What would you build with a CZ 550 magnum action?

RR 314 said:

I think you spelled .550 Magnum incorrectly.

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My OCD does like the sound of a 550 in .550

It’s the perfect pairing! Truly ideal for the CZ

If we're mine I would probably build into a 404 Jeffrey.

Based on what you already have, a 500 Jeffery.

The 505 Gibbs is great but I think the 550 action is a touch small for the cartridge. Most examples I've seen have had some cartridge retention issues. I don't know if the 500 Jeffery cartridge will have the same issue... But its what I would try.

.450 Rigby.

a 6.5 creedmore!

ok, a 404 jeff.

416 Rigby would be my choice.

x84958 said:

Hi all,

I have a CZ 550 magnum action, and now I have a conundrum…what caliber of rifle should I build with this?

I have a 375H&H, 404 Jeffery, and a 470 double rifle. It’s a great battery for Africa hunting, but the potential to build a custom rifle interests me.

What would you build?

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Have you said what bolt face you have ?

If it is a .375 H&H bolt face, it can be opened up to do the .500 Jeffery.
If it is a .416 Rigby bolt face, it is too big for the sligthly smaller rim of the .500 Jeffery.
Ask me how I know.

The .416 Rigby-based, .338 Lapua Mag and 460 WBY MAG rim diameters all work fine on the CZ 550 Magnum with a .416 Rigby bolt face.
Ask me how I know.

The .505 Gibbs/.408 Chey-Tac rim diameter is an abomination on the CZ 550 Magnum, and I do own one made by CZ-USA,
so you can ask how I know about that too.

Starting with a .375 H&H bolt face allows anything short of the .505 Gibbs to be built, with bolt face properly fitted to the rim size of your cartridge, IMHO.

The tendency is to want to go bigger, and I get that. Bigger bullet, kills game more quickly, makes you feel like a man...or at least a man with a sore shoulder.

For me, it would be a 416RIGBY or 416RM. A versatile cartridge with plenty of history, ammo availability and dare I say...shootability. Capable of taking all of the worlds game with proper bullet selection and without making you feel like you need a gun bearer to carry it.

The problem here is I don't have final say. What do you say @x84958? I'm wondering because you haven't posted on this thread since you started it. And not one reaction to any of the posts either.

Riflecrank said:

Have you said what bolt face you have ?

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Exactly what I was going to ask. The bolt face would determine what I would build.

To my way of thinking, you have one of the last truly large actions capable of being built for the full length H&H, Rigby or Gibbs case. From what several of the best in the business tell me, the Rigby is workable, but the Gibbs case causes problems, as @Riflecrank stated in his post.

That leaves us with the H&H case, and the Rigby case. For my build on a factory new CZ550 Safari Magnum action, I chose the 450 Rigby.

The only real downside is that the 450 Rigby is basically a dead cartridge. It was developed when Paul Roberts owned Rigby, and Kenny Jerrett with a few others helped build the first rifles in the caliber. The modern Rigby Rifle Co. seems to treat it as an unwanted redheaded step child. Nosler, Hornady and Norma used to load for it, but currently no major ammo company lists it.

This leaves us with the 416 Rigby as the most sensible option. Although expensive, factory ammo is available in a wide variety of weights and configurations. If you put a McMillan or B&C stock on it and good glass, you'd have a workhorse of a rifle that could take on any game on this Planet, and probably several others.

I like the .450 Rigby plan.

The true king of the 416's - the 416 Taylor

BeeMaa said:

The tendency is to want to go bigger, and I get that. Bigger bullet, kills game more quickly, makes you feel like a man...or at least a man with a sore shoulder.

For me, it would be a 416RIGBY or 416RM. A versatile cartridge with plenty of history, ammo availability and dare I say...shootability. Capable of taking all of the worlds game with proper bullet selection and without making you feel like you need a gun bearer to carry it.

The problem here is I don't have final say. What do you say @x84958? I'm wondering because you haven't posted on this thread since you started it. And not one reaction to any of the posts either.

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Hi BeeMaa - I’m in Las Vegas at the moment for a conference so you might imagine it’s tough to get time to post replies when I’m with my awesome customers. But appreciate your concern for my well being! And feel free to relook RR 314’s comment for the like ! Good run down based on bolt face size which I learned from his post.

Here’s my initial thoughts from the majority of the posts so far. I took the calibers mentioned most often, overlayed estimated recoil (12 lb rifle), and SD and placed it into one graph thanks to an AI (Is the graph generally accurate?).

I found it interesting that the 450/400 has the highest SD compared with recoil for the other calibers. The 450 Rigby’s SD is very close but the recoil is way higher than the 450/400. That said, I’m not aware of a 450/400 in a bolt configuration as I only know it to be in a rimmed cartridge. Am I incorrect?

x84958 said:

Hi BeeMaa - I’m in Las Vegas at the moment for a conference so you might imagine it’s tough to get time to post replies when I’m with my awesome customers. But appreciate your concern for my well being! And feel free to relook RR 314’s comment for the like ! Good run down based on bolt face size which I learned from his post.

Here’s my initial thoughts from the majority of the posts so far. I took the calibers mentioned most often, overlayed estimated recoil (12 lb rifle), and SD and placed it into one graph thanks to an AI (Is the graph generally accurate?).

I found it interesting that the 450/400 has the highest SD compared with recoil for the other calibers. The 450 Rigby’s SD is very close but the recoil is way higher than the 450/400. That said, I’m not aware of a 450/400 in a bolt configuration as I only know it to be in a rimmed cartridge. Am I incorrect?

View attachment 761263

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The 400 H&H is the same bullet as the 450/400. You may also find the rare 450/400 in a bolt configuration. I believe one was for sale in this site a number of years ago.

That’s easy. You have the calibers you mentioned and you don’t have a 416 Rigby?! Man that’s the most romantic African caliber there is! No brainer.

migrabill said:

That’s easy. You have the calibers you mentioned and you don’t have a 416 Rigby?! Man that’s the most romantic African caliber there is! No brainer.

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404 Jeffrey has entered the chat.

I would stay away from the rebated rim cartridges (e.g. 500 Jeffery). These have a history of feeding issues that may or may not have been resolved by altering follower and spring. Tricky modifications are required in any event.

I agree with @BeeMaa (though he probably doesn't know it because he's blocked me ). This thread was apparently started by a troll? who never returned. Nevertheless, I thank him. It's been an interesting dialogue.

358 Norma said:

404 Jeffrey has entered the chat.

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He already has one.

Ontario Hunter said:

I would stay away from the rebated rim cartridges (e.g. 500 Jeffery). These have a history of feeding issues that may or may not have been resolved by altering follower and spring. Tricky modifications are required in any event.

I agree with @BeeMaa (though he probably doesn't know it because he's blocked me ). This thread was apparently started by a troll? who never returned. Nevertheless, I thank him. It's been an interesting dialogue.

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Only my wife calls me a troll!
Feel free to read my response back to BeeMaa above

x84958 said:

Only my wife calls me a troll!

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Oops. Excuse me while I find a firehose to clean egg from my face.