Thoughts on the CZ550

[Rosch]

Okay I'm down to picking a gun out. I'm going to either go with a CZ 550 American Magnum in 458 lott and get a new safari stock for it that is more my style, or I'm going to go with a CZ 550 Safari Magnum in .458 Win mag with the true Safari stock and iron sights.
The way I understand it the CZ 550 is the standard for Safari bolt guns? Are there any other guns you would recommend? I don't like the blaser straight pull. What about the Ruger Hawkeye African in .416 Ruger? I already have a 375 Ruger. Would you go with the CZ American 458 lot of the CZ 550 Safari in 458 win mag? And is there anything bad anybody has to say about a CZ rifle?

Yepp, CZ 550 or the old version ZKK 602 are good guns for the money they cost! In my times there were not much alternatives in affordable big game guns from the rack! CZ was actually the only one!
But if You consider 458 Winni, then if You wanne go custom better have a good look at a Mauser 98 action. There are so many possibilities and asseccories one can add, that at the end You got a rifle which will fit all Your requirements!
For example the trigger: For CZ 550 its a problem to get a real good trigger which will fit, for k98 there are so many offers out there that You hassel to decide. Another the gun stock: For k98 there are lots and lots of offers for any shape. For CZ there is just costy custom.

 

[revturbo9967]

Strange. My two are very accurate.

Mine is a Western Sonoran which was supposed to be a long range mountain rifle. The LOP is way too short and the barrel is ultra thin. It does move shot to shot more then I would like, up to 3/8 of an inch. Yes this is not the typical African set up but the rifle had a list price of $2900 or something like that, which is crazy IMO. I can re barrel it but the action is still rough on brass, so I may just sell it to someone looking for an action.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I have hunted with two CZ rifles: a 30-06 Ebony Special Edition and my PH's 375 H&H. The 30-06 finished a safari when the new scope on my Springfield 03A3 crapped. The 375 took both my buffalo. Didn't shoot either rifle enough to gain any appreciation. However, I have read enough complaints on here about the rough action, unorthodox stock, crappy trigger, and oddball scope setup to make me shy away from one even as a build project. Certainly, if the OP is looking for something to shoot right off the shelf, there seems to be better choices available. Model 70 comes to mind. Not the rifle they used to be but in today's market still a good gun for the money. Unlike the CZ 550, I'm not hearing too much about them needing cleanup by a gunsmith. Not sure I've ever heard a complaint about their triggers and the famous Model 70 3-position safety has been state-of-the-art since introduced in the 1930s. And of course if the OP is for whatever misguided reason hung up on 458 Win caliber, then he should not have too much trouble finding one in a Winchester rifle.

I agree with other posts and recommend he consider building something on a 98 Mauser action. I built a very fine 404 Jeffery on a postwar military Brno vz.24 8mm Mauser clone. Did much of the work myself and it cost around $2500 US. Aftermarket stuff for Mausers is probably the most abundant for any rifle ever made. Easy to find and easy on the pocketbook (or at least easier). I wonder whether a CZ could be bought and cleaned up for less than $3K.

 

[colorado]

Wouldn't it be great if they invested in new CNC machinery and put a CZ 550 in big bore calibers with the 3 pos M70 type safety and single stage match trigger Wayne put on for me at AHR. I think at $1500 they couldn't keep them on the shelves.

 

[Doug3006]

I’d love to see the 550 back in production. The sad thing is, there’s no way that the revenue from sales of the 550 would never offset the cost of tooling up. DG guns are are a tiny niche market compared to rifles for any other purpose. CNC has come a long way in the last 30 years, but setup is still a lengthy and costly endeavor. If this weren’t the case, CZ would already be making the new 550. After all, they’re in business to make money.

 

[roverandbrew]

I have CZ 550s in 243 (daughter2), 270 (son), 7x57 (daughter1), 30-06, and 375H&H. All are AHR upgrades. I truly enjoy them and the only other brand of hunting rifle I own is a Rigby. I would put my AHR # 3 375 against a Rigby Big Game any day. A little bit of investment in these guns gives you a tremendous amount back.

 

[Atticus]

Is there a description somewhere on the “standard” upgrades or at least the difference, between the Safari Classic and the standard model 550? I know calibers offered were different and they went to triple river for “upgrades” ie nicer stocks, but did they all get McGowan barrels and was any other work done? I know options could be added (jeweled bolt, recoil reducers, etc) but did triple river smooth out the actions as a standard upgrade?

 

[Bonk]

I have hunted with two CZ rifles: a 30-06 Ebony Special Edition and my PH's 375 H&H. The 30-06 finished a safari when the new scope on my Springfield 03A3 crapped. The 375 took both my buffalo. Didn't shoot either rifle enough to gain any appreciation. However, I have read enough complaints on here about the rough action, unorthodox stock, crappy trigger, and oddball scope setup to make me shy away from one even as a build project. Certainly, if the OP is looking for something to shoot right off the shelf, there seems to be better choices available. Model 70 comes to mind.

Having owned and still own M70 and CZ550 rifles I definitely prefer CZ550 over M70. I’ve not experienced any of the problems you’ve only read about and as an actual owner I have no complaints about any of the 8 or 10 that have passed through my hands. To be fair that’s also true of the few M70’s I’ve owned. As far as classic safari rifles go I owned a M70 458Win at one time and I regret trading it but I still prefer my Ruger RSM 404J and my CZ550 375H&H over that Winchester.

 

[colorado]

We (my sons and I) have both M70s and a CZ 550. I think the M70 is preferable in 375 H&H being lighter and a slimmer stock. I think the CZ 550 in 416 Rigby, 450 Rigby and 500 Jeffery is just right. The action is as solid as a bank vault. The action might need a bit of smoothing but a little J-B bore paste and cycling the action a few thousand times does the trick lol