CZ-USA Varmint .204 Decision

[GTOHunter]

Well I finally made it to the Gun Dealer I usually buy a lot of my Ammo and other Hunting Supplies from,my Daughter and I watched him bottle-feed the Fawns he raises and I took a picture of about 6 cute little spotted Fawns running about inside his enclosure.When we finally got inside his Store I asked which of the Model 527 would be the best choice and he commented on how much better the heavy-barrel Varmint would probably be than the lighter American.His info showed that the heavy-barrel wasn't that much heavier than the lighter American Rifle...my info shows the Varmint at 7.8 lbs and the American @ 5.9 lbs...anyone have info showing a different weight comparison?


Either way he gave me a good price on a (NIB) new in the box CZ-USA Varmint .204,I put 2/3 the price down on it and he will have it in some time next week....so its Offical now,I'm an honest Owner/Member of a .204 Rifle! YeeHawwwwww!!!!



Now I need to find me some Scope Rings.....I prefere the Millet Brand Rings....do they make them for the CZ-USA Model 527 Varmint .204 and what Supplier carries them?

[Clint E]

First off congrats on the buy . I have the varmint also and there is little in weight differance. I bought the cz rings and havnt had any issues with them . The set trigger is a plus and they shoot really well for an out of the box gun.
If it helps mine like 39sbk with h4895.

[Rick in Oregon]

GTO: Congrats on the new CZ! You'll be happier with the Varmint model for what you want to do....good choice. I've used both models, and for my style of either bench or walkabout varmint shooting, the Varmint is a better choice, and barely heavier than the American model.

On rings, CZ offers them, as well as Leupold. The Leupold units are finished a bit better, but either/both will do the trick. Not sure if Burris makes any dovetail ring mounts for CZ or Sako.

[GTOHunter]

Thanks Clint & Rick....I was worried about getting a heavier gun and having issues with packing it around,but You Guys eased my mind by commenting on the Varmint as being a better Gun/Rifle!I have been asking a lot of questions over the past few months since You all here at .204Ruger have been dealing with these Rifles for quit a while...I appreciate Everyone's comments and opinions,I took all the advice and weighed out my options,how much money I was able to spend and what type of Hunting and Terrain I had to deal with,I even tried to locate a Browning A-bolt Hunter in the .204 from a local Gun Dealer that was made a few years back that another Member on here was lucky enough to find but that didn't work out and I found several used .204's that were so close to the price of a brand new .204 that I ended up ordering a new one and that way I know its in good shape from the very start!


I plan on putting a Leupold Scope on it so maybe those are the rings I should get...I love the Millet Rings I have on 2 of my other Deer Rifles,but if the Leupolds work then thats fine with me!..One thing that I don't understand is why would a 39 grain SBK bullet work better than say a Hornady 40 grain bullet....I mean 1 grain difference between the 2 brands would make it shoot that much better groups?

I would really like to keep the Fur/Hides so what weight and brand bullet is the best over-all for keeping hides and the best accuracy?


Words can't express how much I appreciate the help and great advice from all the Members here at .204Ruger...I hope I can be of as much help back some day!

[ryutzy]

GTO---on the difference between the 39 SBK and the 40 Vmax. The way it was explained to me is that it has to do with the actual bearing surface of the bullet that helps to stabilize the bullet. If one bullet has a shorter bearing surface than another, it could mean the difference between stabilizing or not stabilizing the bullet if the selected bullets are already "on the edge" of being stabilized in a given twist. I hope i said it properely to help get the point I'm trying to make across. Just my thoughts................

[Clint E]

GTO good choice on the scope. I havent ever shot 40s in mine and the 39s have nt let me down yet on a coyote yet. When i got mine everyone said use 39s and they was right just didnt see the point in trying something esle. I couldnt complain about .5 5 shot group at 100yds.
I have never had serious fur damage with the 39s maybe quarter size exit wound. I have shot one quartering to me and shot through the shoulder and still had a clean quick kill.
Ryutzy explained it the same way i was told in his post .
If it helps you when loading i seat my bullets out so they just fit in the magazine .

[RowdyYates]

Good choice, GTO. Seems funny that 7.9# weight is that much more than the American; actually, both those stated weights seem high. At any rate, in my experience, once you hang a scope on even the lightest rifle, the balance and perceived weight doesn't seem to be that dramatic between the light one and one of a (margianally) heavier weight. Sure wish C-Z would just go ahead and offer all their 527's in Varmint contour options. And, FWIW, the 527 Varmints are selling for basically the same price as the Americans some places (Bud's, e.g.).
As for rings, Millett does make them, swfa.com and maybe natchezss.com sells them, but I found they might be back-ordered anywhere you do find a dealer. Burris makes 'em; I have a set of the older ones with the good Allen-head screws (.540 high) that I might sell. The Warnes are good, to, and they come in the lowest height next to the Milletts. Although it may/may not be as much of an issue with that barrel contour as it is with the Americans, any lower-than-stock scope ring may require bolt-handle modification, www.jamescalhoon.com, for example does it.

[GTOHunter]

Thank You Ryutzy for the explanation on the grain weight and performance difference between the 40 grainers and the 39 SBK....makes a lot more sense to me and it looks like I need to be looking for the closet place I can get the SBk to sight my gun in!


Those are some very nice/tight groups Clint E ...I hope I can get my CZ to perform that well when sighting it in?I guess my next question would be....what is to best proper procedure to sight in the .204 Rifle?I have always sighted my Deer Rifles in by first getting the scope bore sighted then at the range I start out at 50 yards and shoot 3 rounds,adjust my scope and let the barrel cool down...then I shoot 3 more groups and adjust the scope and piddle around to let the barrel cool down,sometimes I even bring another Rifle that I want to re-check the accuracy and shoot it a while then go back to my original Rifle and continue the sighting in process?Once I get my other Rifles close at 50 yards I go out to the 100 yard Target and continue the process again....is there any need to clean the bore out between sighting it in?



Rowdy...when I checked out the American and Varmint on the CZ-USA Site I believe they listed the heavier Varmint Rifle cheaper then the shorter barrel/lighter American,but the American comes with the scope rings so I guess that where the figure the lower price? Either way I mentioned that very same thing you also noted to my Gun Dealer and he actually offered me the Varmint Rifle cheaper than the American and his taxes were less in his County so I saved a little in that department too!

[K22]

I was worried about getting a heavier gun and having issues with packing it around

I much prefer a light weight rifle for carrying and my specs. are that it must weight 6lbs. 8oz. or less, ready to hunt. But that's me. If weight is an issue than when carrying the rifle I would highly recommend getting a Vero Vellini sling. With that sling you will not notice the weight.

[Clint E]

Gto i basicly do the same as you i take a couple of guns to the range. For cooling of course . I would take some cleaing supplys with you aleast a bore snake . I had one copper foul on me once after about 10 shots. IF you do your part your cz will shoot those groups no problem. For sighting in i basicly follow your plan.
The reason the varmint is cheaper the american comes with rings .

[Jim White]

FWIW...I've shot the 40-VMAX in my CZ-527 and it shot them quite well although not as well as the SBK-39 grainers. My two Remingtons won't have anything to do with the 40-VMAX so its all Sierra 39's for me.

[GTOHunter]

Thanks for the added info Clint and Jim....I had bought a box of Hornady 40 grain bullets when I thought I would try out the Wife's Uncles Savage .204 with the bull barrel but I didn't have time to get to the Range where they had 50-100 and 200 yard targets so I'm going to see if I can take them back and trade them in for the 39 grain SBK pills!



I looked for a Bore Snake for a .204 Ruger but the local Store/Shop didn't have one...the smallest one was for a .22,.223 and another odd-caliber?...5.62 maybe?Would this work or should I get a .204 Bore Snake specifically?I have a .243 and a 7mm-08 Bore Snake...found out I accidently bought another 7mm-08 Snake that I may try to return and get a different one?

[Song Dog]

You will need to get caliber specific. Everything I have will shoot the 39s great but tried the 40 Bergers and just stayed with the Bergers.

[GTOHunter]

Well I finally go some time off from work thursday evening and ran down to the Dealer I buy most of my Hunting Supplies from,He sent off all my personal info over the phone and everything was in good shape on my record...finished paying off the CZ-USA Varmint Rifle and looked it over.I was very pleased with the way it felt,not too front heavy and the heavier Varmint barrel was balanced well with the rest of the Gun and the Walnut Stock is simply beautiful.I had the Dealer get some Millet scope rings off the shelf to see what would fit but he didn't have any that would work on the factory CZ mounts...ended up having Him order some from CZ-USA and headed home to show my Neighbor that wants me to put a hole in a few groundhogs in his lower field my new Rifle.I finally dug out all the paper work and info on the Rifle and put the Bolt into the chamber...got to looking around in the styrofoam cut outs in the box and found something inside some milky-white bubble wrap....A set of CZ Rings for the Rifle.....Yeee-Haww...I don't have to buy any and cancelled the order from my Dealer.I read on the CZ-USA Site where the Varmint Rifles don't come equipped with Rings but apparently this is my lucky day!



Now to decide what Rifle to mount on it...that Leupold sure would be nice,just wondering if a 3X9X40mm would be efficent enough?

[Captqc]

Pictures Man Pictures!! Congrats on your new toy. Gary