Problems with CZ 550 Safari

[BeeMaa]

I was going to give a link to American Hunting Rifles, because Wayne had two 458's for sale.
But currently his website is down with some type of server error.
I called and let him know and he is having the problem fixed, should be able to see what he has available here.
http://americanhuntingrifles.com/available-now/

IMO - The CZ550 is a quality rifle that does have a few issues.
I'm not a fan of the trigger, the barrel is a little long for me and I had one feeding issue over the course of 150 rounds.
For the price of a new CZ550 rifle and a #2 upgrade from AHR, you will have a semi-custom DG rifle that is reliable for less than $3K.
But that's me and I'm a cheap bastard.
Full custom rifles start at $4K+, and some of those still need to be tweaked.

 

[Shootist43]

+1. I have a CZ (404 Jeffery) that had feeding issues which were corrected under warranty. But I'm wondering if those issues are caliber specific. The "normal" calibers i.e. 30-06, 308, etc. may be produced in enough numbers that the engineering and machining have been worked out so that everything functions as it should. Odd ball calibers on the other hand may just be reworked from some standard caliber and subsequently wind up being problematic. Other than that how does one explain the hit and miss characteristic feeding problems plaguing CZs? Does anyone know if all CZs are assembled at the factory or do they have assembly plants scattered around the globe?

 

[sestoppelman]

The .404 I had worked fine with everything but the big flat nose Barnes solids, they would hang up. I changed the OAL and they fed fine, but I didn't need them anyway so it didn't matter.

 

[colorado]

We have a Rem XCR II originally in 375 H&H (now 375 Weatherby), a Win M70 Classic in 416 Rem and a CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery. None of them fed and extracted flawlessly out of the box. All needed work, the CZ most probably because the 500 Jeffery is notoriously hard to make function due to it's case design. They all do now. That being said I have a Rem 700 BDL in 270 Win that I bought in the late 60s that was flawless out of the box and still is many thousands of rounds later. I've hunted with it in rain, snow, desert some years 100 hunting days a year. I think the big bore rounds are harder to make feed (except the 375 H&H).

For our DG rifles I make some dummy rounds and make them feed and eject several hundred times, right side up, upside down, fast and slow. If it does that and functions flawlessly at the range I'm ready to go hunting.

 

[EZRider]

I have CZ 550 rifles in .308 and .375 H&H and do all my Hunting with them.
The .375 would not feed smoothly until a smith polished the feedramp (for free) and now it will eat anything and print sub MOA groups every time.
I trust that rifle on anything I will hunt.

 

[flying sailor]

I too like the CZ's. However, one day while looking at gun porn, I stumbled across some Bruno 602's. Both in .375 H&H. Well, after a brief moment while my heart softened, bought them both. After poking around on this site, I determined that some work would be beneficial for my "new" rifles. Did not take long to decide to send them off to Wayne at AHR. I only had them in my hands for 5 days and off they went to Wayne. It was a short , long 4 weeks. I forgot what my new hardware looked like. Had a stage one upgrade for both of the 602's. WOW! Am I happy or what! Both made in '92, serial numbers only 11 digits apart. English style stocks, nice drop and cast off. LOP fits me well, and bonus- holds 6 in the mag and one up the spout. The rifles had not been used much, looked like a few small safe or handling dents. I had a Model 70 in 458, but I wanted to step down, bore size and really wanted the 602. Patience pays. Already figuring resources for trip to Argentina for Buffalo. Oh, just received my 602 three days ago, and shot a few today. It's hard to aim when you are smiling and chuckling to yourself. Bought a box of PPU practice ammo, 500 rounds. Life is good!