Last week I purchased a CZ Safari Classic 375. I went to the range with a box of Federal ammo and what do you know, the first round would not feed properly. It was difficult to load the cartridge from the magazine and then difficult to close the bolt once the cartridge was inside the chamber. Upon inspection, I could see brass shaving at the bottom of the chamber. There seems to be a sharp edge to the top of the chamber intrance and it catches the cartridge as it slides into the chamber.

I took the rifle to a gunsmith and he looked it over and polished the ramp and rails but the problem persists. He did not want to do anything to the sharp edge of the chamber. He also told me that there was a rough spot in the chamber. Needless to say I am a bit perturbed.

Anyway, to make a long story longer, I sent Wayne Jacobson of AHR an email last night asking if there was anything they could do to fix the problem. Within two hours he had emailed me back. At almost 9PM on Halloween night he took the time to email me. I was expecting maybe to receive an email by Monday or Tuesday. I was impressed by the prompt reply so I am going to send my rifle to them.

Instead of trying to fix the rough chamber of my 375, I have decided to have AHR install a new barrel in either 416 Rem. or 458 Lott. Along with that, Wayne suggested a bedding job, re-blueing, going over the action and the installation of new sights.

So, which should I go for, the 416 or the 458? What do you think? I am accustomed to heavy recoiling rifles so it's basically just a choice between the two cartridges. I already own a 460 Wby but I will probably never take that to Africa. I have always wanted a Lott but the 416 Remington is appealing as well. Decisions, decisions.

Which would you choose?

Landrum

I would not hesitate to bevel a rough chamber entrance edge. But if there is a booger inside the chamber ... depending on how bad the booger was, I might think of rechambering to .375 Weatherby, and still be able to fire .375 H&H ammo at Doctari velocities, and .375 Wby ammo at Saeed velocities.

However, a .416 Remington on a CZ 550 Magnum would be cool.
You will be more distinguished in the field than if you were carrying the more common .458 Lott on a CZ.

You will also be more versatile for a one-rifle safari with a .416 Remington Magnum.
Take your 460 Wby for a backup and never need it, hopefully.

You will join an elite club along with ALF, if you get a .416 Remington CZ ... even if his is a BRNO ZKK 602, with bassackward safety.

Surely AHR will make sure it feeds right.
You might even be able to load some of your bullets to 3.75" COL, but that is not an important consideration here, just a possible benefit of the CZ action over an M70, besides getting 5 down in the box instead of only 3, with the standard box magazines.

Tell you what !
Tell the 1st smith you went to what you plan to do.
Since you plan to rebarrel anyway, why not go ahead & try fixing the chamber on the .375 barrel 1st.
Nothing to loose !
AHR does nice work.
I would like buy a 9.3X62 and have them put there trigger , safty, and sights on it...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by Landrum:

So, which should I go for, the 416 or the 458? What do you think?

Which would you choose?

Landrum

NEITHER! I would go with a .416 Rigby. You have a long action that will accommodate the length of the Rigby. Why not go with the larger cartridge and keep pressures to a minimum. The .416 Remington is basically moribund. Only Remington (and now CZ) chamber it and the Lott is well, just a stretched out .458 Win. Mag. It has no cachet.

Dave

back in the box, send to CZ, tell them to fix, THEN make new plans.

Guys, if the rifle is screwed up, give the maker a chance to make it right.

I agree with Jeffe. I had a CZ 550 a couple of years ago that had an issue out of the box. Sent the rifle back to CZ through my dealer, problem was corrected promptly with no hassels and no quetions asked.

This is an anomaly from CZ; they usually feed 375 just fine. My first plan would be what Jeffe said but if you bought the gun to customize, don't waste the time.

AHR is a great company. I wish I had two or three like Wayne selling for our company, though. That was fast work!

I agree, my CZ came and the safety wouldn't go off (it was always in the fire position), in addition I payed for an action job and the bolt was sloppy yet the action was rough. Not only did CZ send me an entire new action/barrel (tight and smooth), they threw in some extras. Turnaround was about 4 weeks.

Chuck

I have sent CZ an email regarding the situation. The thing is, if CZ will replace the barrel I will be perfectly fine with returning the rifle to them. However, if they are going to try to fix the situation by polishing the chamber/entrance I would rather them not waste my time.

Maybe I'm a bit too picky, but for a DGR (hell, any rifle), I want to have 100% confidence in it. Obviously it must feed and eject perfectly. But more than that, I don't like the idea of having a rough spot in the chamber even if after polishing it is very minor. I know that mass produced rifles are not going to be custom-perfect but anything in the chamber causing problems is a deal breaker for me.

So, if CZ will replace the barrel I will be more than happy to send it to them. With that said, I am definitely going to do business with AHR this year. I have been looking at their products for quite some time and the positive and very prompt response I received from them last night was encouraging.

Landrum

Check out the AHR web site, and I think you will be impressed by their CZ upgrade section. I just ordered a 375 H&H from them built with a Granite Mountain action and Wayne was impressedly helpful during the ordering process and promised a total build time of six months (including a three month wait for the action to be delivered).

After dealing with several gunsmiths, gun builders who did not perform as promised, Wayne was a breath of fresh air and all comments cocerning AHR product quality and service have been positive on the several postings that have been on the Accurate reloading forums.

I bought a CZ 458 Lott a year ago. The feed was rough, I took the liberty to do a little filing on the magazine rails which took care of the problem. The edge of the rails was very rough and shaved brass off the cartridge walls. It is still a little tight, but OK.

My continuing problem is the iron sight are so far off, that after purchasing the highest available front sight insert from CZ, it still shoots 10 inches high at 50 yards. I've been reluctant to take a file to the rear sights.

Are these better options than taking a file to the rear sights?

CZ550 Ghost ring rear sight
CZ550 front sight

I am thinking about buying a CZ in 375H&H and the thought of having to file the sights seems a little drastic to me... maybe "permanent" would be a better word than "drastic". Anybody used these NECG sights?

I've had very good dealings with CZ. Sent one back to CZ for warrenty repair for cracked stock. The rifle was corrected with new stock and several upgraded extras and back to me inside of two weeks at no charge to me. The service and turn around was exceptional. Maybe I was lucky, but I'm really sold on them now. Rodney.

A peep sight would be an option, however incompatible with a scope. I have a set of talley quick release mounts and will also be using a scope on the rifle.

I had AHR replace my rear sight with an NECG fully adjustable Masterpiece rear sight. I love it. They also did their CZ #1 upgrade and added another recoil lug to the barrel. They do great work:







Chuck

I agree with what was said about sending it back to the factory, if your gunsmith's work didn't scotch the warranty. As between the calibres you've proposed. I've got both and they are both great calibres IMHO. Depends on what you want. If you want something for big game only, go for the .458 Lott by all means. If you want a little more versatility, the .416 Rem. doesn't leave much wanting, except perhaps as a stopper.

I would opt for a 416 rigby too......or....a 600......overkill!

... I,ve had both the Lott and the 416 Rem mag ... I would go with the Rem mag ......mine holds 6 down and one in the chamber ...... Thats a lot of bullets if you are needing them .......

I think most of the time the ease in which the 416 can be shot accurately out weighs the added smash of the 458 diameter bullet .. At least if you stay with standard weight bullets ..... If you load a 300-400 gr Mono metal expanding bullet in the Lott , it,s a faster killer than the 416 ........

Mine CZ 375H&H would jam about the time the round was half way out of the magazine. for mine I found out it was the bolt face and claw causeing the jamming. I took the bolt out and tryed to slide a cartridge onto the boltface. It took so much effort that the claw would actually cut into the cartridge. I ground down and smoothed out the claw and the sharp edges of the bolt face and now it feeds perfectly.
I would just send it into the factory. that's what I probably should have done with mine, but it's working so far