After much deliberation, I settled on a Tikka T3 Varmint chambered in 22-250 rem (24 blued, varmint barrel, composite stock). While placing the order, it came to our attention that the wholesaler was running an overstock special on CZ 527 Americans chambered in .204 ruger (22 blued, walnut). The deal was too good to pass up. The next day I had two new rifles to play with. God Bless America! (My next-door neighbor has a FFL and does a small business out of his basement. My wife says its kinda like a crack head living next to a meth lab). :-D
I have never owned a CZ or a Tikka, but have been wanting to test drive both for a while now. The following is my initial impression of these two rifles. This is just my opinion, and we know what opinions are like. Im not trying to convince anyone one-way or the other. Just thought it might be interesting for someone else out there that may be considering one of these rifles.
Tikka T3 Varmint. Initial impression was that the heavy varmint barrel with the composite stock created a muzzle heavy rifle. Surprisingly, when shouldered, the rifle balanced well. The trigger guard, clip, bolt shroud (and other parts Im sure) are a type of plastic. This was the one thing that has kept me from buying a T3 sooner. Only time will tell if this is going to be an issue. I am told that this plastic is remarkably strong. In this rifle, the plastic may prove to be beneficial. It lightens the rifle up a bit. Its about 8lbs out of the box. Not bad for a varmint. The raised cheek piece puts my eye right where I like it. The checkering, palm swell, and beaver tail forend are functional and aesthetically pleasing. The trigger breaks like a glass a glass rod - right out of the box. I'm not even going to touch it. It really is that good honest. All my Rugers have Timneys in them (which I like), but I would put this factory trigger even ahead of the Timney. The bolt is so smooth its sick. I mean the thing feels like its rolling on ball bearings.
The rifle comes with an integrated scope rail and rings. I topped it with a Weaver Grand Slam 3X10, bore sighted, and headed behind the house. All of my hand loads are pretty hot, so I grabbed an old box of factory Remington 55gr PSPs to use while the barrel is new. Contrary to what I read, I was able to single feed the rifle (the ejection port is very small).
What happened next is a first for me and will most likely never happen again. As I lined up the cross hairs on my 50 yrd target, I caught a glimpse of a ferule cat down range (you can see where this is going). The cat was walking between the 100 & 200 yard targets. He stopped at about 140 yrds and I thought what the heck, well see how good shes bore sighted. Put it on his shoulder and squeezed. He flew about three feet in the air and fell over dead :eek: :eek: . Needless to say, I was stoked. A confirmed kill on the first round through the chamber, now thats some good mojo! Decided there wasnt any need to shoot at the 50 yrd target so I decided to shoot a three shot group at 100. The next two rounds were a ragged hole an inch high, windage was perfect. I pulled the third round half an inch to the left. Those are the only four rounds I have had a chance to put through the rifle.
So, with some old factory ammo, I was able to get a kill and shoot a sub moa group. :-D As I look at that target sitting on my bench, I can still hardly believe it. This rifle has incredible promise. I cant wait to feed her some reloads and find her sweet spot. Overall rating: A- This rifle is made by the same people who make Sakos on the same machines. It shows. I truly believe this is twice the value of a Sako. That being said, of course I would still rather have a Sako, but then again, I can buy two Tikkas for that price. The only thing that keeps me from giving it an A is the plastic clip and trigger guard, probably not even an issue.
The CZ. We actually ordered six CZs so I had a few from which to choose. I was shocked. None of them had the unbelievable Turkish walnut Ive heard so much about. The one that I chose was nice wood indeed, but nothing special. Of course the one with the best wood had the absolute worst trigger. TERRIBLE trigger. More creep than a 40 yr old man at a Brittney Spears concert. That was remedied by swapping that wood with one of the CZs that had a fair trigger (one of the advantageous of living next to the dealer). Still some creep, but when you get there, it breaks nice. Certainly better than any of my factory Ruger triggers. Swapping the bbls lead to the discover of what I consider an awkward if not poor design. The means by which the clip (which is all metal btw) is secured is a little tricky to reassemble. Now that I have taken the action out a couple of times its NBD, but I admit to getting a little frustrated the first time. Then again, Im not a patient man. Fit and finish is really quite good, tolerances are tight. CZ seems to have come along way in this regard. The bluing is very good. The bolt is surprisingly smooth and solid. It is built on a Mauser style action. I was surpised though that the bolts werent matched to the rifle. All my other bolt guns have the serial # on both the bolt and the rifle. These do not. The bolt throw is also less than desirable a full 90 degrees. As a result, scopes have to be mounted high :cry: . I dont like this at all. Then again, thats just my personal preference. The other oddity is the safety. It is the opposite of every rifle Im used to. You have to slide the safety back toward you to fire and push it forward for safe. This will probably end up costing me a coyote some day, Im a creature of habit.
Rings are also included with this rifle, nice, heavy, solid, high rings. Mine now wears a Weaver Grand Slam 1.5-5. Not a big scope, and still, the bolt BARELY clears. This scope and rifle will be used primarily as my calling/walking rifle so I wanted a big FOV and low power for those close in shots. We put an old Charles Daly 3X9 that was laying around on the rifle my dad took. That bolt would not clear the bell of the scope. We ended up filing off a few thousandths of the scope to get the bolt to clear. It aint pretty, but it will work.
I have yet to shoot the rifle and will reserve final judgment until then. Dads coming over this weekend for some bench time. It will be nice to have two to shoot. We bought some Hornady 32gr Vmax ammo and a .204 RCBS die.
IF the rifle shoots close to as well as the Tikka (thats a pretty tall order though), I will consider it a good buy and would consider other CZs. Afterall, it was $200 less than the Tikka. If it doesnt, shoot MOA or better, next time Ill save up another $200 and get a T3.
Ill let you know how it shoots.
Good luck with your shopping. Remember, there are no bad rifles. Some are just better than others. Good shootin.
