After reading and re-reading every past and present post about the CZ550 American I broke down and ordered one. Should be here Friday, and of course it's in 9.3x62. I still have about 300 of the Norma 231 gr. PPC bullets I've been hording for about 12 years.

I would love to have one in 7x57. Please give every detail when it arrives. I wish it was coming to my house.

Well, after a quick cleaning and a close inspection I was pleased with the purchase. Over all fit and finish is in some ways better than my M70 classic sporter and classic featherweight. The only thing that would make it better would be a guide rail on the bolt to prevent binding. But I'm sure with use and a little polishing that will go away. Will take it to the range sunday to see how it does.

go to huntamerica.com and do a search on the cz. Underneath that cheap finish is a beautiful stock.
they have great potential, and are a great gun.
I'd for sure look into re-doing the stock. For the reason I said above.

This is primarily to Harkm.I own a CZ 550 American in 7x57mm and to be blunt, it is the best damn rifle I have ever owned ... period. It has a Euro 1x8.66 twist tube,so the rifles like the heavier bullets, like 160 grainers, but boy is that a shooting SOB. I handloaded Hornady 162 gr.SSTs to just at .01 inch off the lands, which makes the round look rather funny with a huge chunk of bullet sticking out of the cartridge, but talk about shooting. With 48.2 grains of H414 this load chorongraphs at 2,815 fps and depending on this shooter, I got five-shot groups with proper cooling between shots of .468, .488 and .501 inches. I glassbedded the action, freefloated the barrel, put Talley rings on it, a Leupold Vari-X1 in 4x12 power, re-finished the beautiful stock with eight repititions (16 coats) of Lindspeed Oil and then had the bolt jewelled with the small herringbone pattern and had the bolt handle polished to a bright nickel. Sure, it is a shiny piece of work, but damn, can it shoot and with that SST, it will be good for anything I care to tackle here in New Mexico, including elk.Just for the heck of it, I did a 300 yard group of 1.31 inches with it and the SST load. With the same powder charge and a 160 grain Nosler Partition, the rifle shoots one-inch groups. I am absolutely estatic about this rifle, the load and the caliber. What's more, they can be bought for about $465 including shipping. Just thought I'd brag a little! Tom Purdom

I just keep hearing good things about these rifles.
Looking at one off the shelf leaves me a little sick in the stomach. However, from what I gather they are easily reworked and shoot like a custom gun. Heck, who knows, maybe I'll even buy one.
But the sauer 202 comes first.

Thomas, did you like the look of your CZ 550 right out of the box? Does the wood look ok? TLee, what do you think of the stock? It sounds like some here think the stock looks awful right out of the box and needs to be refinished to look good. The Pic on the internet looks decent enough.

Harkm: Yes, the wood looked good right out of the box, but I knew from looking at the grain that it would look much "better" refinished. The smokey lines in it were there with the original finish, but the Lindspeed Oil brought out all the beauty of the wood. Plus, the stock has quite a bit of fiddleback in it as well, which I am told was also made more pronounced with the re-finish job. Perhaps I can best explain by saying I would love to have a custom rifle, but cannot afford it. With this I had all the basics I needed for a fine looking rifle. Not all of the CZ stocks are as pretty, and some are more pretty. They are Turkish Walnut. I find that the CZ 550 American is much better finished than the CZ 550 Full Stock in the Euro style humpback. The checkering is much tighter (20 lpi I would say)compared to the Euro humpback ones (18lpi I believe). My brother and his friend both bought the full stock models and both are estatic with their rifles.They shoot exceptionally well. Duffy, my brother, refinished his stock too, but he does not have the patience that I do. The re-finishing gave me a good winter project and turned a darn fine-looking rifle into an exceptional rifle. My investment: rifle including shipping, $457; scope plus shipping, $249; Talley Rings, $65; bolt jewelling and bolt handle polishing, $50; cost of glassbed kit, $19; cost of two little jars of Lindspeed Oil, $13; cost of refinishing, labor of love; custom leather sling, $31. That's $884 for what I consider a show-stopper in a classic cartridge that is capable of exceptional accuracy. The American models come with the CZ rings. They are solid as the Rock of Gibralter, and just about as heavy too. That's why I have the Talley Rings. Now, all that said, my little brother's friend is happy as hell with his CZ 550 Full Stock in 7x57mm and he did nothing to it other than to add a Leupold 4.5x14 Vari-X III scope to it. I hope somewhere in all this rambling that I have answered your question Harkm. The rifle didn't "need" what I did to it, I just wanted to do it! Tom Purdom

[ 10-28-2002, 02:02: Message edited by: thomas purdom ]

Thanks thomas for your post.

Did not get to the range today so accuracy report will have to wait. The stock looks pretty good but there are a couple of runs in the finish. But as other posters have said a proper and patient application of a diffrent finish will really improve the looks. A few other items of interest on my rifle,
1) two steel crossbolts
2) a second recoil lug on the barrel ahead of the receiver.
3) a steel plate epoxied to the stock where the front recriver recoil lug fits into the stock and yes it does make contact.
4) serrations cut into the bottom of the receiver at the rear tang and at the front that bite into the stock. I have never seen this before on any gun.