CZ 550 American 416 Rigby

[BJH65]

Picked up my BNIB CZ 550 Safari Magnum American 416 Rigby. Thanks Krish! He had exactly what I wanted and was great to deal with!

I previously bid on a couple of CZ 458 Lott rifles on online auctions but was unsuccessful. Still in the back of my mind, I had a preference for the 416 Rigby round.

Test target was June of 2020 and appears to one of the last ones made in 2020 before CZ discontinued the Safari Magnums. The rifle feels great in my hands, shoulders and points very well. I really look forward to testing it out in my backyard range.

This will be my designated Cape Buffalo rifle for our 2026 hunt. I had previously written about using my 375 RUM, which would be perfectly fine, but I had a CZ 416 Rigby inside my head that I just couldn’t get out! I did previously desire a CZ with a “hogback” stock for no other reason than I liked the look, but when I looked upon this particular rifle and the wood, I knew this was the one!

I had a Zeiss 3-9x40 Conquest with plex reticle laying around, and instead of playing musical chairs with some of my other scopes already mounted on other rifles, I decided to try the Zeiss with Warne Medium QD rings for a CZ 550. I had concerns that the bolt knob might make contact with the scope ocular housing but it did not thankfully! Just enough clearance so worked out great!

I know many here will eschew a 3-9 scope on a 416 Rigby but it’s what I have right now and the scope can easily be removed to use the iron sights in a pinch. I’ll be shooting it with both scope and irons in preparation. I have a box of Barnes 400 grain TSX, just need to acquire more it’s not cheap! I really wanted a “proper” buffalo rifle and a feel this CZ 416 Rigby fits the bill!

 

[cm76]

Congratulations on a fine looking rifle

 

[BJH65]

Congratulations on a fine looking rifle

Thank you sir!

 

[Tintin]

'Fancy Grade' indeed

Congrats.

Is there a red recoil pad in it's future?

 

[BJH65]

'Fancy Grade' indeed

Congrats.

Is there a red recoil pad in it's future?

Thanks! I think I’ll just practice with a PAST recoil pad and leave as is.

 

[Luvthunt]

Yes,you have done well. Good luck on the hunt.

 

[BJH65]

Yes,you have done well. Good luck on the hunt.

Thanks!

 

[BeeMaa]

@krish had to make room for a new acquisition.

Congratulations on a beautiful rifle @BJH65.

 

[BJH65]

@krish had to make room for a new acquisition.

Congratulations on a beautiful rifle @BJH65.

Thanks you sir! Haha…it was a pleasure doing business with Krish, he’s a good man!

 

[Monski]

Very nice wood. It looks far better than most.

 

[Louis Toadvine]

Congrats! Krish is a great guy to deal with.

That is infinitely nicer wood than what I received on the "fancy grade" new in box CZ550 I bought sight unseen from a liquidator a couple years ago. Caveat emptor if you're not putting eyes on the rifle, of course, but I was expecting something like what you have there and received quite possibly the plainest walnut stock I've ever owned. Don't know if it was CZ or the liquidators, but I think someone was just applying fancy grade stickers to every box at the time.

Beauty. Should be a pleasure to carry on your buffalo hunt!

 

[BJH65]

Very nice wood. It looks far better than most.

Thank you sir. While initially looking at some “hogback” CZ 416 Rigby rifles with plainer wood, it was the beautiful wood that convinced me on this American stock one!

 

[BJH65]

Congrats! Krish is a great guy to deal with.

That is infinitely nicer wood than what I received on the "fancy grade" new in box CZ550 I bought sight unseen from a liquidator a couple years ago. Caveat emptor if you're not putting eyes on the rifle, of course, but I was expecting something like what you have there and received quite possibly the plainest walnut stock I've ever owned. Don't know if it was CZ or the liquidators, but I think someone was just applying fancy grade stickers to every box at the time.

Beauty. Should be a pleasure to carry on your buffalo hunt!

Thank you sir. I mentioned before I was considering on a couple CZ “hogback” rifles with plainer and lighter color wood, and I certainly could have been quite happy with either, but given a choice, I’ll take the nicer wood every time! Yes, Krish is a fine gentleman and a pleasure to do business with.

 

[Reg26]

OK, I'm big enough to admit that this makes me jealous.

Congrats on a nice rifle!

 

[D.M.V]

I have two of these rifles there great congrats

 

[Louis Toadvine]

Thank you sir. I mentioned before I was considering on a couple CZ “hogback” rifles with plainer and lighter color wood, and I certainly could have been quite happy with either, but given a choice, I’ll take the nicer wood every time! Yes, Krish is a fine gentleman and a pleasure to do business with.

How does it feed and function?

The one I had (also a BNIB CZ 550 American Safari Magnum in .416 Rigby) was a little finicky and definitely would have required a tune-up before I would want to use it in on DG. It was always the second round out of the mag (from left side of the mag box) that would cause problems--every few cycles the claw wouldn't catch the rim and would either jam the round in the box (sort of wedged against the feed ramp) or push the round into the chamber (requiring wooden dowel extraction). Not good.

I investigated an update/repair, but alas, AHR stopped doing their upgrade packages and Matrix (the company who took over for them) was difficult to schedule/communicate with and eventually put a hold on doing upgrades because they got too overwhelmed. Ended up selling it.

 

[BJH65]

How does it feed and function?

The one I had (also a BNIB CZ 550 American Safari Magnum in .416 Rigby) was a little finicky and definitely would have required a tune-up before I would want to use it in on DG. It was always the second round out of the mag (from left side of the mag box) that would cause problems--every few cycles the claw wouldn't catch the rim and would either jam the round in the box (sort of wedged against the feed ramp) or push the round into the chamber (requiring wooden dowel extraction). Not good.

I investigated an update/repair, but alas, AHR stopped doing their upgrade packages and Matrix (the company who took over for them) was difficult to schedule/communicate with and eventually put a hold on doing upgrades because they got too overwhelmed. Ended up selling it.

Thank you sir for mentioning this, I just dropped everything, grabbed a handful of Barnes 400 Grain TSX factory ammo and went outside to load and cycle the rounds. I loaded 3 rounds in the magazine, chamber empty, then chambered and cycled each round over the grass. I repeated this 10 times. Feeds and functions perfectly, no hickups.

Rounds were ejected well clear of the rifle. These are fully loaded rounds, haven’t shot it yet. I just bore sighted it this morning. I’ll most likely sight in tomorrow at my little range out back, wife’s working from home today, don’t want to create a ruckus! I’ll report if any issues during the live firing. Thank you for mentioning this, I hadn’t even thought about function testing it yet. I am pleased that it’s functioning perfectly so far.

My rifle appears to be one of the last CZ 550 416 Rigby Safari Magnums made in 2020 just before they stopped production. Maybe they worked all the bugs out by then?

 

[BJH65]

OK, I'm big enough to admit that this makes me jealous.

Congrats on a nice rifle!

Thanks!

 

[BJH65]

I have two of these rifles there great congrats

Thanks!

 

[Rule 303]

Congratulations you have a fine rifle, but I am biased as I have the same. I put a McMillan stock on it to get a better length of pull. I had it Cerakoted in Midnight Purple when they made the colour. Looks like a deep English blue in the sun. Apart from pigs and Camels in Aust I have taken Elephant, Wart Hogg, Blue Wildebeest and Cape Buff with it. It has not been treated gently but the metal work has no scratches or wear marks yet.

All bullet types seated out as far as they would go functioned all right but I had the feed rails and ramp polished up and they rounds cycled very smoothly. These included the Woodleigh Hydros before they put the green cap on them.

What I would advise is some stock work. Have a cross bolt/pin put through the wrist and have about a playing card thickness of wood behind the rear tang removed. Also good bedding will help stop and stock splitting.

Does your mag hold 3 or 4 down?