CZ 458 Lott Update

[Mark Biggerstaff]

As some of you have read my comments in several other posts, about the issues I have had with my CZ 458 Lott not being able to zero with a scope. I thought I would give you an update on what has happened.
I purchased a CZ 458 Lott new from a dealer. My first mistake was not scoping and shooting before I sent to Wayne at AHR. I just sent the rifle to Wayne for. No1 job he does to them. Wayne regulated the open sights before he sent to back to me. After I got it back I put a red dot on front bridge and it shot in fine. When I put a Swarovski Z6i on it well things went down hill. It ran out of elevation before it would zero. Called Wayne and he got me in touch with CZ VP. CZ kept the gun for 6 weeks and sent it back saying it’s the best they can do. Gun still shot low, worse now than before I sent it in. Wayne agreed to take another look at it. Well after almost 2 months Wayne has it regulated with Iron sights perfect. And Red Dot on front bridge zeros at 100 and gun shoots a great group with it. But still will not zero with a scope. Wayne even tried a Leupold VX5HD I sent him. It has the most elevation of any scope out there and gun will still shoot 2 in low with scope maxed out. Wayne has been great at trying to get this gun to shoot or zero with a scope but even he has gave up hope on it. CZ has been no help or even seems to care about the issues. Wayne is sending the rifle back this week as I have excepted that there is no hope of scoping this rifle. I can not say how much respect I have for Wayne and his work. I asked him what the bill was for his time and what he tried to fix that was CZs issues. He told me no charge, that I owe him nothing but the shipping back. Wayne went way beyond what was expected of him and CZ has fell way short on there end to me. Lessons learned on my part. I will probably not buy another CZ again. But I am planning and saving for a custom from a Wayne.
I just wanted to share so others may learn from what I have.

Mark

 

[WAB]

Contact Talley. I had a rifle that bottomed out Swaro’s with Talley mounts. There is a fellow they referred me to who custom mills their systems to address this problem. I ended up solving my problem with a VX6 which had sufficient adjustment and I have lost his contact. I’m sure they would put you in touch with him.

 

[fourfive8]

Something is out of whack between the barrel and action. So the question becomes, is here is enough confidence in the rifle to continue??? Too bad, really to have spent so much time and effort capitol on a dead end. Frustration is the word. Also selling such a rifle becomes an uncomfortable dance no matter the circumstances. There is a market though for those willing to tinker, but at a discount.

There are "fixes" not unlike what was done with Hubble. Use or fabricate mounts with enough adjustability to correct the anomaly inherent in the barrel/action or have a gunsmith with a mill "re-cut" the bridges/dovetails to line up with the bore. A good machinist could even recut the bridges to line up with the bore while at the same time cutting them to a Weaver style base design with cross slots. That would really increase the mounting options.

Or could chop the barrel to 20 inches and leave it as an open-sighted back up carry rifle. There is a market for that type rifle but not so much here in the US. Here very small market and pretty much limited to maybe a few brown bear guides in AK.

I'm trying to imagine and explore all possible plans - tough call - ugh.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

I have pretty much decided that the CZ may remain a red dot gun only. Wayne cut the barrel down and made a fast handling rifle for me. I have a Kimber Caprivi in 458 Lott also that shoots great. Now to decide which one goes to Africa next year for lioness and buff. I am leaning to the CZ for up close hunt.

 

[WAB]

You poor fellow, to have such difficult decisions in one’s life must be a terrible burden to bear! [emoji41]

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

You poor fellow, to have such difficult decisions in one’s life must be a terrible burden to bear! [emoji41]

I will admit I have a big bore addiction![emoji41]

 

[DG870]

https://www.burrisoptics.com/sites/default/files/content/products/preview/downloads/xtrsignatureringsinstruction.pdf

I don’t know if this style of ring would be strong enough fit your application but might be worth researching. It seems to offer enough elevation change to allow you zero your rifle.

 

[calling4life]

I just got my CZ 458 lott, no intention of scoping it though, also can't send it to AHR, they aren't taking new work.

But can you not put a base on these? 20moa, 40moa base? solve the issue

Comment on post above:
I used to have a set of the burris rings with the plastic MOA offset inserts and they worked great, though not on a heavy recoiling gun.

That new wider style tactical ring says they have up to 40moa of adjustment, they may very well be worth a look.

Those rings, if useable with the CZ may solve your issue, a lot of surface area to hold the scope too.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Thanks for all the suggestions on rings. I will not scope the gun now. The main thing is CZ has a problem with some of the rifles and really has not been much help in the issue. Thats what angers me the most.

 

[bruce moulds]

when you buy a product, you are entitled to assume it is fit for purpose.
the fact that this rifle is meant for scope use is more than implied by its design.
some gun manufacturers seem to be of the view that if it goes bang when you pull the trigger their responsibility is fulfilled.
it would appear in this case that while the gun might have a bent barrel, it is most likely that the barrel threads in the receiver are out of alignment.
the only way to fix this is to pull the barrel, align the bolt hole straight in a lathe, and single point cut new thread in the receiver, and while it is set up, square the face of the receiver.
a new barrel will then be required with its male thread (properly true) of larger than original diameter fitted.
this rifle is not meant to be a 1000 yd bench gun, but should function fit for purpose.
i have had a ruger m77 that would not group and the stock split, and was told by the agent to basically go and f**k myself, and the same with a sako which would not group.
the ruger i sold as parts, and the sako i rebarreled and it shot extremely well.
i will not buy either of these brands again, and was leery of cz, now will not buy one either.
we also read of cz not feeding and other issues.
if they were up to speed, poor wayne would not be eating as well.
bruce.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Mark, so sorry about your issues with CZ! What a pain!
As I understand the 458 Lott is really for up close stopping power. My thoughts are you are doing right with a red dot sight. In my experience for buffalo and lioness the red dot would be about perfect.
Best of luck working this out!

 

[John Telford]

I would agree with Ridgewalker- use the Lott for close work and if anything use the red dot. I have open sights on my CZ Lott as it’s purpose is a backup /PH rifle and points like a shotgun. If you are shooting at something that needs a scope then perhaps take a 375HH .

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Thanks guys. Wayne has shortened the barrel to make it faster handling. Installed his front sight band and has sights regulated at 50 yards. Installed a Kahles red dot in Wayne’s QD mount on front scope bridge and we are getting 1 1/2 inch consistent groups at 100 yards with it. I have taken on and off the red dot several times and it is a repeatable zero mount. I will not be worrying about scoping it any longer. Will be taking it for close in stalk on lioness and buff next year. Looks like the Kimber Caprivi will have to wait a couple years to make its trip over.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

Hey Mark,
I’m very interested in which of Wayne’s mounts accepts the Kahles red dot? I’m looking to mount the same to my CZ Lott.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Hey Mark,
I’m very interested in which of Wayne’s mounts accepts the Kahles red dot? I’m looking to mount the same to my CZ Lott.

Brandon,
The Kahles has same pattern as Leupold Delta Point. Call Wayne and he will fix you up. I have 2 of his QD mounts with the Kahles on them. Wayne is setting one up on. 500 Jeff he is doing for me also.

 

[bowjijohn]

Who is this chap Wayne?

I have QD Leopold's on my 9.3 but no mounting capacity on the rounded bridge of my 404 J

There will come a time when I'm too 'dotty' to use iron sights and am interesting in exploring how to mount a QD red dot on the front curved bridge of my 404 action

 

[fourfive8]

Who is this chap Wayne?

Wayne is here
https://hunting-rifles.com/home/

 

[Dr. Crack]

As some of you have read my comments in several other posts, about the issues I have had with my CZ 458 Lott not being able to zero with a scope. I thought I would give you an update on what has happened.
I purchased a CZ 458 Lott new from a dealer. My first mistake was not scoping and shooting before I sent to Wayne at AHR. I just sent the rifle to Wayne for. No1 job he does to them. Wayne regulated the open sights before he sent to back to me. After I got it back I put a red dot on front bridge and it shot in fine. When I put a Swarovski Z6i on it well things went down hill. It ran out of elevation before it would zero. Called Wayne and he got me in touch with CZ VP. CZ kept the gun for 6 weeks and sent it back saying it’s the best they can do. Gun still shot low, worse now than before I sent it in. Wayne agreed to take another look at it. Well after almost 2 months Wayne has it regulated with Iron sights perfect. And Red Dot on front bridge zeros at 100 and gun shoots a great group with it. But still will not zero with a scope. Wayne even tried a Leupold VX5HD I sent him. It has the most elevation of any scope out there and gun will still shoot 2 in low with scope maxed out. Wayne has been great at trying to get this gun to shoot or zero with a scope but even he has gave up hope on it. CZ has been no help or even seems to care about the issues. Wayne is sending the rifle back this week as I have excepted that there is no hope of scoping this rifle. I can not say how much respect I have for Wayne and his work. I asked him what the bill was for his time and what he tried to fix that was CZs issues. He told me no charge, that I owe him nothing but the shipping back. Wayne went way beyond what was expected of him and CZ has fell way short on there end to me. Lessons learned on my part. I will probably not buy another CZ again. But I am planning and saving for a custom from a Wayne.
I just wanted to share so others may learn from what I have.

Mark

I saw a video on YouTube with the guy explaining that the tooling it CZ is extremely old and worn out and that’s why the tolerances are good I don’t know what the truth is to that and that’s why they’ve been putting out some flawed stuff.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Well guys. There is a new update on the CZ 458 Lott issue. IT WILL ZERO with adjustment to spare!! Went to the range this morning. Mounted the Leupold VX5 HD 1-5 FireDot in a new pair of Talley rings. It still will not zero with the Swift 500 gr Aframe load. BUT Barnes 500 gr TXS load shoots 8 1/2 inches higher than the Swift load. So the gun zeros with adjustments to spare. It shoots the Barnes load extremely well also. The top 3 shots are my final zero at 100 yards. Bottom 2 are right before my final adjustment. I am extremely happy right now.
This gun will be going in 2021 on safari.

 

[Shootist43]

Nice shooting Mark. How many of those VX5 HD 1-5 (s) do you own?
Left 1 click??