I know that is a contradiction. I used to be a solid Ruger shooter from about 1967 on, but three years ago switched to CZs when my Mark II in 7x57mm just began going south on me accuracy-wise with the same load I always used and a trip back to the factory got me the rifle back with a note explaining that a 2.5 inch group was within the company's guidelines. I was about to go on an antelope hunt too, wich really killed me. I read a story in one of the gun rags about the CZ 550, so I sold the Ruger and a Simmon's scope I had on hand, and ended up paying all of $37 to Phil at CZ connection for a really nice CZ 550 American in 7x57mm. I did an internet tutorial by Jack Belk on glassbedding, so I glassbedded the action area and about the first inch and one-half of the barrel. In the process I made sure the barrel was freefloated. Next, not because I had to, but because I wanted to, I removed the elephant snot CZ uses as a finish on the rifle and refinished the stock in GB Lindspeed Oil. Next, I had a gunsmith in El Paso, Texas, jewell the bold with a small herringbone pattern and polish the bolt handle to the nickle finish that is under the black finish CZ has on the bolt handles. I topped it with a Leupold 4x12 scope in Talley Rings (I never did like the CZ standard rings. They are solid, but built and weigh like a tank). The last thing I did was put a custom sling on it from El Paso Gun Exchange. I got real lucky in load development. The rifle has the euro-twist of 1x8.66 so I started with the same load I had been shooting in the Ruger, which, when it was sold went from a rifle shooting about one-inch groups at 100 yards to a three-inch, 100 yard, grouping rifle, and shot it out of the CZ. I got it on paper without too much problems, then walked it over to the little orange dot on the paper. I set up a new target because I had shot the crud out of the one I had been using. After a patch down the barrel I shot at the black dot in the middle of the orange circle. I looked through the scope and the white background was clean of holes. "Damn," I thought. This one is going to be trouble. I aimed again without making any adjustments, and shot a second time. I looked quickly through the scope and darned if the first reaction was another miss of not only the orange dot, but the entire damn target. My shooting buddy, whose eyes are a lot better than mine told me to look through my scope again, because that dot in the center of the target just got a bit bigger. Sure enough, two shots almost through the same darn hole. I began to get a case of the shakes, like a pup crapping a peach seed and my third shot made a set of Mickey Mouse ears. The overall group size went .290. I shot another group that day which went .216. Talk about flabbergasted! Granted, I did a lot of work on the rifle, but it was because I wanted to do it, not because I had to do it. My little brother in El Paso saw my rifle and bought a CZ 550 Full Stock in 7x57mm. My load was with a Hornady 162 grain SST in front of H414 powder in a Remington Case fired off my a 210 primer. I later dropped the load by .6 grains because someone told me my pressure was way too high according to his home ballistics program. Fueled by this experience, I bought a CZ 527 Lux in .223 Remington. That little puppy is also awesome accurate, and has since had a CZ Fancy Grade American Walnut aftermarket stock put on it and the action pillar bedded by a gunsmith in Grants, New Mexico. Sorry health and a high altitude forced me to move to a lower elevation, like from about 6,500 feet at Grants to 900 feet at Eudora, Ks. Right now, I live about 30 miles from the CZ American warehouse, but have not been there yet. So, after all that, would I like to see a dedicated CZ Site on this Forum, yes! Tom Purdom :grin:
