I have just bought a CZ rifle (mod. 550 Lux ) in 9.3x62. I would prefer the American model but it isn�t available on our market.
I will be using this rifle mainly for wild boar hunting, replacing a Blaser R93, and intend to start developing loads for it by the end of the month.
Meanwhile I would like to do whatever necessary in order to improve the rifle�s accuracy.
The stock is in a very nice piece of wood but I can see that the barrel is not free-floating and I have to fix it.

I know some forum members have bought similar rifles, so what do you suggest I do, in order to make this an accurate and pleasant rifle to shoot?
Suggestions welcomed!

B.Martins

I have the exact same rifle as yourself, and it had pressure from the forearm applying to the barrel. I have lightly sanded the barrel channel to releive pressure and then resealed that area. I also had my smith modify the c-clip set up; do a search for this as there is heaps of threads on it. It can be fixed quite easily. My rifle is set up withwarne fixed mounts and a leupold 2-7 Vari X11. I am shooting speers at the moment....ensure you get some lapua brass.

Hi,

The most of my hunting (impala, warhog, wildebeest and kudu) is done with a CZ 550 carbine in 9,3 x 62.

I glass bedded the action and the trigger have been polished and tuned up by a competent gunsmith.

The scope is a Leupold 1x4, that is always kept to 1 when hunting and to 4 when developing loads at the range and the most accurate load on my rifle is a Speer 270 grains semispitzer molycoated by me and pushed at 2050 feet/sec.

At this low velocity the bullet perform very well and I will not esitate to use it on lion. The accuracy at 100 yards is about 1/3 of an inch.

I found good accuracy also with the same bullets at 2300 f/sec but in my opinion at the higher velocity this bullet is too fragile to be relied upon for shoulder shots on kudu sized animals.

250 grains Nosler balistic tip at 2375 f/sec proved to be accurate but not as effective than the 270 Speer at lower velocity. It may be a proposition for shooting on open terrain at more than 200 yards.

I also obtained good grouping from 286 grains Barnes solids at 2350 f/sec and from GSHP 250 grains at 2300, that are my D.G. backup loads.

Why you do not come to Phalaborwa for some enjoyable field testing? Game around here is plentiful and not too expensive.

Hi,

The most of my hunting (impala, warhog, wildebeest and kudu) is done with a CZ 550 carbine in 9,3 x 62.

I glass bedded the action and the trigger have been polished and tuned up by a competent gunsmith.

The scope is a Leupold 1x4, that is always kept to 1 when hunting and to 4 when developing loads at the range. The most accurate load on my rifle is a home-molycoated Speer 270 grains semispitzer pushed at 2050 feet/sec.

At this low velocity the bullet perform very well and I will not esitate to use it on lion. The accuracy at 100 yards is about 1/3 of an inch.

I found good accuracy also with the same bullets at 2300 f/sec but in my opinion at the higher velocity this bullet is too fragile to be relied upon for shoulder shots on kudu sized animals.

250 grains Nosler balistic tip at 2375 f/sec proved to be accurate but not as effective than the 270 Speer at lower velocity. Still it may be a proposition for shooting on open terrain at more than 200 yards.

I also obtained good grouping from 286 grains Barnes solids at 2350 f/sec and from GSHP 250 grains at 2300, that are my D.G. backup loads.

Why you do not come to Phalaborwa for some enjoyable field testing? Game around here is plentiful and not too expensive.

My CZ550 is the American and I never bothered to make sure it was fully floated. Fitted the rifle with a Leupold VX-III 2.5-8 scope on the CZ rings. Just checked to see if it grouped well, which it did.

Took it to the Phalaborwa area to hunt with Mafigeni in late May. Used 286 gr Noslers with 57.0 grains of RL-15 on Norma cases with WLR primers. Load chrono'd at 2420 fps in the US and there was no pressure sign at all.

Had no difficulty with the rifle being very effective if I did my part. Took Warthog, Impala, Kudu, Blue Wildebeast, and Zebra with it. All projectiles passed through with no recovery of the bullet possible. The Warthog and Zebra both went hooves up in their tracks.

Fine caliber!

Also took a Gemsbock bull with a CZ550 Safari Magnum in .416 Ribgy. That rifle had a lot of bedding work done to assure that it would not break the stock. The Gemsbock was literally numbed ... staggered 20-25 yards and collapsed.

Be glad you have the Lux. The stock design is more comfortable than the American style stock. I have bedded my CZ in 416 Rigby with a neutral pressure full barrel length use of bedding compound. With a mild caliber like yours you might want to try free floating the barrel first. If that doesn't work, you can always fill in the barrel channel. Use good (Lapua) brass and bullets, and have fun. You can replace the "C" clip with a second nut.
JCN

Thank you all for your inputs.
I am going to follow your advises and see what I can get from that rifle.
With the Blaser I was never at ease when developing loads so I had always kept cronographed speed at (or even below) factory speed. I hope I can do better with the CZ.

B. Martins