Is anyone shooting a ZB 611? I just got one and it's a nice piece of machinery but I have not shot it yet.

In another post Hunter Jim mentioned that he has one.

Click on ZKM on the left side of the page http://www.zbrojovkabrno.com/armsaktual/zbrane_en.php

Never seen one till now.
Good looking piece with that European stock.
Almost looks like it breaks down like the little Browning Auto?
Good Shooting

The metal work, stock fit and operation of this small piece is very fine. It compares to a prewar Colt revolver.

It's takedown is quick and tight but not too tight.

It came with the clip shown and a longer one for about 10 shots.

I just slapped that old scope on last night and the dealer and I are looking for perfect mounts.

http://www.zbrojovkabrno.com/armsaktual/zbrane/zkm_en.htm

American Rifleman article

"We were also surprised at its source, the Czech gunmaking center of Brno, and at its design and construction that show no concessions to modem shortcuts.

Brno's ZKM 611 evokes an earlier age with such things as solid steel forgings, genuine walnut stock with hand-cut checkering in a 16-line-per-inch point pattern and, most interestingly, its takedown system resembling that of Winchester's old Models 61 and 62."

Good news, they are being made again!

I shot it today at 50 and 100 yds with WW 40 gr hp's. After a few shots to get on target it made a 1/2" three shot group at 100 yds but it was all down hill from there. Soon the groups were 1.5" and then 3" at 100 yds.

I pushed a patch thru the bore and it fired two shot close to each other again but then back to big patterns.

I just figured out how to get the breach block out to clean it from there. Since the AR article mentioned that frequent cleaning was necessary I may try to polish the bore some.

The trigger is easy to get at and I may slick that some now too.

Here is a picture of trigger assembly removed showing the hammer/sear, the receiver from the bottom and the breach block.

Warning

Possible problems with 611/617's, bankruptcy and no service?

" packaged the new rifle up and sent it too
The warranty station -- McClelland Gun Shop,1533 Centreville Road,Dallas Texas 75228 Phone toll Free:
1-888-486-4878 and informed the gunsmiths that the Hornady cartridge casings would split in the chamber blowing copious amounts of smoke back into the clip and receiver area.

The rifle was returned to me by McClellands as unrepairable. Further discussion with McClellands revealed that sometimes barrel replacement would correct the defect but since there were no parts available it would probably be an exercise in futility to try to salvage the gun.

I was informed that ZBROJOVKA BRNO ARMS a.s. has gone bankrupt and is out of business is not honoring any commitments or guarantees to repair or replace any defective rifles it distributed in the United States.

McClellands also said that they had been "stuck" with over 200 jobs that they had done for BRNO for which they would receive no compensation.

I have approximately $450.00 invested in this rifle which has less than 5 rounds fired through it and would GREATLY appreciate any information that from anyone who might have had a similar problem with their ZKM617 that found a way to make the rifle usable."

http://p201.ezboard.com/fczechpistols82792frm47.showMessage?topicID=452.topic

mine is an older one with a fantastic piece of wood on it. It shoots quite well with winchester 40 gr loads, and patterns the light bullet/higher velocity stuff.

Heck, we buy old guns all of the time. It's just that I got all fired up over this 611 and was thinking of getting a 617 in 17 HMR. Now that I found more out I may rest a bit on this rimfire binge.

Yup, I have on of the older models and it shoots like ahouseafire, all daylong with never a burp. It is topped off with a leupold 3X9 compact. I was just on a sage rat hunt a fired about 1500 rounds through it. It is strange as I have never seen on without checkering as mine is. It is the bottom gun in the picture

I think the correct nomenclature is ZKM 611. The current production are 611a and 617 [I think].

At last count I have owned six of these rifles over the years. I presently have three. I've never got the accuracy I'd like to have. Generally, they will do about 2-3" at 100 yards and a little better with a clean barrel. I recently cut down the barrel on one of mine to 18" long. I am going to install a competition rimfire barrel damper and see if that helps accuracy.

I've studied these rifles pretty closely. Any skilled machinist could rebarrel one, but it would take some shop time [and hence money]. In other words, I think your .17 HMR could be salvaged. I would cerrosafe cast the chamber.

If you are going to remove the barrel [and you want to salvage it] be very careful not to crush the receiver. The barrel is screwed on very tight. You may need a little heat on the tenon and you will have to make a fixture to insert between the sides of the receiver to prevent it from crushing as you clamp it in a holding fixture [you will have to design some kind of fixture to hold the reciever].

You could cerrosafe the chamber with the barrel still on too. In any event, I doubt you will be able to reuse the barrel unless the chamber can be recut and the barrel rethreaded and reinstalled. The problem is that there is little or no barrel shank to work with.

A new barrel installation is very feasable. If you wanted a slightly heavier barrel contour than factory, you might have to relieve the bolt on the underside of the barrel to get clearance. If you do, then you will have to epoxy some weight onto the bottom of the bolt. Be sure and weigh the bolt before you take any steel off of it.

It would not be too difficult to machine a hanger/bolt guide to replace the factory component. I notice that on the current production model [the 611a] the boss is made of some sort of plastic/nylon material, whereas on earlier production rifles it was a steel boss.
Regardless, machinging and affixing a fixture for the end of the bolt to ride into and ato ttach the forestock is not too difficult.

Because the action it so well made it might be worth while to try and save the rifle with a new barrel installation.

My .02 worth.


Jordan

Savage,
I don't know what your trouble is but my BRNO purchased about 12 years ago had a warning not to shoot anything except Winchester ammo. I never shot any Hornaday but Federal will split everytime. Winchester works great and shoots about 1.5" @100 yds. The 511 22lr is even more accurate. Both are nice examples of Czech gunmaking. Sorry you may have a bad one.

The 611 that I have is a .22 WRM and not the .17 HMR that I linked to.

Since my orginal post I did buy some WW .22 WRM ammo in a 32 gr weight. All of the cases split on this new ammo marked "Supreme" yet! I gave away the ammo to someone who said that it works in their rifle. I may have the weight wrong as the ammo is no longer here. I have gone back to the standard 40 gr WW ammo in the silver box.

As to the accuracy I was trying various things like shims and variable forend screw tension and at one point the rifle shot 3" and worse groups at 100 yds. I tightend the screw some and it shot a three shot group under an inch. I am not certain that it will repeat this.

I am going to give the gun to my son who will use it for short range pest dispatching. I still like the looks of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
The 611 that I have is a .22 WRM and not the .17 HMR that I linked to.

Since my orginal post I did buy some WW .22 WRM ammo in a 32 gr weight. All of the cases split on this new ammo marked "Supreme" yet! I gave away the ammo to someone who said that it works in their rifle. I may have the weight wrong as the ammo is no longer here. I have gone back to the standard 40 gr WW ammo in the silver box.

As to the accuracy I was trying various things like shims and variable forend screw tension and at one point the rifle shot 3" and worse groups at 100 yds. I tightend the screw some and it shot a three shot group under an inch. I am not certain that it will repeat this.

I am going to give the gun to my son who will use it for short range pest dispatching. I still like the looks of it.

Savage99:

Like you, I too have tried various tricks to try and get these things to shoot better. Nothing worked for me---other than ammo selection. I have not shot my rifle with the cut-down barrel. It will be interesting to see if that makes a difference. It would also be interesting to see if a rimfire barrel tuner helped accuracy.


Jordan

The NRA tested the 611 and that article was linked somewhere in my posting. It said that the barrel required cleaning every 10 shots to maintain accuracy. In order to clean from the breach the forend and breechblock must be removed.

I marked the stock and screw with a felt pen to return it to the same spot.

I have to get another rifle for my kid and then I will take this one back and play with it some more. The workmanship is so good that it's a keeper at least at this stage.

Sometimes screw tension can be controlled by a bushing over the screw shank. Then the underside of the screw head abuts that hard and firm with the same tension every time.

I'm looking at buying one of these rifles and have read up fairly extensively on the pros and cons. Just wondering if there are any further footnotes to this thread? Do you still have the 611 Savage99, got any further tips? Did people improve the trigger any?

Trans-Pond:

I think these rifles are very much worth having. The take down design is ingenious and unique. Accuracy could be better, but its not terrible. There is pride in ownership in that the rifle is nicely finished---both steel and wood.


Jordan

I still have the rifle in a way. I gave it to my son as a house warming gift. He feels that it's almost too nice to use. He is in a rural area and has it ready for coyotes and other vermin.

As I may have written about it I could not pass it up when I saw the machinery and workmanship. The dealer I got it from is also a smith and he had taken it apart and was as impressed as I am. There is also some out there in 17 HMR that blow the cases open.

There is something wrong with the engineering on the 17 so don't buy one. ZB is closed as I understand and there is no recorse thru them.

When I buy stuff I always ask if I can return it if I don't like it.

The last gun I returned to him had a little too much headspace for me and he said "If your not comfortable with it then bring it back" He gave me my check back.

How do I remove the slide handle, to remove breech block for barrel cleaning? Do I just pull it out like on rem. 1100 or does it slide out vertically in a dovetail.or does it unscrew?

Trans-Pond:

The handle comes out---trust me. I am going off memory and don't have my rifle or manual in front of me at the moment. Here goes. You will notice that the cut-out for the handle in the side of the receiver is enlarged at the rear. Pull the bolt all the way to the back. Manipulate the handle until you can pull it out the larger opening at the rear of the bolt's travel. If you compare the handle to the hole it must come out through, you can get a feel how to position or manipulate it to get it out.


Jordan