A few weeks ago, my 550 American in 9.3x62 began to misfire. I was hunting feral cattle in thick forest and was about 20m from the herd when it happened. I had just shot two, the air was filling with dust and things were starting to slip into slow motion when the gun quit. And if you think I'm unhappy with CZ 550's right now, you're absolutely right.

Mike, the gunsmith at CZ USA, told me about a wire clip that keeps the firing pin spring nut from coming unscrewed. Mine had slipped forward and the nut had unscrewed itself. This reduced firing pin spring tension enough to cause misfires.

Part of the problem is that I did not disassemble the bolt when I got the rifle, and did not know this could happen. That's a lick on me. But it's also a design flaw, and if you have a CZ 550, you need to know about it and learn to fix it before you go into harm's way.

The cure is to retighten the nut, reseat the clip and crank the nut back up to the clip. You could probably do this in the field--although not very quickly and certainly not while being gored--and your rifle will be useless until you do. This is a very serious issue, especially on a rifle for dangerous game.

LESSON LEARNED: If you use a CZ 550, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME, strip and check your bolt RIGHT NOW! Learn about this little part and check it regularly. If I can figure out how to correct this flaw and restore my confidence in 550's, I will continue to use CZ rifles. If not, an otherwise nice 9.3x62 will be for sale and I'll go back to Mausers.

Hope this helps, Okie John.

The facts you report are welcome news, and I, for one, thank you for the heads up! This is something to be aware of when setting up the rifle for a hunt!

However, It is simply amazeing, to me, that anyone would take a new rifle to hunt anything, but more especially dangerous game, without field stripping the rifle to get the factory gunk out of the action. If this had been done, the retainer would have not been a supprise. Though this may, or may not be a design flaw, I believe, in this case, it is a combination of owner failier,to take care of busines,and an assembly mistake at the factory, more than a design flaw! Nothing works properly,unless properly assembeled!

Okie, how about some blue Loctite on the threads?

Thanks for the info...we have a 550 in 9.3 and love it. Will check out the bolt.

MacD37: When I posted that I did not disassemble the bolt, I mean that I did not take it down to the last little piece. I've done that to new guns before and had no end of trouble getting them back together.

I agree about checking out new guns, that's why I field stripped the bolt when I got it home from the store. (That and curiosity.) I expected it to be pumped full of some foul goo, but it had a light coat of oil that I felt was OK and which I left in place. With it field stripped, it looked like I would have needed a punch and more skill than I have to keep going without breaking something. Add the problem of getting it back together properly, and I stopped there.

I saw the clip then and decided not to mess with it. When I stripped the bolt after the misfires, the clip was about half an inch from the end of the firing pin, completely forward of the threads where it usually rides. I have fired several hundred full-power rounds through this rifle--enough to have worn the blue off of the bolt handle from cycling the bolt--so I suspect improper assembly would have shown up before this happened. But you never know. Looking at the shallow angle of the cut where the clip rides and the small gauge of the wire of the clip itself made me think "design flaw."

Guys, thanks for the exchange of ideas. We've worked out just about everything we really need to know about the finer things in life, stuff like the C-130, the K-frame Smith, the 1911 and the small-block Chevy. There is a learning curve for the 550, and now we know that you must check your 550's clip--just like we know you have to seat the rounds in your M-16 magazine by banging it on your helmet.

Thanks again, Okie John.

Too bad about CZ's. My new merkel k-1 failed me adn I had to send it back to GSI for a new trigger/safety mechanism. Lost confidence is hard to recapture.

However I disagree that everyone would be expected to completely disassemble any rifle before they would take it on a hunt. I have never taken apart a sidelock or boxlock rifle before shooting. And on bolt rifles, I have never taken a trigger mechanism apart before shooting.

Perhaps I am trusting, or dont want to screw up the screws. but the thought never entered my mind that complete dissassembly would be a required step and generally in order on a factory new rifle. I expect more from the rifle makers.

lessons learned every day.

Okie, and Jameister, the take down I suggest is for Bolt action rifles mostly,but is a good idea for any firearm. Though a design flaw may be evident, when the take down is completed, that is not the reason for the disasembly! New bolt actions , of all makes, are notorieous for the factory greese inside the bolt freezing, or slowing, the fireing pins when they encounter cold weather, or copieous amounts of dust. The crap, makers put into rifles, is to combat sea air for shipping, and long term storage, not for lubrication.

If you do not have the skill to do this work, it is a good idea to spend $15 and have your gunsmith de-greese any new rifle, and to look for any misassigned pieces at the same time!

I would think, considering the cost of rifles, and hunting trips, a few dollars, or some self done mantenance would be a prudent thing to do, especially, if hunting dangerous game. The finest rifle maker in the world can forget to tighten a screw, or miss something that may not show up untill you are in dire need of reliability.IMO, that is the wrong time to find out somthing is amiss! This can be avoided by a "NEW RIFLE" cleaning,de-greeseing, and lubricateing properly. This can only be done with disassembly. If that isn't important to you, then disregard the advice, but there are many young lurkers on these forums, who may use it to their advantage!

Sorry if I came off wrong to your way of thinking, but it is still amazeing to me this is not routinely done with any new rifle!

Okie John,
I have the exact same rifle/caliber and after your post I pulled the bolt apart and found the clip loose just as yours was. My rifle has 620 rounds through it since it was purchased new in June '02. Although it has not had any misfires, it has basically done the same thing as yours (even down to the blueing being worn off the bolt knob!!)

After you had the fail to fire, how far forward had the firing spring nut moved forward? Mine looks like it has never moved with just a copule of threads showing (probably where the clip should be).

[ 09-02-2003, 04:47: Message edited by: Phil ]

I've got a CZ 550 American in 9.3X62 and after reading the above posts got to thinking about mine. I've only fired about 2 or 3 boxes of ammo through it. Worked fine and shot great. After taking it out of the gun safe a minute ago to see how the bolt would come apart, I put it back in the gun safe. I don't have a clue how to take it apart. I was hoping it was like my Winchester Model 70. All help appreciated and if this is better left to a gunsmith please don't hesitate to let me know. I already have a basement full of teeny-weenie screws and springs. Thanks, Mike

MacD37:

This old coot is not too old or stubborn to learn!! thanks for the lesson in preventive grief. I see your point about the freezeup and shipping gunk, And I recall it used to be called cosmoline, although there were some more colorful words for it as well: Military mud, Hells jello, and a few unprintables.

I just recently did my first field strip on a model 70 bolt. I like the way the extractor is designed to fly off the spring on detensioning. made for some hands and knees time, and i can see that it would not be pretty if Mr. Cape is snorting nearby.

I stick pretty much with breakactions.

Thanks again. jameister

The 550 bolt is pretty easy to field strip. Make sure it's unloaded, then push in on the little checkered button on the left rear of the shroud. (It's just aft of the bolt release.) Hold it down and lift the bolt handle, then remove the bolt normally. Unscrew the bolt body from the rest of it and you're done.

The groove for the clip is about 4-5 threads down from where the threads start. You can screw the collar down past it and see the clip in there. The clip should be seated in the groove, not up forward in the threads.

Phil, I don't remember exactly how far forward my clip had gone. I remember not seeing any threads forward of the nut, so it was several full turns at least.

Think about what we should do and post back. So far I think aircraft safety wire might be the best way to go, but that's kind of like fixing everything with bailing wire. But then I don't have "Okie" in my handle for nothing.

Okie John

Could the clip be fixed permantley in place buy a gunsmith, soldered, or a better part be made up ??

Solder would be great, but then you couldn't take the bolt apart to inspect or clean it. Same with the semi-permanent forms of Loc-Tite. My Brno ZKK 602 was similar but it had two collars, one with a big detent to keep things from jumping around. When you disassemble a normal 98 Mauser bolt, everything comes out the back of the bolt body, then off the back of the firing pin. The only threads are at the rear of the bolt, to hold the shroud on, and they're huge.

It might be possible to recut the groove in the 550 firing pin, cleaning it up slightly so the forward edge is square, and then build a stronger and larger clip. But I don't know.

Okie John

John,

I have not got a CZ550, but from your description, could you add some form of locking nut? Or how about substituting the nut that keeps moving with one of those with a nylon/plastic insert that grips the threads?

Anybody with a CZ550 care to scan and post a pic so the rest of us can see the offending part?

Regards,

Pete

[ 08-26-2003, 02:27: Message edited by: Pete E ]

It's so easy to check posting is irrelevant. Follow the manual's directions to take the bolt apart and it's right there to look at. Takes 30 seconds. I checked mine last night before I went to bed. Mine was OK.

I just followed Okie John's suggestions on how to field strip the bolt. It took less than a minute to strip. I inspected the area on the firing pin where the clip holds the locking nut back against the firing spring. The threads on the firing pin lack distinct cutting and appear somewhat "mashed" leading me to believe the metal used in that area may be too soft. I'm not a gunsmith or metalurgist but I would think those threads should be sharp on the edges with clean grooves. When I talk with Cherrie (sp) at CZ later this week I will bring this to the Techinal Staff's attention and post their answer if they don't mind. Thank you Okie John on how to strip the bolt. Mike

I also had a misfire (shooting range) with my 550 in 9.3x62. Hopefully a gunsmith can fix it. Other than that its a great rifle!

I called CZ usa to get 3 pos safety, I also asked about the clip. The tech guy told me it was not a problem and stated failures were due to owners taking the bolt apart and putting back together correctly. He also stated the current change in desighn was due to cost cutting.

He told me to shoot it and if it failed fix it. I had been keeping my mouth shut until that point..........I said what if it failed and I'm face to face with a bear or buff.......he said that what PH's are for.........to back you up............I just laughed.

Bottom line.......you get what ya pay for, its still not a bad deal and I would buy another. Mine is not loose, and its easy to check but it's, but it might be a piss poor desighn for a DGR no matter what ya pay for it.

So what year did they bring this clip in ?? or is it in all cz's ??

For example would it be in the 550 Magnum rifles ??

just an observation: i read these pages a lot and often hear of circumstances similar to this where a failure has occurred for whatever reason. but i notice in this case that no one is calling the CZ a "piece of shit" or a "boat anchor" or any other derogatory names. my guess is that if this had happened on a Winchester or a Remington or a Savage, the name calling would go on forever. and in the end someone would recommend buying a CZ, or some other foreign made rifle, instead......

i'm not sure i fully understand the problem, but if some part can inadvertantly "slip forward" and cause a major malfunction to occur, then i'm prone to agree that it is a design flaw. WHEN the malfunction occurred is not the point. in 45 years of shooting, i have NEVER had to make internal adjustments to a bolt.

just out of curiosity, is there another bolt in any other rifle which is configured in the CZ fashion or is this something unique to CZ??

anyway, thanks for the notice John. i'll go look at my CZ later and see if i have a similar problem.

[ 08-27-2003, 19:50: Message edited by: bill smith ]

Gringo Cazador, I have talked with CZ's smith and he's a nice guy, but he ain't doing them many favors in the PR department. Maybe he's never gone on a self-guided hunt. Or maybe he doesn't know that folks who hunt hogs and bears don't always have a PH around. Or maybe he can tolerate unreliable rifles. I prefer to think he's a decent guy who is caught trying to defend his employer against something that is completely out of his control, something that we've worked ourselves into a lather over, but that he's hearing about for the first time. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt based on my dealings with him thus far, but if you manged not to jack him up over that ill-advised remark, my hat is off to you. I would not have been so kind.

True, some failures could have come from faulty reassembly, but my failure to fire must be due to some other reason--prior to the misfires, I had never removed the clip, nor had I stripped the bolt past removing the internals from the bolt body.

Bill Smith, I have not called my 550 a bad name here, but I cussed it a blue streak in the field that day. My military career flashed before my eyes as I sought an appropriate level of profanity for that rifle at that moment, and I still think I failed.

To answer your other question, as far as I know, this situation is peculiar to recent 550's. I had a ZKK 602 in 375 several years ago; it had a two-collar system with a huge detent that worked just fine.

Here's an idea--does anyone out there own a rifle made by American Hunting Rifles? They use the 550 exclusively, and they build some thumpers. I'll call them tomorrow and report back soonest.

On a side note, I have not contacted CZ directly thus far beside talking with the gunsmith. Now it appears that dealing with him is not working, so I think I'll write to the Legal Department. I see no reason for action against them--no blood, no foul--but this problem is going to get someone killed in gruesome and spectacular fashion, and they deserve a chance to fix it before that happens.

Okie John

Rifleman's Rifle. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Also quite funny is that many people spend money on the "riflemans rifle" to sort out feeding problems and chambers not aligned properly and machining that looks as though pre-schooler has had a crack at it

Neally all brands of one description or another have bugs that need ironing out particularly before there taken to hunt nasty stuff.

No brand in this respect seems in-fallible.

I am confident the issure of the clip can be solved, and can be fixed as part of the the things that need to be done along with bedding, triggers etc. I know we should not have to get these things done but un-fortunately that is the way things are.

I personally have not had any drama's with the cz rifles I own and they all shoot great. They were also much better finished than my Rem VSSF 22/250 which I paid 3x as much for and the finishing is woeful, similar to the tooling marks and on a new "riflemans rifle" I handled the other day in .300 win mag

PC: this is a bit off of this topic, but i want to ask you a question about Australia. i notice that you guys talk about guns that are mostly American or European made. the only rifle i ever owned, which i think was Australian, was an older Enfield. so, here's my question......does Australia have a firearms industry??

[ 08-29-2003, 21:58: Message edited by: bill smith ]

Cherrie from CZ called me the other day to say the Board of Directors came to a decision on making the .416 Rigby and maybe others (she failed to tell me and I forgot to ask). The .416 Rigby is due to come out in November of this year in the 550 American so those of us who prefer not to own the "humpback" version can now buy what we really wanted in the first place and not have to go to the added expense of sending the barrelled action to McMillan for a stock. I said I would check on the firing pin when I actully talked to one of their gunsmiths.....however, I'm going to let them COOL down a little. In the mean time, Jack Belk, where are you? We need technical advice on this one, (expert and unbiased advice!!) Mike

Since this topic started, I have twice disassembled the bolt on my CZ 550 in 416 mag to see exactly what the problem is......I just now dug out the owners manual and looked at the parts breakdown because I could not find the problem part on my rifle.....well, I still can't find it because it's not there......I guess my rifle is made differently because there is no clip of any description on my firing pin!

See parts breakdown below.

There are two notches cut into the "firing pin spring nut(#20)" and a "firing pin spring support(#19)" has matching "tits" that lock into the notches preventing the nut from unscrewing as long as there is tension on the firing pin spring. Maybe these parts could be retrofitted to the rifles with problems???



[ 08-29-2003, 23:00: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

This is largely a duplicate of a post on the Big Bore Forum:

I called American Hunting Rifles but they were out of the country until 7 September. When they get back, I'll allow them a few days to settle in, then give them a call.

I also called CZ USA and asked to talk to their attorney, but the receptionist made a command decision and sent my call to the head of CZ USA instead. We talked for a bit and I sent her an email describing our problem at length. Along with the email, I gave her URL's so she can follow our threads. I also told her how much we think of CZ rifles, and that we'll continue to stand behind them if they stand behind us on this. The experience was completely positive and I think she got the message. I think we're done fooling around and will see real action soon.

We can hope, anyway. If so, a 550 American in 416 would be a perfect mate for my 9.3x62. Of course, then I'll need a 30-06, and maybe a 7x57.

Okie John

Will the 550 American .416 have express sights ??

I quite like the Hogsback at any rate.

It's my understanding that the 550 Safari will have the express sights. And I'm glad the main office at CZ is aware of the existing potential malfunction with the clip on the firing pin. A recall of the part may be in order.

My cz550 looks like "gonehuntins". It's a .375H&H. Can we assume this "clip" issue doen't exist on the long action?

What year of manufacture for medium length cz actions did the clip begin to be put in ?? I am picking that my rifles manfucture year of 1999 (CZ Lux 9.3) is the one because those 1999 rifles also came with some plastic trash on the floor plate and follower.

Word on the bigbore forum is it's only on the shorter actions, the 550 magnums are devoid of this issue, that is good as it's only one rifle I need worry about not five. I am also picking my 527 American cz .22 Hornet will not have the problem either.

I'm not ready to say that it's just a problem on the '06-length actions, but that would be nice. Easier to sort out, too.

To be honest, I hope just a few odd ones got out like that and the rest are fine. I think we'll know soon.

Okie John

i looked at my 550 (6.5x55) and, sure nuff, there that little spring is. i'm not a designer of any type, but it looks like someone went out of their way to make that a bad design. a jamb nut would have been a better idea. the spring rides in the thread on the firing pin and is therefore getting pressure on the bias of the thread. it looks like that uneven pressure could pop the spring out of the thread or, like Okie John is saying, his just unthreaded itself. seems like an oddball design.

This is NOT just a problem on the regular actions. My .416 has the little spring clip on it, as does my 9.3.

Best,
Joe

Thanks for the heads up John
My 375 has the locknut but my 9.3 has the micky mouse clip. I put a drop of Guntite on the threads, and hopefully it will be ok. Don't ya just love those corporate types who'll compromise a product to save a few cents ?

[ 09-01-2003, 09:49: Message edited by: Kboom ]

It seems as though this clip is manufacture year dependant, and I am beeting that my .458 will have the clip and my 9.3 wil as well. My Rigby and .375 I think may not I am basing this on the fact that there was a little plastic triangle bolt cover you got with the older rifles and the newere ones came with the bolt wrapped in cheap bubble wrap.....with the cheap bubble wrap came the wire clips

Who thinks my time line is correct

A similar but not identical inquiry is happening on the Big Bore forum. If you own a CZ, you might want to follow both threads. Together, we might be able to figure out when the clip came around and what to do about it. Some of us may have to get pre-clip CZ 550's to go with our pre-64 Winchesters.

Okie John.

I couldn't tell the year of manufacture of my CZ550 American in 9.2x62 but the serial number is F6xxx. It has the wire clip and was found loose when I checked it after Okie John's post (620 cumulative rounds fired through the rifle).

Re-installed the clip following Okie John's procedures above and fired 20 rounds today. Checked the clip again and found it in place. Will continue to watch for the point at which it comes loose if and when that occurs.

There must be a way by which this cheesy clip can be replaced. Maybe a gunsmith could make a better part or convert to pre-wire clip

Can't one find a pair of nuts with the correct metric thread, remove the clip, and hold the srping on with two nuts back to back?