Thoughts on the CZ550

[Creatineboy]

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?

 

[spike.t]

Try the search facility on here.....plenty threads on the cz 550 to look at already...

 

[mark-hunter]

You may take a look at zastava m70, winchester m70, and zkk 602.
I have zkk 602. No complaints.
Other options you have mentioned

 

[colorado]

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?

I’m very happy with my CZ550 in 500!Jeffrey. I bought it new from CZ Custom shop. I was lucky to have Wayne at AHR add his CZ upgrade #1 For $500. It’s a great rifle.

 

[High Country Hunts]

A CZ550 Magnum is a bit of a staple guide type rifle, used widely on big game. A solid work horse that needs little refinement - all steel, controlled round feed that in the past was chambered in those lovely African calibres keeping them alive.
My own .375HH with upgraded 3 position safety, smoothed action and custom stock.
Not much to grumble about with these rifles. Some say slightly on the heavier side !!!!!
Maybe compensate by removing pointless stuff from your day pack ?

 

[High Country Hunts]

 

[skydiver386]

I have 6 of these CZ550 rifles now, and they are as tough as they come. I prefer the longer barrel and heavy weight because the recoil is greatly reduced. Some prefer the modified M70 safety, but I've kept all mine with the original factory safety.

In my experience these rifles flat out work every time, but you can't be gentle with them, they like to have the action worked hard and fast. The action can be smoothed out by a competent gunsmith and this goes a long way to making them as good as rifles costing 3x as much. One custom rifle I had built the action was smoothed out and the bolt jeweled, and it's unbelievable.

The receiver and the scope bases that fit it are much better than a round or flat top receiver with simple screw holes IMHO. Fail proof recoil stop, and quick detachable as an option. Both 1 inch and 30mm rings are available, and 34mm if you look hard. Fixed factory rings are a dime a dozen it seems.

If you can find one, the factory 458 Lott is the one to get. Stout recoil, but less feeding problems than the standard 458 Win.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

I've a handful of CZ 550's from 243 Win through 458 Lott. My three safari rifles are 300 win mag, 375 H&H, and 458 Lott, all customized to the same specifications by AHR or Matrix Gunworks (after AHR stopped taking Upgrade work). The CZ's are a touch heavy, but that is my only complaint with them after the upgrades were done. Prior to the upgrades, they are rougher actions with meh triggers and a safety that doesn't appeal to me, but a phenomenal starting block for a very reasonably priced, semi-custom build. I keep picking them up every time I see one reasonably priced, which is a climbing number since they've ceased production.