CZ 452 Scout

[Danny Creasy]

I new that my 452 collection would never be complete without a little Scout, so I could not pass up an opportunity to purchase one this week. A friend had three Scouts - one scope sighted, one aperture sighted, and one open sighted. I offered to buy the open sighted one from her and she agreed.

Years ago, I was in a bait shop in Savannah, Georgia. One little dark corner of the store had an eclectic selection of firearms accessories hanging about the walls. One often sees Pachmayr slip-on shotgun recoil pads but seldom the smaller rifle version. On an impulse, I purchased the terra cotta colored boot with the thought of increasing the length of pull on my Norinco JW-15 Sporter. Well, it was actually to big and loose, so the recoil pad has rested in the corner of my reloading closet ever since. Until now ......


Excellent fit, this time.

In spite of the 40 degree temps and shifting winds, I took the Scout to the range this morning for a workout.



I zeroed the Scout's Weaver V-16 scope (Warne rings) at 50 yards using Wolf Match Target. I was rewarded with this nice five shot group:



All I have done to the rifle is thoroughly clean it and adjust the trigger spring tension to its lightest setting. A Lyman trigger pull gauge read 4 lbs 5 ozs before and 3 lbs 5 ozs after.

I decided to load up my entire bag of five shot CZ magazines and shoot eight groups. Here are those groups:



I wasn't sure if my hold was shifting POI or the quartering-in winds were playing with the results.

The slip on pad makes a nice stop gap. I don't want to permanently alter the length of pull. My grandchild is only one year old, but I hope to teach her to shoot some day just as I did for her mother and her aunt years ago.

[WCWV]

Looks like you had an excellent day at the range, and some good shooting

[SaxonPig]

I really hope you plan to do something about that big rubber cuff soon. There are ways to add to the length of pull without resorting to something so cheesy and unattractive that covers up so much of what looks like nice wood.

[Danny Creasy]

SP, please read my last paragraph.

[Danny Creasy]

Mounted a more modest scope on the Scout and range tested it a couple of weeks ago - Weaver RV-7 (2.5-7X28mm):



Best 50 yard five shot group of the day was the .35 incher. The average of six five shot groups was .64".



It was well above 50 degrees with shifting 4 to 6 mile an hour winds. The ammo was Wolf MT. I dialed the scope to 7 power for the test. These USBR bulls were tough aiming points at 7 power - I just "quartered the pie".

Now that she is zeroed and tested. I have pulled the rubber boot. Ready for the kids whenever they are.

[Fotheringill]

Danny-

Nicely done. I would give a lot to be able to shoot in 40 degree temperatures and light winds.

[Danny Creasy]

Yes, we have not had such in (even here in the deep-south) in the past 10 or so days. Next week is forecast for 60s! However, heavy rain is supposed to accompany the warmer temps. All the buds will pop - then a hard freeze will follow - and the gardeners and farmers will be vexed.

[bamaranger]

I was considering making some lame comment about your first scope, when you put the tidy Weaver in place later. Glad I kept quiet.

Recognize that club BTW! You shot well, but I will admit to shooting poorly there on more than one occassion, with lots of folks watching.

Not just farmers and gardners, a freeze will wreak havoc on the subsequent mast crop, and all the bow hunters will grumble too.

Good shooting to you.

[Danny Creasy]

Bamaranger wrote, "Recognize that club BTW! You shot well, but I will admit to shooting poorly there on more than one occassion, with lots of folks watching."

I have noticed over the years (well over 20) the coming and going of participants in our rimfire matches. The public exposure can be a double edged sword. Unfortunately, that is the nature of a "match." I do think that our local bunch tend to be tactful, encouraging, and helpful to new shooters. However, some like it and some never return. No one will argue this fact: those that stick with it generally become better marksman - especially relative to the offhand disciplines.

Did you shoot with us back at the old Sheffield range or up at our new mountain home?

[DaleA]

Reaffirms what I've heard about the CZ .22LR rifles.

Looks like you've got yourself a winner there.

[weedsnager]

Love my 452, favorite riffle I own

[geetarman]

Here is a 5 shot group at 50 yards with my CZ 452 Trainer.

[98 220 swift]

I have a 452 classic. It has been glass bedded and had some trigger work done to it. It is amazingly accurate.

[btmj]

I love my CZ 455. It is by far the best 22 LR I have ever shot excluding Anschutz.

I hope your 452 has an lighter safety lever than mine. Mine is very stiff, and I fear that a child would find difficulty with it. It is very difficult to push to the "SAFE" position.

Jim

[bamaranger]

Danny

Will reply by PM

[Danny Creasy]

Thanks, Bamaranger.

[RKG]

The CZ452 is a great little rifle, but the trigger is a little gritty. I've replaced the factory trigger with a Timney trigger on three of them (one mine and two for other people).

Replacing the trigger itself took less than five minutes, but then you have to expend a little effort inletting the stock. Well worth it, though.

[Danny Creasy]

Well, that is the short of it. How about the long:

CZ 452 UltraLux - an open sight laser beam


I love it for offhand open sight shooting, but we occasionally shot an open sight benchrest match a few years ago here in North Alabama. The USBR target is designed for high powered scopes at 50 yards. We had fun seeing what we could do with our open sighted sporter weight rifles (no scopes - no apertures) at 50 feet. It was a hoot.

Even at 50 feet, you need a spotting scope to check your hits and misses:


Here is the sight picture I used with the CZ's fine tangent rear sight and square front post:


This was one of my better targets:


I think we could have eventually been shooting a 250 here and there if we had stuck with the game.

Two traditional benchrest challenges that made the game very accessible were:

1. The wind was less of a factor at 50 feet.

2. High end match ammo was not required to score well. Any mid-price ranged target ammo would put all the projectiles in one hole at 50 feet if pilot error could be controlled.

[Fotheringill]

Danny-


My UL shoots better than my 452 TH Varmint, always did and probably always will.

Another step up in ammo grade will certainly increase the scores. Right now, I have the Brno sights on the UL but need the NRA like targets (white 9, 10 and X rings) to be able to see at 50 Yards. Can't see the green meany target at that distance.

I don't mind the volume of snow we have in New York, but only the fact that the same snow/ice is on the ground for about six weeks without melting.

[cw308]

I have a Varmint 452 22lr. for 4 years now, it's a pleasure to shoot & very accurate. Shoots Wolf 40gr.Target Match one hole groups. Had to use a Dewey 20 cal rod, CZ bore seems to be tighter then most 22's. Sick of shoveling snow, waiting for warmer weather, benchrest shooting high power at Brookhaven, can't wait.Good luck with your new toy. Chris

[Fotheringill]

Brookhaven, you say???

[Danny Creasy]

Fotheringill wrote, "My UL shoots better than my 452 TH Varmint, always did and probably always will."

Actually, all of my 452s and even the humble 513 shoot better than my 452 Varmint. Not that the Varmint is inaccurate - it's just not as consistently tight grouping as the other seven 452s and single 513.

I finally broke down and ordered a torque wrench the other day - a Wheeler. It was sitting on the porch when I retrieved the mail today. I will not be bedding any of them, but what are your suggestions for starting points relative to torquing the screws on my CZ 452 battery:

2 - Trainers
FS
2 - Americans
UL
Varmint

[Fotheringill]

For the one action screw and front barrel screw models-

Front- just enough so it will not drag the barrel down. You might even want to drop a washer in the hole. Action screw, I found 22 in/lbs. to be best on both the UL and the Varmint. I would start at 16 and work my way up until the groups get as tight as they are going to get. On both rifles, I found 24 for the UL and 22 for the Varmint. DON'T go over 26 per CZ gunsmith. The wood or laminate will start to crack. Torque as stated in the manual is wrong, but CZ never changed its manuals.

I have torqued a friend's American and found 20 front and 22 rear to be best. However, each rifle is different (as you know) so it is trial and error and about a brick per rifle to be sure.

Danny- If you really want to see things tighten up, I would seriously suggest just pillaring. Make sure you have metal to metal contact. Denny has BRNO pillars which are already notched and need only a tad of shaving down to get the exact length needed. Failing that, if you can find metal sleeves at HD, they will need some cutting but will do the job, OR the old standby, threaded lamp rods, which are perfect for anchoring when bedding them in since they are threaded on the outside and present a perfect surface for a great fit. You will find that the sleeves or the rods or the BRNO pillars are so snug, they will need to be tapped in and you will not need anything special to center them in when using the epoxy.

[Danny Creasy]

Thank you, so much.