second CZ 457 22lr

[stagpanther]

Yup--had to get another one.

Actually, this is the little scout, and I got it just for the receiver and bolt destined to be mated with Lilja's fast barrel. Even though I'm taking the stock barrel off, by no means am I getting rid of it--just like my first 457 the quality of the bore work is simply impeccable. The best of any production firearms I've ever looked at closely--better than some custom barrels I've paid as much or more for as the entire rifle costs.

 

[Pathfinder45]

Do tell me about the fast twist... Do they make one for the Ruger 77-22?

 

[stagpanther]

You'll have to inquire directly to Lilja--they tend to do "on again/off again" special runs of custom 22lr barrels. They did prefits for the CZ for a while because they are easy to get barrels on and off. As a side note, you probably won't want to go down this rabbit hole unless you are interested in custom/hand-loaded heavy supersonic 22lr ammo.

 

[stagpanther]

Basic parts fit check--everything looks good. Still have to properly headspace and "yo-davidize" the trigger. Naturally I have no idea where my precision depth gauge is--so that will likely take me at least a couple of days to find in my endless labyrinth of parts and tools.

 

[stagpanther]

Got the rifle assembled this morning and went out to do a test firing; everything seems to be operating well though the yodave trigger spring didn't get the pull down quite as much as it did on my jaguar--it's around 16 ozs on this one whereas on my jaguar ir's around 8 to 10 ozs. Also, there is a noticeable gritty ness to the pull which is somewhat annoying. Still, satisfied over-all (pretty sure I could have had a one-holer had I tried harder).

 

[stagpanther]

I messed around with the stock screws settings for a bit--it seems that the trigger is fairly nice with the receiver out of the stock--but once I screw the action into the stock the trigger goes to poop becoming gritty and much higher pull; almost 3 lbs. That makes me have to hold the rifle with the same firm hold that I would have to on a much more powerful centerfire cartridge to minimize pulling the shots. The gun shoots pretty well, but I can't go on for very long with the trigger the way it is to get the full potential.

 

[stagpanther]

Wasn't quite satisfied with the feel and operation of CZ's stock trigger--though it feels fine on my jaguar. Replaced it with a straight-shoe Timney; extra fine feel and worth every penny for superior quality.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

Whoa, now that’s some sweet pimpin. While.22’s are fun, these days I’m contemplating some more serious iron in .17 HMR. I’m nuts about this caliber, it’s just so fun and I think it’s the coolest thing ever. I’m getting to the point where no recoil, small reports, no reloading required, and excellent accuracy are just so satisfying. I could easily just shoot my RF’s and be a happy camper.

 

[stagpanther]

17 HMR. I’m nuts about this caliber, it’s just so fun and I think it’s the coolest thing ever. I’m getting to the point where no recoil, small reports, no reloading required, and excellent accuracy are just so satisfying. I could easily just shoot my RF’s and be a happy camper.

Oh--I have a serious 17HMR habit as well and know what you mean. It's ammo habit is pretty expensive and I don't think has quite as many options in factory ammo for the serious shooter as 22lr does. 22lr is simply classic.

I'm having a ton of fun getting down into the weeds and exploring the ballistics variations in sub and super sonic speeds and what happens in the transonic regimen. 22lr reduces all these factors down into minute variables that instantly reveal the discrepancies. External wind factors will kick your butt very quickly too--but there is a lot there to learn for those who are willing.

 

[Rob228]

Are those groups with the long heavy stuff you were working on or is that factory ammo? Just wondering about the faster twist rate and standard velocity 40 grain stuff. As always, thanks for the constant project updates, always well written and gives a lot to think about for future projects.

 

[stagpanther]

Are those groups with the long heavy stuff you were working on or is that factory ammo? Just wondering about the faster twist rate and standard velocity 40 grain stuff. As always, thanks for the constant project updates, always well written and gives a lot to think about for future projects.

Very good questions. The 9 twist BTW works just fine with conventional lead factory ammo like Ely, RWS, Lapua etc. The only issue is that if you have a a non-standard chamber it might not extract the spent case from factory ammo. For example--just like in my stock CZ barrel--RWS factory ammo is superlative in my Lilja barrel, but it's tight match chamber dimensions along with the waxiness lubricants of the cartridge more often than not leave the case mildly stuck in the chamber--so I need to bring a bore reamer along when shooting it. The hand-loaded 22lr stuff using the CE solids comes out just fine with no issues--even when running at higher pressures than the factory stuff.

Not all 22lr brass is the same, they tend to have varying thickness and diameters in the rim, so with a tight chamber a match barrel might have I've learned to headspace for the type of ammo I'm most likely going to use.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

Oh--I have a serious 17HMR habit as well and know what you mean. It's ammo habit is pretty expensive and I don't think has quite as many options in factory ammo for the serious shooter as 22lr does. 22lr is simply classic.

I'm having a ton of fun getting down into the weeds and exploring the ballistics variations in sub and super sonic speeds and what happens in the transonic regimen. 22lr reduces all these factors down into minute variables that instantly reveal the discrepancies. External wind factors will kick your butt very quickly too--but there is a lot there to learn for those who are willing.

Well put. The cost of .17HMR put me off for a long time. Then a few years ago when back in ND visiting old friends, I went shooting gophers with an old friend just for S&G’s. He had a .17HMR and I was popping gophers easily at 100+ yards and was instantly hooked. He didn’t know much about guns and picked this one up because it was the only left handed RF he could find locally. He had the scope mounted all jacked and once I straightened it out and showed him how to use it properly plus tuned his trigger and taught him some basic trigger techniques, he was hitting gophers at extended ranges and got really excited.

 

[stagpanther]

I recently stumbled upon this conversation on the accurate shooter's forum, there are some really good observations about 22lr ammo and factory vs hand-load. One guy makes an observation about the consistency of the primer in cases--I think that is of big importance based on my experience so far of using hundreds of CCI and fedarms pre-pimed cases. I generally record pretty big ES in any given load even when I weigh down to the hundredths of a grain the charge. Just firing the loads I can tell there are variations simply by the feel of the recoil, the amount of smoke/flame, residue etc as a result of inconsistent burn of the charge.

 

[Pathfinder45]

What I like most about the 22LR is that it's an inexpensive caliber that is useful for many purposes, without a loud report and of extemely low recoil, that I will not reload. I know you're having fun with reloading it anyway, and that's good enough reason to do it. But surely does make the 22 and 17 Hornet calibers look practical....if we could just get primers for them.