Thinking of purchasing a New CZ 550 375 HH thoughts ??

[redriver]

I had a Winchester .375 and it was a terrible gun and I sold it, any Weatherby, Remington or CZ in .416 is a much better gun in my view. I know alot of hunters love the classic .375 but I am not a fan. The Winchester is not a well balanced rifle compared to the other brands. I use a .300 weatherby or .416 weatherby on most safaris and have taken many species large and small with this line up. my 2 cents

 

[hntrpro]

Thanks guys for all the info. i ended up ordering a cz 550 safari classic in 375..I shot the same gun and really liked it!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Thanks guys for all the info. i ended up ordering a cz 550 safari classic in 375..I shot the same gun and really liked it!

Congrats, enjoy!

 

[Omar Khan]

How did you find the action and did you have any trouble with rounds not feeding?

 

[Rob404]

I think you would be Happy with a CZ ,I had the bolt polished and feed ramp polished on mine and had no problems. It was a great shooter. the only downside was the final weight with mounts,scope and Bullets brought the weight up to 13#,Alaska Arms makes some great quick release mounts if you plan on using a scope

 

[8x68]

I'm partial to CZ as I have several. I also like the Winchester M70 Alaskan series (I just had a 404 built on a Win M70 375H&H action). I also have one in .338WM. The newest style of Winchester is a nice rifle. My 375H&H is an old BRNO ZKK 602.
Unless your buying a high end style of Rifle (Sako, Blaser, Merkel, etc) the action will seem rough to start. Remember the more you shoot it the smoother it gets. You can also polish the bolt, mag rails, etc yourself.
Good thing about CZ is that you only need to purchase ringmounts if you choose to use a scope. CZ's usually will hold an extra round in the mag compared to other mfg's.

 

[Rob404]

CZ makes some nice Firearms, I have a CZ75b in 9mm a CZ in 308Mannlicher, and a few Shotguns all are great shooters and trouble free

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I had a Winchester .375 and it was a terrible gun and I sold it, any Weatherby, Remington or CZ in .416 is a much better gun in my view. I know alot of hunters love the classic .375 but I am not a fan. The Winchester is not a well balanced rifle compared to the other brands. I use a .300 weatherby or .416 weatherby on most safaris and have taken many species large and small with this line up. my 2 cents

Where was this gun manufactured? By most accounts, the guns that were made in New Haven, Conn, USA were not that well built (at least the last several years of that plants existence) and the "new" Winchester, made by Browning and assembled in Portugal, are pretty good quality.

 

[Omar Khan]

I think you would be Happy with a CZ ,I had the bolt polished and feed ramp polished on mine and had no problems. It was a great shooter. the only downside was the final weight with mounts,scope and Bullets brought the weight up to 13#,Alaska Arms makes some great quick release mounts if you plan on using a scope

Thanks much!

 

[broncolcj]

I have a CZ 550 in 375 and I love it!
As an added bonus, it's so beefy and sturdy you could literally club a bear to death with it if you ran out of ammo

 

[Omar Khan]

I have a CZ 550 in 375 and I love it!
As an added bonus, it's so beefy and sturdy you could literally club a bear to death with it if you ran out of ammo

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up ordering the Winchester Model 70 Safari Express in 375 H&H. Maybe I can get a CZ550 as well, if my wife doesn't use it to shoot me first!

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Great rifle, great caliber! In its price range it cannot be beat.

I agree with Sestoppelman.
All the best.
Witold

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Thanks Ado.
Witold

 

[sestoppelman]

I had a Winchester .375 and it was a terrible gun and I sold it, any Weatherby, Remington or CZ in .416 is a much better gun in my view. I know alot of hunters love the classic .375 but I am not a fan. The Winchester is not a well balanced rifle compared to the other brands. I use a .300 weatherby or .416 weatherby on most safaris and have taken many species large and small with this line up. my 2 cents

It sounds a little like you are blaming the cartridge for a bum rifle here. The .375 will do whatever is needed of a shoulder fired rifle, plain and simple. Perhaps not the best heavy game rifle and not the best small game rifle but the no question best all around rifle cartridge that ever was.

 

[Omar Khan]

I have a CZ 550 in 375 and I love it!
As an added bonus, it's so beefy and sturdy you could literally club a bear to death with it if you ran out of ammo

Club a bear to death! Love it! I hope I am able to get him before it comes to that!

 

[Omar Khan]

I think you would be Happy with a CZ ,I had the bolt polished and feed ramp polished on mine and had no problems. It was a great shooter. the only downside was the final weight with mounts,scope and Bullets brought the weight up to 13#,Alaska Arms makes some great quick release mounts if you plan on using a scope

Wow that sounds like a pretty solid rifle! Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated. I ended up ordering a Model 70 Safari Express based on the suggestion of my very good friend and PH and owner of Hunt Hard Safaris. I plan to take it with me to Africa on a hunt next year. Do you know of quick release mounts for a Model 70 Safari Express.

 

[8x68]

Wow that sounds like a pretty solid rifle! Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated. I ended up ordering a Model 70 Safari Express based on the suggestion of my very good friend and PH and owner of Hunt Hard Safaris. I plan to take it with me to Africa on a hunt next year. Do you know of quick release mounts for a Model 70 Safari Express.

Talley QD's. I have a set on my Win M70 in 404 Jeffery. I believe Warne also makes QD's. Leupold are also an option.

 

[Gunnie]

I love my CZ550 in 375 great heavy low recoiling medium bore with a nice crisp trigger follow up shots are great. I would recommend practicing with some good heavy loads to get a feel for it to me it is simular to a trap load in a coach gun. Mine came with good quality straight grain walnut that was nicely figured. The express sights are dead on from the box with the front being hooded to protect it. The blueing is nice and deep without being overly glossy. Mine has no tooling marks to speak of and none wear there are moving parts. Bolt is good and solid but is slick to work making for quick follow up shots. Mine loves 300gr Hornady bullets haven't tried any others as of currently. My only regret I wish I'd have bought two because I'd really like one in 458 or 416.

 

[bassasdaindia]

Wow that sounds like a pretty solid rifle! Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated. I ended up ordering a Model 70 Safari Express based on the suggestion of my very good friend and PH and owner of Hunt Hard Safaris. I plan to take it with me to Africa on a hunt next year. Do you know of quick release mounts for a Model 70 Safari Express.

I would not fit QR mounts on a 375 , I really don't think you need them or will use them .

 

[Heym 88]

I have a CZ in .416 Rigby I got in December. I like the rifle and it has shown already to be accurate. It will at a minimum have some trigger work done. I don't know if it was worked over by previous owners with respect to the bolt, but mine feeds like putting your hand into a worn glove.

I think you owe it to yourself to check out one of the new Winchester M70 Safari Express. I also own one of those in .375H&H. I found with mine I have to crimp the rounds for them to feed properly 100% of the time. But most people I speak to don't have this problem. For that large a caliber I think you should crimp anyway so it's really not a complaint, just an observation. Outside of that, it doesn't require anything. It's a shooter right out of the box. I picked up a load suggestion here on AH that worked out very well. It is easily the most accurate rifle I've ever owned.

But you may still prefer the CZ. I like the balance of the CZ better. But I will NEVER sell that M70. So give both a try and go with the one you prefer.

+1 for the Winchester M70 safari, mine is flawless and cycles extremely smooth. Don't have to rework anything.