CZ 550 .458 Lott

[Forrest Halley]

Well as I have said before on the subject of sling studs in the forend...I had a brno in 416 rigby long time ago. ..and bent the quick detachable steel sling attachment under recoil with my left fore finger....it fkn hurt and thought I had broken it...the lion that I had just shot and that was rolling around I didn't give a fk about as was jumping around making sure my finger was still in one piece...while being told to shoot again...and me telling them to fk off...when could get my hand into operation again I finished it off...but when it hit my finger the priorities suddenly changed....

Now I've never fired a .416 Rigby...but I've straddled the forward swivel with my .375 Encore a bunch. I never had any issues to report, but I can understand how that would be a great distraction. Whenever I have any magnum rifle to shoulder I am always thinking of the chorus to this song as I squeeze the trigger.

It just suits the whole experience. I'm never sad with a big rifle and I never feel like I'm in trouble when times are bad. However, I'm damned sure going to hold on because it's definitely coming.

"Don’t you ever be sad
Lean on me when times are bad
When the day comes and you are down
In a river of trouble and about to drown

[Chorus]
Just hold on, I'm comin'
Hold on, I'm comin' "

 

[CAustin]

I picked up the CZ from a private seller today. 2 hour drive. Not quite perfect, but the deal, 19 rounds and case he threw in make up for the couple of small dings. He said he shot exactly one round. If I can handle it better than he can, I’ll go see him for the .416 Rigby he offered.

Any thoughts on a scope? Or if I even need one? What is a good eye relief for this large a cartridge?

Thank you all.

View attachment 463953

Nice score!

 

[Luvthunt]

Smile to the face!

 

[mdsalern]

Thank you all.

The seller of my .458 Lott has offered me the other 550 he has in .416 Rigby. With the .458 needing gunsmithing to feed properly, would I be an idiot to pick up another CZ big bore?

 

[mdsalern]

Any help on what may be causing the feed problem on the Lott would be appreciated. It jams from the left side round of the magazine to the upper right of the chamber at the lip between the bullet and brass. Doesn’t do so when cycled slowly…usually.

You can see where the brass gets shaved in the photos. The chamber with shavings is after a bunch of cycles. Any help is appreciated.

 

[John J]

I can't help you other than I had the same issue. It was sorted out by AHR when we did an upgrade. Matrix or AHR should be able to get the rifle working properly. John

 

[mdsalern]

I plan to take it to Matrix. AHR told me he is no longer doing CZ work. If they were able to sort your problem out, that makes me feel better about the Lott and picking up the 416. Appreciate it.

 

[Jamie D Van Roekel]

I plan to take it to Matrix. AHR told me he is no longer doing CZ work. If they were able to sort your problem out, that makes me feel better about the Lott and picking up the 416. Appreciate it.

I wouldn’t worry about buying the 416. The feeding issue shouldn’t be to much trouble. The feeding ramp just needs a little attention. The CZ is a great gun. I would never guess how many CZs and cousin Brno are in the hands of PHs that protect there life every day.

 

[Jamie D Van Roekel]

I am in the minority here. I would shoot the rifle from some odd positions and see if the swivel stud bothers you. I have never hit my left hand on the stud. I have hit my eye on the scope, my right thumb on the bolt, my right trigger finger on the trigger guard,and bruised my cheek on the stock, but never my left hand. If you want it moved go for it but if not save the money to go towards the feeding issue. Just my 2 pennies.

Don’t let my mishaps scare you. Lol. I shoot a bunch and recoil doesn’t bother me much so don’t always follow good shooting form for recoil.

 

[Rocco490]

No experience with matrix hope their work is as good as wayne from ahr his work is most excellent.

 

[mdsalern]

I fixed the feeding problem! AH past posts helped quite a bit.

 

[Nhoro]

Glad you got it sorted yourself,I had the same problems with mine off both left and right sides and did a thread about my fixes.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I fixed the feeding problem! AH past posts helped quite a bit.

Nice, but how did you fix it? Mine sometimes hangs up feeding from the right side. I believe the bolt face on mine needs polished as it's a little rough looking. The base of the cartridge occasionally isn't captured into the bolt face from the magazine before attempting to feed into the chamber?

 

[krish]

Nice, but how did you fix it? Mine sometimes hangs up feeding from the right side. I believe the bolt face on mine needs polished as it's a little rough looking. The base of the cartridge occasionally isn't captured into the bolt face from the magazine before attempting to feed into the chamber?

I have the same problem on one of the 416 rigby.
Cycle slow it works. Cycle fast the 2nd round jumps out of magazine before bolt captures it

 

[Frederik]

When I got my Lott I used toothpaste to make the feeding smoother and also made 5 dummy rounds no primer or powder.
DWB on the forum gave me a good idea and I drilled out the lead from the back of the bullet and reseated.
Making the dummy rounds much lighter and less stress on extractor.

Then sitting and watching a hunting show add paste to the mag and sides of ramps fill up with the dummy rounds and keep cycling until tired. Fast or slow.
Eventually after cleaning the paste you can feel it feeding smoother and then I just cycled without paste with the 5 dummy rounds.

My rilfe had no issues but felt very coarse when feeding after a couple of hundred times feeding it with paste it sure made a difference and now it only gets smoother the more I use it with no feeding issues.

 

[Nhoro]

@CoElkHunter feeding from the right rail has the normal angles to wrk around as well as the claw extractor. Take a look at the bottom edge of the claw and make sure it has a nicely radiused edge. They are often left with a sharp corner. I also polished the bolt face a little.

I have also never had the swivel fittingbite me, I have detachable (Uncle Mike) sling swivels and shoot with my hand closer to the magazine- some might call it luck but I prefer to call it skill.

 

[Nhoro]

I have the same problem on one of the 416 rigby.
Cycle slow it works. Cycle fast the 2nd round jumps out of magazine before bolt captures it

My brother also has a similar problem periodically with his CZ 550 in 416 Rigby. He discovered the magazine sides bow inwards over time-maybe from recoil ?? and then rounds jump up from the magazine early. He just bends the magazine side back out carefully and all is back to correct operation. I dont have that problem with my Lott.

Also OP, I would suggest you take off your stock and check the main recoil lug-my CZ came with a horrible tiny glued in plastic thing in the stock. Do yourself a favor and bed the lug or get a gunsmith to do so. I also bedded the front barrel lug at the same time.

 

[mdsalern]

I used a Dremel to lower and reshape the feed ramp and opened the magazine and used a file to take back the left feed lip. It wouldn’t feed at all from the left side and now is semi reliable. I still have one hang now and again.

At this point it is the ammunition I have been feeding through it has gotten beat up after all my attempts. My next step is going to see what happens with Barnes Vor-Tx and a new magazine spring. I’m not a fan of the play the magazine follower has or the slop in the bolt, but I’m not sure how either of those can be remedied.

I’ll take a look at the stock, but the action is getting all the attention for now. Everything there seems tight, so hopefully they got that right.

 

[mdsalern]

Shot the .458 Lott for the first time last weekend. 1 misfeed. I tried the magazine spring from the .416 after and had no misfeeds. Waiting on a new spring.