoy the cartridge and rifle.:drinks:

[Crash_Corrigan]

So much that I have two of them. One is a Varmint .22LR and the other a full stocked .223.

I love them both. The triggers are the bomb. Very light and dead accurate. I am still looking for a decent set of iron sights for the .223 as a scope on this fine handling weapon really do nothing for me.

Yeah it will shoot 1 MOA at 100 yds all day long but with the scope it is just too big and clumsy looking. It screams for a good set of Williams or a Lyman Micrometer rear sight but I cannot seem to find one that fits the gun.

Just look at the size and mass of that scope on that neat little rifle. It is just too big and honking.

[9.3X62AL]

LT--

I wish I had a picture of it......I set a Leupold Compact 3x-9x atop my Ruger 77RC in 223, and it looks well-proportioned mounted on that sub-compact 16.5" whip-barrelled tack driver. This glass started life on top of a Ruger 77RH in 22 Hornet, and looked right at home on top of that rifle as well. When the Ruger refused to group, it left--the glass stayed--and the whippy-tubed 223 works just fine, less than MOA. Take a look at SWFA, they aren't real pricey IIRC.

Prying the assembly away from Marie is another issue entirely. Moral of that story--small, light rifles tend to be JACKED by that wife of mine.

[StarMetal]

I like the CZ's---except the backwards safety--wish they'd fix that.

They did

Joe

[PatMarlin]

3 words...

I want one ..:mrgreen:

[Four Fingers of Death]

So much that I have two of them. One is a Varmint .22LR and the other a full stocked .223.

I love them both. The triggers are the bomb. Very light and dead accurate. I am still looking for a decent set of iron sights for the .223 as a scope on this fine handling weapon really do nothing for me.

Yeah it will shoot 1 MOA at 100 yds all day long but with the scope it is just too big and clumsy looking. It screams for a good set of Williams or a Lyman Micrometer rear sight but I cannot seem to find one that fits the gun.

Just look at the size and mass of that scope on that neat little rifle. It is just too big and honking.

Give it the flick and get a vari X11 2-7 in low rings (perfect), or a 6x Compact Leupold in low rings (close to perfect). I have a 2-7 as above on my SAKO 223 in lowwwwwwww SAKO rings and it looks the goods!

[freedom475]

Dan that is a fine rifle. We had the same gun in my local gun shop for a long time.

The set trigger is very durable to say the least... the CZ 375 had it's trigger set and tripped by about every person that walked by the rack.

I am sure that it was no less then 2000 times. The trigger started to get a little tilt to it by the time an employee of the shop bought it and took it home. He said it would drive tacks and his wife loved it with the iron sights. Far as I know he still shoots it.

All of those customers tripping the trigger day in and day out really proved that the trigger ass. was a good one.

[redneckdan]

Just ordered a custom sizer in .369 from lee so I can start paper patching it. Hopfully they come through relatively quickly.

[45 2.1]

Just ordered a custom sizer in .369 from lee so I can start paper patching it. Hopfully they come through relatively quickly.

For the 375 H&H (in a No.1), 375 Win and 38-55, I size to 0.372" and it worked well with all.

[redneckdan]

I figured smaller would be better than too large, at least I can make a too small sizer bigger. For .45-70 I run .452 boolits, so I figured .375" -.006"= .369" should be about right.

[Four Fingers of Death]

45/70s run .457" round my way.

[use enough gun]

My best friend picked up a CZ in .458 Lott a couple years ago for a hunt in Africa. Great rifle but he had to have his gunsmith do a little tweeking on it. It didn't relyably feed the next cartridge from the magazine everytime. You may want to check yours for this also. In his case, he took it cape buffalo hunting and couldn't afford any feeding problems. Dave

[redneckdan]

45/70s run .457" round my way.


For paper patching I use a boolit .006" under nominal, ie for the .45-70 I use a boolit sized to .452 and wrap it up to .458" Thats why I figured .369 should be okay. Figure an extra thou for Lee boring it too large, and maybe another half thou from me polishing the tool marks out and the die should be about .3705-.3710

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Took my CZ550 458 Dakota (rechambered Lott barrel) to Africa last December for a Cape Buffalo hunt. My PH was impressed with the set-trigger, as I am. It killed a nice Cape Buffalo bull for me.
I'm getting to be a CZ/Big Bore junkie. I got a 9,3x62, 375H&H, 416 Rigby, 404 Jeffery, and a 505 Gibbs. It's great being able to shoot them all with my own cast boolits and a case full +/- of 7383. Under 2" at 50 yards and velocities near what I get with those condom bullets.

Rich

[AZHighwall]

Nice rifle. I am a big fan of the CZ rifles. I have 3 of them and all are good shooters. My favorite is my 527 Full Stock in 223. I wish there were more after market parts for them. Like Crash mentioned above I would like to put some iron sites on my little Full Stock. Please post a range report after you shoot it.

[redneckdan]

The day after I brought it home I shared with a friend 20 rounds of 200gr soft points over varying charges of H335, pretty much just blasting rocks to get fire formed cases for measuring. Couple nights later said friend called me to let me know he had caught another skunk in his live trap at his house and the next day would be another round of 'skunk sporting clays'. I loaded up six rounds of the lyman 240-ish grain plain base flat nose that KTW gave me over a medium charge of blue dot. I'll tell you what, it pretty much turned that skunk inside out.....and the stink...was unbeleiveable.........jen wouldn't let me in the house for hours. I didn't even get closer than 75yds to it.

That all was about a month and half ago. Haven't had time this semester to do much reloading or shooting. Still waiting on Lee to get the paper patching sizer die made....going on 6 weeks. Once the die arrives I'm going to test the samples I got and then decide on a mould. I was hopeing to use the CZ for deer this year but at this rate it will be Sierra 200grs or nothing. I do have other options...but nothing with the smackum of the holland and holland [smilie=f: ........keweenaw whitetails fall in the CXP4 class don't ya know....:kidding:

[HollandNut]

here's my CZ550 in the six shooter Lott ..

[redneckdan]

Well, finally got out to do some more testing last night. The warne mounts from midway showed up about a week ago and I mounted the 3-9x leupold I had laying around and bore sighted at 300yds. I had loaded up some rounds with a large pistol primer 10.5 gr of red dot and a gas checkless Lyman 375449, est. vel. 1100fps

6 shots at 50yds prone with a sling.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP3882.jpg




5 shots at 100yds prone with a sling.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP3883.jpg

My noob cannon....
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP3887.jpg

[9.3X62AL]

That is certainly "minute-of-whitetail" as it sits........

I would be tempted to snap some gas checks onto some more #375449s and see what happened at 1500-1700 FPS.

[redneckdan]

I'm waiting for the gator check buy to come in or Lee to finally make the damn .369" die I ordered 8 weeks ago so I can paper patch. I held the velocity way down to avoid leading. As it were, these loads penetrated 6" of oak log, probably would be okay at woods ranges on whitetails. Has more energy at the muzzle than Keith's general purpose .44 load