I looked at a new 550 yesterday with thought of giving myself a new rifle for Christmas, and my fisrt time to see a 550 "in the flesh". This is a new in the box 270 550 American with a nice factory target and fair looking wood.

I was horribly disappointed in how tight the bolt was to function and the gun felt as "sticky" as a Remington 710. The dealer had not lubricated the bolt or the gun anywhere but it was "as is" out of the box. Several other 550's and 527's he had were almost as bad, but the 375H&H hogback he had just started shooting was a little better but still pretty tight. The bolts and insides of the receiver were dry to the touch and left no residue on my fingers.

The only CZ's I have seen previously, a 375 American and 2 527's from another dealer, were not even close to being this sticky...and the 270 was the reason for me to drive an hour to this dealer I found in the dealer list.

I know I am spoiled with the slick bolts and ease of operation in the 2 Tikka WTHunters I shoot but neither of them were ever like what I am talking about with the guns I looked at yesteday.

My question is: will the CZ's "loosen up" with firing as the dealer indicated? "Loosen Up" is a really scary thought...but I understand what he was trying to say!!!

Would my normal applications of powder solvent to clean any bore preservatives and dried shipping oils and liberal applications RemOil or BirchwoodCasey Sheath, or something else, result in a slicker faster feel...'cause the 270 550 I wanted was only about 2 steps over not worth fooling with. I asked the dealer if it would be worth jeweling the bolt like a Model 70 and he had no opinion. Any other suggestions here would be appreciated as I am thinking about converting my Tikka's, M70 338 and Savage 300WMg to a battery of CZ's so that all the rifles feel the same yadda yadda. And I want a 375 hogsback after playing with the one I saw yesterday!!! but don't want to have to shoot the thing several hundred rounds to achieve the slick feel I'm looking for.

I did this "battery" thing once before with a small collection of limited production and non cataloged SAKO's with all of them in the Classic series, and to my everlasting regret sold the collection about 15 years ago to fund a business venture after my doctor told me I would never shoot again because of disc damage in my lower neck that renders my right arm and shoulder totally numb and without any controlled movement...proved him wrong!!! and threw the sling away for good thanks to some aggresive therapy over several years time and goood drugs.
Ron

It's each to there own I suppose but I would never have a savage in my gun safe the cvz's are much nicer and more solid, I own 5 cz's and yes they do loosen up over time, it will "wear in" but I like cz's and ther mauser style action. That cz .270 will soon become your favourite rifle

I traded into the Savage on a good deal, a little over what I got rid of a Remington 710 30'06 for that "I got sold as the perfect cheap pig sticker"... may a Pox descend on the remington engineers that dreamed up that piece of junk up. This Savage is a 116FCSAK SS/Synthetic I wanted to use as a rough gun to hunt hogs with that I could take to the car wash to clean up. It shoots Rem Corelokts horribly and Hornady 180gr SST's all in the same hole, with my last 5 on paper under 7/8ths outside to outside... including 2 flyers. But I agree the Savage is butt ugly and clinky/clunky sounding and feeling. Hence part of the desire to go to a single brand for a spread of rifles.

Right now with the bad case of AIDS -Aquired Income Deficiency Syndrome- I have, my SAKO's are out of the question and CZ or maybe Winchester M70's are the most likely candidates for a 4 gun battery. I started buying Tikka WtHunters as a substitute but I won't touch a T3.

I'd like to come out of the deal with a varmint gun like a 22-250 550 sporter, a mid size White Tail gun like a 270 550(my all time most favorite caliber and what I have 5-600 bullets for), a longer range something that will shoot 180-200-225's like a 300 or 338? (like my M70 is now, or maybe a rebarreled 550?) and something like a 375 Holland 550 to eventually take across the pond when my finances heal.

So far from what I understand from you that the CZ's will "slickup" with use. Any other tricks that will speed up the process without breaking the bank?

I've even given some thought to rebarrelling the M70 into a 375 instead of the 300/338 long range shooter and using lighter bullets like the Speer HotCor 225's or lighter in it to hold the recoil down as the M70 only weighs a little over 7-71/2 lbs now, and use that for an elk gun instead. I feel certain I could add a little poundage in the new barrel and some other tricked up stuff to make life more tolerable, and since the M70 is already is a magnum sized action then little or no alteration is needed for the bolt face, magazine well and related stuff...but I wish CZ made a 300WinMg (or a 338 in anything) in something other than the 9.3 lb Safari Lux series -if they still make the 300WinMg at all!! as it is not shown in the '05 catalog- and faster than a 9.2x62 since the 286 gr bullet seems to be the only one anyone talks about using & is an overlap with a 375 it seems to me.
Going with nothing but Winchester also has its problems and I am not sold on the accuracy with M70's the way I am with CZ's....but Winchester's caliber selection is better suited for what I want to do... and as you said Savage is not something I want a pile of...nor is the CZ M3 in the WSM's as I am not sold on the WSM phenomenon as yet.

An old dealer buddy of mine couple 3 hours away from Dallas has a pair of "reasonbly Priced" used 550's in an '06 American and 7x57 Lux that he wants me to look at before I do anything so I'll keep looking at my options... one of the used 550's may be the basis for a mid sized magnum conversion..or trade goods for something else LOL!

Like the sign said above the front door of my favorite gun dealer "They ain't no museum pieces in here..its ALL FOR SALE...including this damned sign".
Ron

I have a 6 gun battery for hunting mouse to M'bogo (if I ever get a chance ). CZ and Winchester make up most them. Some overlap capabilities a bit, some have their own little niche. I shoot heavy for caliber Interlock or Partition bullets in all game rifles to maximize momentum and minimize "bullet burger". The varminter gets loaded with 55 gr V-Max's for launching PD parts high into the air.

> 22-250 Win M70 HV (varmints)
> 6.5x55 CZ550 FS (light-medium game, woods)
> 270 Win M70 Fwt Classic (medium game, mountain)
> 7mm Rem Mag Browning A-Bolt II (medium/heavy game, prairie)
> 375 H&H CZ550 Safari Magnum (heavy game, open)
> 45-70 Marlin 1895SS (heavy game, close cover)

Note there are no Remingtons. All of the guns have slick actions now. The CZs and the Marlin were a little sticky out of the box, but after lightly lubing with FP10 and sitting in front of the TV and cycling them, they did smooth out.