Can anybody post some pictures of the cheek piece on a CZ550 American?

I was shown a CZ over the weekend which the shop propriortor assured me was a CZ American. It did not have either the standard or hog back stock, but did have a raised cheek piece. On most English guns I have seen the bottom of this cheek piece is roughly semi circular but on this CZ it was very angular (aka ugly!) I actually thought the CZ American came without a raised cheep piece so I am slightly confused. Also the safety on this rifle was a two "position push to fire"...to operate without radically changing the grip on the rifle would require fingers like ET! Is the 2 position safety still standard? I thought it had been replaced by the 3 position safety? Would it be possible/costly to replace either safety with a tang style as on the Ruger M77 Mk1 or the current Styer SBS?

Regards

Pete

Here's the 550 American:


I couldn't find a picture of the other side, but I will stop by a shop that stocks them and I will look at one personally.

Some posters have reported that there is a version of the 550 Safari being sold outside the USA with a cheek piece on an American stock. We have not seen them here yet. Also, to my knowledge only the Safari has the two position safety. All of the standard action guns are supposed to be three position but beware... this is NOT the Model 70 three position; it looks much like the two position you saw with a center detent.

this is a pic of the cz 550 american... NOT the safari mag.. this one you can get every day.

jeffe

Pete, I checked a 243 Winchester 550 American today after work. It does have a cheekpiece, but it's not the angular job commonly referred to as a "Bavarian" cheekpiece.

It starts right under the nose of the comb, then follows along the angle of the bottom of the stock, then it curves upwards about 2 inches from the butt. There are no hard angles along its contour.

The American is the only CZ with no drop along the stock.

Pete,
Here are a few hastily taken photos of the cheek piece on my CZ550 American (9.3x62). It does have the two position safety you described. I remeber a post or two from folks who have replaced the standard safety with a three-position type.

The cheekpiece on my American is like the one in Phil's post--round and graceful, not angular at all. Maybe the one you saw was an early one. I don't care for cheek pieces because I have a big, fat head, but my 550 fits me well and I can live with this one. If you didn't like it, you could plane it off easily.

My rifle has a two-position safety. I keep my thumb to the right, so this safety is where I want it. If you own a Remington with the factory safety, it's in the exact same place. I actually like it better than a M-70 type safety. Just remember to keep your thumb out from behind the bolt when you fire. The shroud is kind of long and will rap you smartly in recoil.

Hope this helps, Okie John.

Hey Phil,

You certainly have a nice looking stock on that rifle. Is the grain on the fore end just as nice?

Great rifle!

Smoker*

Phil your 9.3 looks great !!

My Lux model 9.3 does not have the pach recoil pad but rather a hard ventilated model.

It does have a 3 position safety simlar to the two pos one on my other cz's but with a middle stage. It has irons as well.

The sfari mag is now coming out with the American stock !!

Thanks guys, especially Phil and Orion 1,

The example I saw was nothing like Phils; I just hope that these are now the standard. However with the indroduction of the 550 American Safari I think we arespoilt for choice. It seems that will be offered in different grades of wood too.

Its going to be a tough choice between a 9.3x62 and a .375H&H...

I spoke to the British importer and to be frank I was not impressed. The lady gave the impression that they did not really know what the detail of the rifles would be untill they actually opened the box..It seems that some arrive with two postion safety and some with three, some have a plastic floor plate and some have metal..Seeing as either rifle I am interested in is probably going to be a special order from CZ, I think I want a bit more confidence before ordering it sight unseen so to speak...

Now if that safety could only be replaced with a tang safety....

Regards,

Pete

Smoker-
The forend has essentially the same grain shown in the photos. This rifle is absolutely stock out of the box - the only thing I did is lighten up the trigger pull a bit. One regular poster here has stippped off the factory finish and reports the results are a huge improvement - can really see the quality of the wood. I'm not quite that adventureous ---- yet!!

Anyone who sees one of the big bores on the American stock - we need some first-hand reports!!