Thinking About Stealing a CZ 527 Carbine

[Jeff H]

Gaaaaaaaaah!

You may all be sick of hearing about this "paring down" and "thinning of the herd" thing I launched several years ago, but here it is again.

Well, there appears to be a slug of these rifles available right now in 223 and 7.62x39 at JUST OVER $400!

I'm not asking anyone to talk me into or out of one of these, I'll work that out myself, but if any of you think as highly of these rifles as I do, they seem to be available right now for 2/3 of their normal price. This isn't just one site/shop, it's several. They may all be gone by tomorrow when shop owners wake up and update their sites based on depleted inventory at the warehouse due to weekend sales - I don't know.

Ten years ago, I bought a new 527 Laminate Varmint in 223 for UNDER $500, online, on a weekend. The quantity available decremented by ONE and when I checked the order status on the next day, a Monday, none were available and the new price was a few bucks short of $800. After that, CZ prices seemed to climb, but were still a bargain. I paid $630 for my 527 American in 222 a few years ago and do not feel one bit badly about that expenditure. I also still have a 452 Scout in 22 LR which will shoot under half an inch at fifty yards with cheap Federal Bulk ammo - IF you can hold that little sucker still. Tiny gun - hard to shoot well.

I found this on Gunwatcher. Enter a general Internet search of "CZ 527 Carbine gunwatcher." I"ve found other deals there which were legitimate, so......

 

[Rootmanslim]

Great little guns. One in 300 B/O is also great.

 

[waco]

I have one in .221 Fireball and love it. I don't think they offer them in this caliber anymore. Really nice wood and I love the set trigger!

 

[waco]

 

[Dpmsman]

They appear to all be the youth model. I checked CZ’s website and it seems the youth model was discontinued in 2018. Probably the reason why they are priced lower. The main difference between the youth and standard model is the length of the pull has been lowered by an inch. It has a slimmer stock as well.

 

[david s]

Most newer rifles haven't interested me for a while, the singular exception being the CZ 527 rifles. As Dpmsman mentioned the carbines that are for sale are the Youth variation. That said the current price for the full rifle is about the same as they sell just the receiver/action for.

 

[Bret4207]

Youth model or not, at $400 for a 7.62x39 or 223 I'd consider adding one to the herd.

 

[Jeff H]

Dang, Waco, you're not helping! My 222 has really plain walnut, but I'm still happy with it. Yours is a beauty.

Dpmsman, you might have just pushed me over the edge. Discontinued? What the heck? Those are neat rifles and, I thought, very popular. Never mind that it's a "youth" version - I have to cut an inch off of every rifle I buy anyway. I just haven't gotten around to chopping the 222.

David s, YES! It would be worth it even just for the action. I don't get easily worked up over anything new anymore either and still have a couple handguns I need to add to the battery, but this one is a tough one to pass up.

Bret, I agree and it's not just any ol' 223 or 7.62x39 - it's an extremely well done bolt-action with a real wood stock. I love mine.

I'm still pondering this a little. I have counted money owed me and a small windfall which still leaves me short, but I'd surely not get hurt on the deal, especially if discontinued.

223? Boring,..... I have my obligatory 223, dies, moulds, brass,..... Not one of my "fun guns" - pretty much a practical tool for varmints.

7.62x39? Another cool 30 cal which may or may not like my 30-30 moulds, sold my dies, different primers,.....

 

[waco]

A CZ527 in 7.62x39 has been on my short list long before the 300blk became so popular. Same little rifle in 6.5 Grendel would be a sweet little rig too!!

 

[Jeff H]

A CZ527 in 7.62x39 has been on my short list long before the 300blk became so popular. Same little rifle in 6.5 Grendel would be a sweet little rig too!!

My "plan" started with the intention of a 22 Hornet Handi-Rifle being my most-used rifle in my battery. Before that even got off the ground, I saw Zastava "Mini-Mausers" (not really all that "mauserly) in 7.62x39 for $450 at Century. Several months after they took my money, there was still no rifle (which was "in stock" when I ordered). I told Century to give me my money back. While this was going on, I started to realize how much I used my Rossi 92 357 Mag and that settled the caliber question but the platform was in the air for a while. It's really a much longer and much more involved story, and no one's going to want to suffer through that.

The 300 BLK came into the picture as the 357 idea matured and was a dandy candidate and surrogate for the 7.62x39 for all its desirable traits. No, not the same, but it was almost perfect for me.

If this were offered in the 300 BLK for $420, I'd have ordered one before telling anyone else about it. Besides being a 30 cal., it benefited me in that it used small rifle primers, I already have some excellent "308" moulds and I'd never have to worry about brass. I had a heck of a time finding 7.62x39 BRASS. All I could find were odd lots of "once-fired" and I scarfed up all I could find. When I had the 300 BLK (Handi-Rifle), LEE had not started making a collet neck sizer for it yet, so I made one from my 7.62x39 collet neck sizer.

Both my favorite 30 cal moulds cast .310" or over. They may be enough for the 7.62x39. They may not.

 

[david s]

I purchased my CZ 527 Carbine in 7.62X39mm during the great rimfire shortage of 2008-16. It was cheaper to shoot the steel cased Russian ammo than buy 22 LR (if it could be found) and is a great fun gun. The quality to dollar ratio is very good with the 527 series and while most stocks are plain to good figure wise there are some real stunners out there. Most of my current varmint/predator rifles are currently CZ's. My Winchesters, Remington, and Ruger's have been collecting dust for a decade plus. The CZ's do what ever the others do in a smaller lighter package. I think this qualifies me as a fan.

 

[Jeff H]

I purchased my CZ 527 Carbine in 7.62X39mm during the great rimfire shortage of 2008-16.......................

And since that time, CZ discontinued the larger 550 and replaced it with a push-feed - and I don't think they cost any less. I keep wondering how long before it costs too much to make the 527 in its current form. Not that I absolutely need controlled round feed, but the options get slimmer with time and the cost for that luxury just keeps going up.

 

[fiver]

which I don't understand.
how much can a 5" long strip of steel cost.

 

[Rootmanslim]

I had I 1000 years ago in Hornet.

 

[RicinYakima]

Add to the confusion; I have two CZ's. A ten year old 527 in .223 that was my first, and only, sub MOA rifle with any good bullet between 50 and 55 grains. A 7.62X39, probably 20 years old, a carbine with hump back stock. It shoots .308" and .311" jacket bullets equally well. (I shoot cast in 7.62X39 from my modified 1903 Springfield.)

 

[Jeff H]

which I don't understand.
how much can a 5" long strip of steel cost.

There is/was some serious machining involved. It's probably the single most complicated part on the original Mausers. The miniature version on the 527s amazes me. I've never thought to look to see if there's a dovetail on the projection which rides in the groove just behind the actual claw on the 527, but in the original Mausers it fits a dovetail in the groove on the bolt and prevents the claw from slipping off over the extractor rim of the case when pulling on the bolt. Not all originals had it and I don't remember dates, but the dovetail would disengage when chambering a cartridge (pushing the bolt) and allow the claw to snap over the rim if a cartridge were single-loaded - IF there was room in the right lug race, which was also an evolution, the time for which I don't remember. Some poo-poo the idea of single-loading the 527 because of this, but I believe the manual says it's not going to ruin the gun.

Even with all the intracacy and detail, they work in the worst of conditions. I've swapped extractors on Mauser bolts with no fitting and the only fitting I've ever had to do is minor tweaks right at the claw to accommodate variances in brass tolerance or going over the nominal .473" on a case head.

It's a complicated little part.

 

[KeithB]

which I don't understand.
how much can a 5" long strip of steel cost.

Kind of depends on how many you plan to make.

 

[Pistolero]

If they had used a double stack mag, in the stock like a big Mauser, I'd have bought one
years ago. With that ugly mag hanging down there, I just can't get past it even though I know
it is a very well made gun.

Bill

 

[Bret4207]

Different tastes Bill. That "hangity down" mag reminds me of the '91 Argentine Mauser. Attractive in a different way. Some cretins find Krags ugly, you can't account for taste. Ginger or Mary Ann, Jane or Marilyn, age old question!

 

[fiver]

the angle on the front of the claw can be changed to help it slip over the rim of a case too.
I have a couple of Rugers I can single feed from the ramp because of that little modification.