My CZ527 har arrived today!

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
@Herb in pa ; what a beautiful rifle! I bet it’s a shooter!

The Howa mini action is a very interesting rifle. I wish the stock it comes with, was a bit stiffer. And I would have liked bottom metal, instead of the plastic floorplate/magazine.

Rounded up some .22 bullets this evening, and measured max col with polymer coated .226 bullets. Don’t know yet wether .225 or .226 will work best, I’ll try both.

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From the left:
- MP-Hornet, gc/hp
- NOE225-51 PB, the «Ranch Puppy»
- Lee c225-55
- NOE225-57 (Mx-2), I have both GC and PB
- NOE225-61 GC
- MP 227-65
 

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
From the OP - "....... German #4 reticle (which is a good one) "

I would submit that the German #4 reticle isn't merely a "good one" but maybe the Best One !
The #1 which has a heavy vertical post that ends in a point, ties for first place in my rankings of hunting reticles.

I WISH #1s and #4s were common and the others not so much! I love both of them! #1 is my favorite. Also fond of the old post and crosshair.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Finally, after a long wait, I could pick up my «new» gun at the post office today........................................

This will be fun!View attachment 17516

I wanted to keep at least one of my old Mausers, but needed to be able to afford to shoot it over the long haul. The CZ 527 is that rifle and the 222 that cartridge. Nothing wrong with the 223 - I just like the 222 better. All but one (wait,... two) of my original Mausers are gone and this little CZ gives me my Mauser fix. Who needs CRF on a 222 varmint rifle?? I DO!! I love how gentle it is with my cast bullets which aren't being held in the case with a death grip. All I see on the long(ish) LEE 22555's nose when I extract an unfired round is the light rifling engraving - no "skid marks" or scratches otherwise.

Mine is the "American" model and I'm 5'6", so I put a youth stock on it because the original was too long. I plan to cut the 22" barrel to 18 1/2" Cast only and it's a gem among gems. I got a 7.62x39 Youth Scout last year and fell in love with the format/overall fit and handiness that I decided I'd put that one on the block and get a Youth Stock for the 222. Bedded that one in with "pillars" (rear-original/front-aluminum bushing from ACE) .

As far as "complaints" about the CZs, I admit to getting about as irritated with the "rough action" complaint as I do with how "hard" it is to reassemble a pre-MKIV Ruger auto pistol. I've seen several suggestions, up to and including bending the extractor, abrasive pastes and expending 200 rounds of factory ammo. This is the second of three 527s I've had and VIGOROUSLY working the bolt 200 times (dry) is all that's needed. Leave it out and pick it up, work the bolt 20 times and go about your business. Rinse, lather repeat. Maybe some of them really are "rough," but the three I've bought over the course of ten years responded well to this. If you work the bolt like someone's shooting at you and do it from the shoulder, it's also good practice/reinforcement in terms of getting to know this petite beast.

Sorry for the wordy post, but I do get excited about these little rifles. I've thought about keeping the 7.62x39 for a 357 Max (not doing the "Legend") carbine. The Hornet is rimmed. It's a single stack magazine. Day-dreaming mostly here.

After the 550 went away and we got yet another mundane push-feed, I worry about the 527 too now. Maybe should get a few more - but that's what I've been trying to not do these days...
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
....... And finally there are a couple of companies (DIP Products being one) that offer scope rails that allow Weaver type scope rings. I dont have any experience with these rails...................

@david s , two things to share regarding that informative post (thank you):

1) My first CZ 527 was a 2009 223 Varmint Laminate, from which I quickly traded off the stock for walnut. I bough that gun new for under $500. Anyway, that rifle had 1:9 twist, as I believe the Varmint variations did before 2014, but I am not 100% certain if all were like that or I got an oddball. Just tossing that bit of data in because it looks like you have a collection of such data, even if just in your head.

2) I have used the DIP base on two 527s, and with the cheap, annoying (but light and slender) Weaver LOW rings, I believe the scope is a tad lower than the "Hunker" rings on my 223, but this difference is in thousandths. The DIP bases are very good quality and priced very well too. I was leery of th mounting system but it works very, very well. I'd recommend that product as a very viable option for anyone trying to piece together the 527 scope/ring/bolt-handle puzzle.

OK, THREE things - speaking of the 527 Varmint - the balance point is just FORWARD of the magazine on the Varmint 223 in walnut, which is very nice. I know that's a complaint some have, along with the "backwards" safety. I can deal with the safety being different, but I got a British field jacket with the zipper pull on the "wrong" side and I am not coping well with that.
 

david s

Well-Known Member
The 2014 discontinued date for the 1-12 twist is off the CZ USA web page in the "Discontinued Products" section. I believe but dont actually know that this was when CZ considered the 1-12 twist as being done across the 527 223 Remington series line (American, Lux, Full Stock, Varmint, Carbine and any I might have forgotten). As mentioned earlier the 1-9" twist rate is normally stamped below the chamber marking. My 2009 223 Remington 527 American is a 1-12 twist. The 222 Remington was always a 1-12 as far as I know. All my experience with scoping the 527's is with 1" rings (below is a photo for another forum I took showing some variations of 527 1" rings I use), the Calhoun "Hunker" rings are on the left the same height as the Warne medium rings. No 30 mm experience or rail adapters use for myself, Spindrift might take a look at the Tikka 16.5 mm dovetail rings as people have been successfully using these on the 527 actions 16mm dovetails after removing the Tikkas recoil stop pin on the rear ring. Another option for 30mm scopes on 527's anyway. One other accessory if it's going to be a bench rifle would be a single shot adapter as offered by Calhoun and ORIGINAL BOB Sled. The balance point varies by the barrels diameter and length with the Carbine or Lux (skinny barrels) the balance point shifts back twords the trigger. People get bent out of shape over the 527's backwards safety. But not Anschutz backwards safety, go figure. I have rifle safetys that work side to side (Remington and Ruger push button, H&R 265 lever), rotate (AR), push forward to fire (Winchester 70, Remington 700, Ruger 77,No1) pull back to fire (CZ 527, Anschutz 64, JC Higgens 42) set the firing pin selector in the center (TC), swing over the top (Mauser) probably others. And this before adding in hand gun safetys. The backwards CZ is a non issue for me.
ioA4npW.jpg
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Great photo! The only ones I've tried were the Warne, which seems to be an awful lot of steel for what they do, the DIP base with Weaver rings and the Calhoun Hunker rings. Looked at the factory CZ rings and put them up for sale before trying them.

Agree on the safeties, "balance point," etc. Excuses not to experience a wonderful rifle.

Still struggle with the confounded "backwards" zippers though.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
That "German #4" reticle would be a fine hunting tool. I have only one such scope, now stored/unmounted. It was on my CZ-550 in 9.3 x 62 for a time, it has a thick tapered bottom post with one horizontal crosshair that cuts just below the bottom post's tip. It is a 1x-4x Redfield, with 1 centimeter (0.4") clicks at 100 meters. It is older Redfield, likely made for foreign markets. It may go back on the 9.3, though the 2x-7x Leup now aboard the beast is a better range/target glass than that thick post for shooting groups on 100 yard/1" checkerboard sight-in papers.

The CZ-527 is a small Argentine Mauser, to my eye. I don't mind the detachable straight-line mag, though I prefer a pivot-down floorplate. I bought 2 spare mags for the 527, in the belief that Murphy's Law gets no plea bargains. This rifle and its CZ-455 Varmint/22 WMR little brother both have Burris 2x-7x Compact scopes aboard, which suit the ranges of both calibers pretty well.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
From the OP - "....... German #4 reticle (which is a good one) "

I would submit that the German #4 reticle isn't merely a "good one" but maybe the Best One !
The #1 which has a heavy vertical post that ends in a point, ties for first place in my rankings of hunting reticles.
I have a few reticules in German #1 Its my fav for short range. Just put a Leupold M8 in 3X on my Bushmaster Bolt 450. AWESOME combo!!

CW
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
Oh, the grendel... Another great cartridge! Have you shot cast in it? NOE 266-126 is designed with the grendel in mind. I have had good results with it- in my 6,5x55s
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
I shot the CZ a little today. Only PC bullets today. The NOE 225-57-PB (MX-2) is promising. Most of my bullets today were sized .226, but I shot a couple of groups with this bullet, sized .225. One 5-shot group was 1,5MOA, the other (photo) was 0,5MOA. Starline brass, neck expanded/flared with RCBS expander (yes, I got one). 6 grs Vectan Ba9 (burning speed in the Unique ballpark). Range is 100m.

Now, I have a basic concept what works in this rifle. I think I’ll have a lot of fun with this! I’m also looking forward to how the GC- version of the MX-2 bullet will work (I have both).
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Ian

Notorious member
Hopefully more speed will stabilize those bullets better, but still they shot quite well despite the yawing. 14" ROT seems slow for 55-60-grain bullets.
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
I tried the MX-2 PB bullet with universal today, at 100m. 6,3grs seems promising. I haven’t chronied these, but the holes are rounder than the Ba9/6grs load. Pretty happy, so far.

I also tried the MX-2, GC bullet. 10-11grs N110 produced unimpressive 2 MOA 5-shot groups. 15grs of vectan Tubal-3000 (starting load for 60grs partition bullet) looks a little better, about 1,5 MOA. Something to build on!

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Ian

Notorious member
I don't know how your mould turned out but my 68-grain version casts larger than it is supposed to on the front two bands. When powder-coated, the excessive girth of the nose is of course exacerbated and required the bullets to be seated excessively deep in the cases. Seating so deep made it such that the bullet was not supported in the ball seat until it had moved quite a distance forward, and that critical period of movement without support allowed lots of things to go wrong.

After making and utilizing a tapered nose sizing die that squeezed the nose and first band to .219" for a light squeeze-fit in the bore and the second and third bands to snuggle tightly in the ball seat taper while the remainder of the bullet was sized to just under throat entrance diameter, and parking the bullet up snug when chambered, my groups improved considerably.