Savage MKII BVTS or CZ 452/455 Varmint TH 22LR

[erob3]

Hey guys,

I am at a point of purchasing one of these 2 rifles. Both have great reviews and I'm sure both will give me years of shooting enjoyment. I like the thought of SS on the Savage, much easier to take care of vs. blue finish. Other than that I'm stuck. I would love to hear from everyone that has experience with these 2 rifles. By the way, it will be strictly a range toy and shooting in silhouette matches at my local gun range, no hunting. Thanks for the help.

 

[Tikirocker]

I just went through this very decision ... nearly ended up with a MkII TRR .22 but in the end just couldn't go past the CZ-452 American. I have tried them both at the range and just preferred the overall solid feeling of the CZ and general high quality.

Tiki.

 

[Picher]

The CZ 455 is a relatively light, but accurate rifle that looks and functions very well. You can also buy extra barrels in .22 WMR or .17 HMR. I had to do a bit of bedding on my WMR rifle for top accuracy, but it now shoots under 1" at 100 yards. That's about all the WMR ammo is capable of shooting.

A .22LR CZ American, out of the box, should shoot under 3/4" at 50 yards with standard velocity ammo.

 

[erob3]

Forgot to mention, the Savage is $390 with the CZ 452 coming in at $480. Is there $90 difference in the quality of the two? And you would think a SS rifle would be more. Anyway, thanks for the feedback so far.

 

[mr.t7024]

Savage Mark II or CZ

My son has the stainless steal Savage, at the range he was shooting againstb the CZ both rifles were equal. Just think how many boxes of 22's U can buy with the savings...! Cliff

 

[Pahoo]

Your call, all the way !!!

erob3
I don't think I'm going to be much help here as I have owned the 452Lux and currently shoot the BTVS. The LUX was great on the bench but not all that handy in the field. Both gave great performance and the only factor would be the price and that Savage is made in the USA. Mechanically and looking down the road, I'd say that the CZ "might" be better. ....

Be Safe !!!

 

[mike7.62]

I've owned both at the same time. The Savage will generaly shoot with a CZ. In my case my CZ 452 American was a tad better. Fit, finish and build quality are better with the CZ. By the way Savage rimfire rifles are made in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.

 

[Kitts]

Hi all, (first thread posting here)

I do a lot of accurizing work on the cZ line of rimfires. The 452/455's generally shoot equal to each other NIB. Average group with decent ammo is between 1/2"-3/4" @ 50 yrds on most of them. I prefer the 455's as of late for accurizing. Its switch barrel design lends itself to easy headspacing. Triggers generally get a cheap YoDave kit in them ~20$, this allows the trigger to get adjusted down to 1-2 lbs with the 3 springs and creep can get eliminated with one of the 3 shim tubes included. Some don't need the shims and have minimal creep from NIB.

My most accurate one to date is a 455 THV. It weighs a touch over 9 lbs with a massive Mueller 8X32 scope on it. Barrel was recrowned, slugged and lapped for a bit more relief at the breach. Firing pin was lightened by 5 grams and polished with a reshaped tip. Bolt guide was ground down for clearance on the newely adjusted headspace of .0425". Stock was pillared with stainless steel pillars raising action by .003". It was then fully bedded with Protek 2000 under the action and 1/8" relief milled under trigger guard and then that was also bedded with Protek2000. Scope rings are burris signature zees with 10 MOA inserts and a J&P delrin adapter for the weaver to CZ dovetail interface.

On nice days with sK standard + ammo, the rifle will consistantly group about .275-.3". It seems to like RWS match ammo a bit better often getting down to 1/4". I've shot some decent Sakos but I find the quality is not as good as far as fit and finish compared to the cZ's. Its not a loyalty thing since I'm from Ontario, but the folks at CZ have a long tradition in firearms and really produce something that is extremely good value for the money.

 

[berettaprofessor]

I have a Mark II and a CZ452....and I have yet to shoot them against each other but plan to. In the meantime, the CZ, wood and iron, feels like a real gun and the Mark II, nice as it is, just feels cheaper...not just the synthetic stock, in the action. We'll see. BTW, Bud's gun shop (www.budsgunshop.com) has the CZ455 listed at $366, the 452 at $430. I have the 452 but like the looks of the 455 better.

 

[mike7.62]

This is what my CZ 452 American shoots like. These groups were shot one after the other no cherry picking. The first group was from a cold/clean barrel. I did put a adj.sear in It and set the trigger to 18oz. I also added a Dip milled trigger guard. Other than that It's a stock rifle. I have a Leupold 3-9x33 efr scope mounted on It.

 

[wingman]

I've also looked at the CZ455 Varmint and Savage Mark2 TR at present I own a Savage 9317BTV excellent rifle very accurate, while I agree the CZ has more of a center fire feel I believe it does require more tweaking to achieve the accuracy, trigger can be good or bad while most Savage accutriggers will do well out of the box, one small flaw IMO with CZ is the lack of a standard scope mount while many adapters are available I would still like see a drilled and tapped receiver. All said I would not hesitate to buy either.

 

[coyota1]

I owned a 453 in 17 hmr. It was very accurate, and I liked the set trigger. I had the receiver and barrel glass bedded. I liked the gun very much, just didn't have much use for the caliber.

 

[geetarman]

I was just over at the LGS and saw a CZ 452 Trainer on the wall and it caught my eye.

I have two CZ pistols that shoot great and asked to see the rifle.

The fit and finish really looked good and this was a spur of the moment thing, but I bought it.

I have cleaned the bore and plan to shoot it tomorrow. I have a Marlin 39A that I have had for a number of years and put a K6 Weaver on it. The rifle shoots great and I am planning to leave this one alone and use the iron sights.

I have been looking for a bolt action .22 and this looks to be the one. It only came with one magazine so I took a drive to the CZ custom shop. I bought four more there and ordered four ten round magazines from Midway.

No one seems to have steel magazines. Anyone have a clue where they may be obtained or do the polymer mags work ok? They sure cost enough.


Have most of you put glass on your rifle? If so, what power?

I shoot a lot of .308 and 25.06 and 22-250. This one will be strictly for fun.

I hope I did not make a mistake.

Any feedback?

 

[SRH78]

I was all set to buy a Savage until I actually held a CZ. The CZ is much nicer. I have zero doubt that the Savage will shoot but it feels like a 22 and theCZ feels like a rifle if that makes sense. I have a 452 American and rarely shoot it under 100 yards anymore. It shoots under an inch at 100 yds with subs.

 

[Redneckrepairs]

Dont be afraid of the plastic cz mags they work fine and stand up to rattling around loose in the pickup .

I have the long and short of the cz .22lrs An " ultra lux " with the 29" barrel , and the 16" american that is destined to be host to a suppressor . Both shoot better than i can on prairie dogs with a 3x9 scope

 

[geetarman]

Well, my plastic mags from Midway came in and functioned fine.

The Weaver steel tube classic came in as did the CZ rings. The only issue was to move the scope forward to make sure the objective bell did not hit the iron rear sight.

Got the rifle sighted in at 50 yards and put 20 shots into a half dollar size group using the scope. That took two magazine changes. Did the same thing with 15 shots out of three 5 round magazines. I was using CCI Mini Mags.

No question, it is a shooter. One of the CZ factory shooters was at the range and tried the rifle also. He really liked it.

I am thinking. . . ( always a bad thing)that I might want to put a picatinney rail so I could make a scope change to something like a 3-9 and get it high enough to have clearance over the rear sight.

The rifle sure seems to have a lot of possibilities and the bolt is smoothing right up. Trigger is a little heavy and I am now feeling a little creep. I might need to work on that but will wait until I have a few more rounds with it.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Everyone probably saw my post last week, but I compared a CZ452, Mark II w/accutrigger, and a 10/22/volquartsen trigger/bull barrel side to side....my shooting. The CZ won with the Ruger a close second and the Mark II was a very distant third.

 

[Eghad]

I managed to snag a CZ 452 Military Trainer for $400 at a Gander Mountain. Not my favorite store but they had the CZ 452 Military Trainer in stock. It is like a mini Mauser action. I like my Ruger 10/22s but the CZ 452 is one heck of a old school rifle. The factory 50m target had 3 holes that were smaller than a dime. Nothing wrong with the trigger I had from the factory and it is adjustable.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Geetarman; get a Yo Dave trigger kit. I took the recommendations of others here (thanks everyone!) and ordered it. Put it in last night and the difference is amazing in terms of creep and feel of the trigger.

I have a 3X9 Bushnell on my 452, but now that I found out that it shoots so well, I'm thinking of something bigger...in the 12-16X range so I can see what it will really do.

 

[Tikirocker]

Sighted in my CZ 452 American special last Saturday, was shooting High Velocity ammo, not the best for target work, and even then, in high cross wind, managed sub MOA groups at 90, 60 and 30 yards respectively - out of the box.

Tiki.