I'm considering taking the plunge for a big-bore rifle. A local dealer has a CZ550 in 375 H&H but it has the hogsback stock (very nice wood to boot). While shouldering it at the store, it feels ok for use with open sights. How are the hogsback stocks for use with low-medium mounted scopes? How well do they dissipate recoil? Should I wait for an "American" stocked version?

I have a Sako .308 with a hog back stock and I don't like the way it handles recoil. A friend has a CZ in a 30-06 with a very straight stock and I find it far more comfortable to shoot.

With regards the CZ, I bought a CZ 550 American in 9.3x62mm. Again I found the combination of a straight stock and a good recoil pad makes it very shootable.

I am sure other people will say just the opposite and that is part of the problem. To be sure, you really need to see what suits you and your build. I would try to borrow a rifle of each sort to try even if they are not in .375H&H.

regards,

Pete

Straight stocks have less apparent recoil and there is noticeably less muzzle flip. Hogs feel good until you shoot them.



I spent tons of posts on RIP trying to convinvce him of that. I think he has finally come around, though he may not admit it.

Ok, one more question from the peanut gallery (namely me), how much/how sharp is the recoil from a .375 H&H? I have a 45-70 1895 Marlin and I shoot some "warm" loads (405gr @ 1850-1900fps), is a .375 similar? I've heard it's more of a push than a punch.

I have never understood where this "push" stuff came from. The recoil velocity of a normal weight .375 is no way a push.

Use the calculator to compare:

http://www.bp-tec.com/recoil_calculator.htm

Charlie,

I say! Turkish Tiger Stripe Circassian Walnut! Beautiful factory Lux stock about to be Olde-Englished, eh? That's cool.



The Lux stock on my 9.3x62 CZ 550 Medium Full Stock has wood similar to that. Maybe CZ tried to stifle the whiners about the Lux by sending more good wood over here, before caving in and going straight-comb.



That 9.3x62 of mine also had two good crossbolts in the right place (fore and aft of the magazine box), and a standard secondary recoil lug on the barrel, the steel muzzle cap on the "Bavarian Mannlicher" stock, no C-clip, a three-position side safety, no plastic, and shot one-hole groups to boot. What a bargain.



Thanks for the great photos. I have a spare Lux with good wood that I might do that to. It had a recoil pad like yours shown. That is the sign of a few years ago, before they started using the Pachmayr Decelerators on the stocks. I replaced the pad with a Sporting Clays 1" pad by Pachmayr. I might eventually Anglicize the Bavarian right out of that Hogsback. Make it Kosher. Then it won't hurt the eyes of those of some other faiths.

Hey RIP,

It turned out (so far) better than I had hoped, My gunsmith, George Vais did the reshaping for $70.00. I'll sand the whole thing down and refinish it this winter. I was going to get a red butt pad for it, but with that tiger stripe it will look better with black.

I thought about taking the hump out, but with my face shape I had better leave it in.

They were bringing some pretty wood in for a while until they found out how queer for well figured wood we yanks are. It is probably cheaper for them to just ship the barreled actions over here and have the stocks made in the US.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for a used Lux in .458 Win Mag that also has a nice stock. Should clean up into a decent Lott.

I think the CZ's are a bit heavy for a 375 H&H.

JCN

Rip,

I have the lux 9.3x62 cz and it is a sweet rifle for sure....I had plastic, and I recived some help from a fellow AR member to swap it out for steel, I had a c-clip and I had my smith perform an ingenius little number on it to fix the issue, mine also has the two cross bolts correctlt spaced and the barrel lug.......my question is why did thye not use this setup on the safari lux magnums ??

Charlie...the lux .458 winnie do clean up into nice lott's....one found it's way into my safe

Put me down for a lover of the Bavarian stock design. It's great for iron sights or scope. Everytime I see someone saying they are going to change stocks, I offer to get the "hog" back stock off their hands, so far no takers.

hacksawtom,

Glad to hear of another Hogback aficianado. If I reshape any of mine, I will just do the cheekpiece, forend tip, and refinish, like Charlie has done. There is a lot of good wood in Hogbacks lurking about. The Lux stock works great for me too.



PC,

Funny how CZ was putting plastic floorplates on some and steel on others, of the 550 Mediums. They never had the nerve to try it on a 550 Magnum, thankfully. I think they must have surely seen the light and stopped the plastic.



I find a CZ 550 Medium now and then with a three position side safety rather than the two-position. There is a drop in three-position side-safety available, apparently, but I think the two-position is just fine.



The news on the C-clip is this: CZ USA in KC, KS say the bad ones were caused by a too shallow retaining groove on the firing pin, allowing the C-clip to dislodge and release the lock on the firing pin spring retaing nut. They say they are making sure the groove is deeper and there is no worry about the piano-wire sized C-clip jumping out of the groove anymore, and they will continue using the C-clip. I don't like that. I always disassemble the bolt and look for the double nut on the firing pin before I buy one of the CZ's.

RIP,

my 9.3x62 lux has one of the side mounted 3 position safety's....but really the two position is fine. My smith solved the c-clip thing buy setting the c-clip below a lip he made in the nut some how so it is fully enclosed by metal meaning it can't jump forwards and the nut can't screw loose. He is adamant that this is in-fact more fool proof than the two nuts. I have had this done to my .416 Rigby and my 9.3x62. My .458 and .375 both had the two nuts. He feels cz really should have just done it the way the M98 was....I am ignorant to how it is done on the M98.

Any way's I NEED more cz's....$$$$ is the only thing holding me back from my dream

Although I am looking forwards to getting my "Snob" rifle...a dressed out .404 on a 1909 with all the precious little African bells and whistles......pretty yes....practical....well we will see

Hey PC,

Could you take some digital pictures of your "C" clip and nut arrangement? I will be happy to post them if you don't have that capability. Thanks.

JCN

Regarding the CZ 550 Magnum safari, are the barrel and action the same in both the american and hogback stock models? The only difference being the stock configuration?
Also who makes a laminate wood drop-in stock for these rifles?
Thanks a lot

The metal parts are the same.

CZ sells the laminated stock, I believe for ~ $300.00 USD.

It is likely made for them by Boyds.

I don't know if Boyds lists a laminated stock for CZ's for retail sales.

(I'll let you have the fun of researching that topic.)

JCN

Thanks for the info,
I just e-mailed Boyd to see if they sell a lam stock for the 550 mag safari
Will let you know when I hear back from them.

Ok, I'm now officialy a member of elite Club Big Bore with a .375 H&H CZ 550 Safari Magnum ! I took a screwing on a trade (they did offer a reach around but no KY!) but I have a beautiful rifle with an equally impressive test target and a box of 270gr Remington softpoints.



My wife now demands that I get some dinner with it....Kudu anyone?

BlackHawk1,

Welcome to the club. Since you said "Safari Magnum" and not "American Magnum," I assume it is the Lux stock with the Bavarian "Hogback." Give it a chance, and you too will soon be speaking fluent German with a Czechoslovakian accent, and loving it.



I wouldn't dare plane down any Hogbacks. My face is not yet fat enough to require that! Maybe to round the cheekpiece or circumcize the schnable is aesthetically pleasing. It certainly won't affect the function of the superior Hogback stock.

JCN,

I would love to....only one small hitch I do not own a digital camera at the minute although I am looking to get one in the furture, I will see if is possible to borrow one from work.

Paul.

RIP,

Your right it has the Barvarian Hogbackvorrat! Oh my, Ich kann Deutsches jetzt sprechen!

I'll probably scope it with a Leupold 1.5-5 and Warne QD rings and hopefully get a tag for the extremely rare and elusive Greater Nebraskan White Rhino....(probably just have to settle for elk and moose and generally having fun raising eyebrows at the range ).

Got any good load recipes for 270-300 gr softpoints?

Jawohl!

Winchester case

Federal GM215M primer

Reloder 15 powder 72.0 grains

Any 270 to 300 grainer you want, but work up from 65 grains to start, etc.



That load with the old 300 grain Barnes X-bullet gave great accuracy for me. In the 25" barrel of your CZ it ought to do about 2550 fps on average.



I used it to slay the blue wildebeest/brindled gnu pictured below, my first animal in Africa, as well as all the other plains game I took. Most were one shot kills. Never any X-bullet failures in .375 caliber on any game for me.



Of course there are lots of super-duper bullets more to try nowadays.



You might go higher with the 270 grainers, but little more, 74 grains might be max.



You might try Varget and use about one grain extra versus any given Rl-15 charge. It is less temperature sensitive, and slightly slower than RL-15. That is my experience, but lot-to-lot variation happens.



But RL-15 is good enough and no worries with drop tubes or compressed loads.



Federal and Remington brass has less case capacity, so you must use Winchester brass for my recipe. It is the max load in the Barnes manual, and it was trouble free for me.



IIRC, Nickudu was getting over 2600 fps in a 26" .375 H&H with only 70 grains of RL-15 but I don't recall his brass or primer.

Good load jawohl!

My brother RIP is of course right about the case and primer choice, but I'll simplify you powder weight choice.
For any 270 grain bullet use 71 grains of RL-15.
For any 300 grain bullet use 67 grains of RL-15.
Like RIP sez, add one grain if using Varget.
If your gun will shoot the 270 grain FailSafe bullet accurately you have a one stop shot for anything in North America. Ditto the Swift A-Frame or Nosler Partition.
Good scope choice.
"Sieg Heil, y'all, I'm from southern Germany. That's Bavaria to you Yankees."

My Dear Bastard Half-brother Charlie,
Does that 300 grain load ever leave the bullet stuck in the barrel? I tried lesser charges, but hit the sweet spot when I got to the max load in the Barnes manual, with RL-15.

Your loads would be safe in the hottest of climes. Good thing I went to Botswana in their winter time. Frost on the long grass at dawn, coffee and a rusk to go, sunny and 70 F for the noon picnic.

I'll see you at the 2005 family reunion of all of Pa's bastard children. I hear it is going to be a big one, even some of the mustachioed pooches from Georgia are supposed to be there. April 1, 2005, somewhere in Idaho. Don't have all the details yet.

Well RIP,

If my weenie load doesn't push it out on the first try the next bullet usually gets the job done.

I don't know about those hound dogs down in Georgia, but they started printing up those "Wyoming, where men are men and sheep are nervous" T-shirts shortly after he visited that state for the first time.

I thought we were having a blanket party for Ass-Clown on April first?

JCN

"I'll be seeing ewe." (John Charlie to one of his cousins)

Here's an example of a reworked Hogback, with a reduction in the angle, and a new pad:











Jack Huntington did the stock, and muzzlebrake, and tuned rifles.



s

I ended up with a pile of original .416 CZ stocks as all of my guides who carry them in Alaska eventually restocked them with synthetic ones and left the old ones with me. I also put a synthetic one on my rifle but have played with modifying the factory ones and the singularly most comfortable and shootable stock is a wooden one that I cut the forend back to a short Rigby style length, removed the cheek piece, changed the pitch, slimmed the entire stock (especially around the action), elongated and rounded the grip, and slightly flattened the hog back comb till it fit me. I also threw away the forend bedding block, which lightened things up. There is still plenty of bedding surface on the attached barrel lug for a good Devcon bedding job.
In addition, since the rifle was such a bargin in the big gun catagory and I intended to use it for serious uses, I cut the barrel to 21 inches, turned the muzzle down enough to slide the original band sight back on (the sights are still dead on), added a Wisner M-70 safety and Talley bold handle and a Lon Paul trigger. I still have less invested than a Ruger plus have a rifle that fits like a glove, handles wonderfully and is reliable and deadly.