CZ452 American; Finally took some photos

[futuretrades]

I picked up my brand spanking new CZ452 American on July 3. Already received the brand new Leupold VXI 4-12X40mm scope and Weaver rings a few days before I was able to pick up the rifle. The wood is beautiful! Haven't had a real chance to see what she will do, target wise, because either the wind has been blowin, or other commitments. I did get the scope sighted in at 50 yards tho with CCI 17gr. pills, only because these were the only ammo I could find around here. Not very impressed with them. I am currently in the process of finding some Hornady 17gr ammo, as this is the ammo I prefer. Personally I don't like CZ's clip set-up, or the loading of the clip, but thats what I will contend with.
Enough of the BS, here are some photos of my newest addition.

[Rick in Oregon]

Nice Kevin! You lucked out and got a very nice stick of wood there, bud. It appears CZ uses the nicer wood on the American model compared to the Varmint and other offerings. Every American I've seen has nicer wood than any of the Varmints, including mine.

I've got Lupy 4-12's on both my Hummers, and it has worked out for everything from jackrabbits in the open desert to Skippy and his pals in the alfalfa. My longest confirmed kill to date was with my Ruger77/22 Mag/Lilja 17 Hummer barrel screwed on that connected with an unlucky sage rat at a lasered 328 yards; an amazing little cartridge. Of course that was my second shot on the rat, and I dialed and corrected for shot No. 2.

You're gonna love the 17HMR, I promise, just don't let your 204 get too lonely, okay?

[Glen]

Nice lookin rig!! I can't wait to upgrade my HMR scope to a 4-12!!

[Jim White]

If you're CZ-452 is anything like my CZ-527 your really going to enjoy it.

Nice looking rig...

[Captqc]

Kevin, that's a nice looking bang stick! But no, I won't trade for the Cooper! Gary

[futuretrades]

Thanks to all of you for your kind words. Right now the wind is not blowin and I have no other commitments today, so I plan on going out and shooting a little bit. will see what this thing will do at a hundred yards. I adjusted the trigger down as far as it will go, but I know it isn't low enough for my liking, but we shall see!

Kevin, that's a nice looking bang stick! But no, I won't trade for the Cooper! Gary

Oh, and by the way Gary, if you trade me your cooper for my cz, you won't have to be bothered by all the technical stuff involved in reloading. I actually think you should go for the Leupold with the rat blood on it. I like it!!! You are in for hours of enjoyment with the prep and loading process! especially when you see the results of your labors on paper and in the rat fields.

[Jim White]

".... I actually think you should go for the Leupold with the rat blood on it. I like it!!! ...."

You know, a few weeks back I stopped over at Leupold to check out one of their scopes and they brought out one of those with the red streaks on it and was cool lookin'

[futuretrades]

I adjusted the trigger down as far as it will go, but I know it isn't low enough for my liking, but we shall see!

I was finally able to check the trigger pull with a real gauge. 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 lbs pull. Ugh!! I hate it, so I got me a Rifle Basix trigger. Now the pull is down to 12 to 15 ozs.. That is exactly where my Timney trigger pull in my 204 is!!!
I just love a nice clean break of the sear!!! And NO creep. Life is good. but now it is way too hot around here and the wind is still blowin, so I still need to get out and see what this CZ is capable of.

[futuretrades]

Finally laid my hands on some 17gr. VMax loads to try at 100yds. had 1 group at less than 1 in. after 4 shots, but the 5th, i guess i pulled and had a group of about 1.5 in. 2nd. group was 1st shot low left, but the next 4 were a vertical string all touching. even with the string, group was well over 2 in. then things really started going down the tube. Started having feeding problems with the CZ. needles to say i was really pissed at the rifle! the next 4 groups were really bad, and kept having feeding problems!
Next day, after I had cooled down, I started running loads thru the gun. 1st round I tried wouldn't chamber. so i grabbed a box of some CCI's that i bought with the gun. after 3 rounds, same problem. After trying again and again with same results, some rounds fed easily and others just would not feed. was trying to figure if the ammo was causing the problem or the clip or maybe even something in the chamber, when it happened! after another round failed to feed, I just happened to push on the rear end of the bolt instead of using the handle to close the bolt, and the round fed with no problem. next one i tried would not feed using the bolt handle, so i just pushed on the rear of the bolt with my thumb, and the round fed with ease. I finally figured the problem was with the way I close the bolt using the handle. turns out I put a downward pressure on the bolt handle when I begin pushing the bolt forward. problem was not a feeding problem but was caused by my operation of the bolt handle.
Now I am not new to bolt operations. Been shooting bolt rifles for over 45 yrs and never had any problems with the way I close the bolt in my life. I guess the CZ is a different animal. In a rim fire anyway.

[Captqc]

Kevin, that sounds really weird! I know you know how to run a bolt rifle so I have to wonder if something ain't right with that puppy. Can you take pictures of the different stages of operation? Gary

[futuretrades]

Can you take pictures of the different stages of operation? Gary

hey gary, i will try to get some pics, although i don't think they will show anything. actually i can make the gun do the same thing even without ammo in the clip, and will do the same thing with the clip removed. but as stated i do put a downward pressure on the bolt handle to make this happen. i tried the same thing on my howa in 204 and vangard in 223, and even my model 77 ruger in 270. even with considerable downward pressure, i cannot make any of them have the same problem. tomorrow i am taking the rifle back to my gun guy to see if he has any ideas of what may be happening. i know he will tell me to call CZ, but i will go see him anyway!

[futuretrades]

Just as i thought, my gun guy said nothing wrong with the rifle, after he inspected it very closely. no signs of unusual wear anyplace on the bolt or the chamber nor the inside where the bolt rides. he told me that i just need to re-learn the way i operate the bolt. guess if i was able to quit smoking, i can forget the way i operate the bolt and re-learn how to operate the bolt on this rifle

Boy is this gonna be a challenge! But I know I can do it!

[Captqc]

Kevin, I'd send CZ and e-mail and see what they say! Gary

[stevecrea]

I have one of the CZ 452s in 17 HMR, and when I first bought it, I tried the 20 grain TNT ammo, which is a hollow point without a polymer tip. In my rifle, the bullet hung up just enough to not feed reliably. It seems that the flat front of the bullet causes it to bump against something just enough to hang up. However, the 17 grain V-Maxes usually work well. On occasion however, if I cycle it too quickly, it will not pick the cartridge up out of the magazine.