Can anyone share their tricks for getting a truncated cone FN solid like the NF and GS to function reliably in a CZ550 action?

My gunsmith has increased the width of the feed ramp, beveled it, and milled the extractor to align the cartridge more toward the center of the feed ramp.

Still does not feed 100% as well as a RN. (Better from left than right rail).

PS It will feed an empty ctg case just fine!

Andy

A CZ that doesn't feed, go figure.

Sorry to hear you are having problems.

I wish I could help. My trick was to hand the rifles (Mk Xs)to Tip Burns to work on. That is the limit of my prowess!

CH, hit the nail on the head. Use a rifle smith who KNOWS what he is doing. Works everytime.

Shotgun smith for shotguns, and pistol smiths for the short ones.

Keith

Deepen the ramp. He figured out the ramp needs to be beveled up into the rails. Now he has to find the nerve to deepen the ramp. Watch how a cartridge moves up the ramp and minimize the interferences. Then it will feed. It's all trial and error, but the cz is not really much of a problem if you know what to do.-Rob

Only my Blaser R93, with its in-line magazine, will do it. None of my staggered column magazine rifles is 100% with truncated cone FN solids. I tried NF's sample packs and just hit the wall over and over again.

And my staggered column magazine rifles will feed everything else I've ever stuffed them with.

So, I decided that rather than spend the rest of my life and a fair bit of disposable income trying, with no guarantee of success, to get them to work with truncated cone FN solids, I would instead switch to Barnes FN solids, which have enough of an ogive to avoid the problem.

And the through-and-through full body penetration of a Barnes FN solid on an elephant that I saw another hunter achieve in 2005 just made the decision that much easier.

I also have a CZ 550 in .416 Rigby and the NF bullets will not feed, at least in the rifle's factory configuration. I think I will wait for American Hunting Rifles to design an in-line aftermarket magazine box for the CZ rather than risk a bunch of modifications on the staggered box that end up not working.

I have found that new production model 70's and properly assembled custom Mausers, as well as Blaser R93s, feed flat nose solids perfectly. But I have not idea how to set a rifle up to achieve that.

Wink, no need to wait; we've had a center fed box for the CZ for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Bitterroot:
Wink, no need to wait; we've had a center fed box for the CZ for years.

PM sent. I thought the AHR center feed box was only for 500 caliber and up.

Wink, we install the center feed box on all of the DG Rifles we build with calibers .500 and larger. We can install one on a .416 Rigby if requested. It is not a drop-in item though; we would need to do the installation.

;;;I think stunt pilot 2 had the right idea ,,, just use 450gr Triple Shocks with lots of velocity........

quote:

Originally posted by Hog Killer:
CH, hit the nail on the head. Use a rifle smith who KNOWS what he is doing. Works everytime.

Keith

My Lott will feed NF FPs prefectly. It will feed them so slick, it feels like there is nothing in the mag. 100% perfect.

Keith

Keith,

What action are you shooting and who did your work?

My problem w FN is from right rail. The ctg points to right too much to align with feed ramp unless I seat the bullet longer than normal.

It feeds better long than short which is weird.

Andy

HI Andy,
My 470 Mbogo is a CZ550 and it feeds flat nosed Bridgers and GS customs perfectly. There is probably two things you could do and Rob has mentioned one. Watch the bullet as it leaves the feed ramp and see if the bullet is hitting on the top of the chamber entrance if so lower the feed ramp a small amount. The other thing is to have your gunsmith bevel the entrance to the chamber so the bullet isn't catching on a sharp edge. It doesn't take much of a bevel. I had John make me up some 540 grain bullets with a .410 flat meplate and they feed like butter.
Take care,
Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Andy:
Keith,

What action are you shooting and who did your work?

Andy

Andy, my Lott is on a Rem. Model 30S. My rifle as actually built by a machinist working out of his garage at home. He is a part time gun smith and a full time, first class master machinist.(with too much to do)

Keith

I am not a gunsmith so cannot really comment on how to make them feed from a 'smithing point of view. What might work though is if you seat the bullets a little deeper. My .450 Rigby feeds 500gr GSC Fn solids very reliably after my friend and gunsmith Gerrie Coetzee had his hands on it. (build on a Vektor copy of the double square bridge Mauser magnum action)

Karl,

is that the old boxer?

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by Andy:
Can anyone share their tricks for getting a truncated cone FN solid like the NF and GS to function reliably in a CZ550 action?

Just round off the edges of the bullet nose on a bench grinder. They'll feed fine then.
-------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Rich

No, I do not think that any old boxer will have the hands and the coordination left to do that type of work. Gerrie (my friend), does get a lot of remarks relating to the older Gerrie (the boxer).

Are those "barrels" superior enough terms of penetration to bother with? The difference is probably statistically insignificant anyway. I would quit trying to fit "square bolt into round hole"!

400 Nitro,

Hey thanks man! Rounding off the Flat Nose on a grinder worked great! I wish I had thought of that 3 years ago!

This is what those pesky FN look like now.



I may have over done it though. What do you think?



Bullet weight is down to 120 grains and .451 caliber.

Andy

If you load those backwards you will have a real FN boat tail.

Andy, cute "cones". You might want to try Federal Match .45ACP. I use them in my HK Mk 23 and they're very accurate.
PS. Reversing slugs is an old idea. I read about it in one of Capstick books where they did it to .270Win and killed an elephant.
There is a story about those weirdo slugs in Wieland Dangerous Game Rifles. One of semi-custom makers crafted nice rifle for a fellow. He sent it back saying it would not feed cartridges from mag to chamber. They could not figure out what was wrong with their rifle. The culprit? GS solids.

Actually, the culprit is the gunsmith who didn't get the feeding right the first time.

JPK

Read the story about "GS" bullets on page 251 of _Dangerous-Game Rifles_.

It says the bullets are made by '"GS" (for Gerhard Schmidt) of South Africa.' (sic)

So Terry Wieland is actually named "Tory Wheelburger" by his own standards of reporting.

I have told Gerard Schultz of GS Custom about this, and hope he will take Terry to task on this sloppiness.

If you read the rest of the story, it took the gunsmith at Empire Rifles 30 hours to get the GSC FN solids feeding smoothly.

I think George Sandmann may need a new gunsmith.
BTW, Terry Wieland called the guy a "gunmaker" employed by George Sandmann at Empire Rifles. Maybe he did not deserve the title of "Gunsmith?"

Anyway, we now must take everything that Terry Wieland says with a grain of salt, if this is any indication of his accuracy.

I hope he shoots better than he writes in this book.

Nice sleuthing/explication RIP.

Charles,
Could we guess whom the "spluttering" owner of the .458 Lott from Empire Rifles was?

He was from Alaska.

Maybe Phil Shoemaker?

He got satisfaction.

Would be nice to hear some comments from Terry, George, Gerard ... Phil is just a wild guess.

Hey Ron,

Those cone points look like just the answer for internal hemorrhoids. When I start selling commercial ammo loaded with North Fork and GS Flat Nosed Solids, we can make a few extra bucks on the side sorting out feed ramp issues.

LD

PS Are we going to the folks' house for Thanksgiving this year, or are we having it at my place again?

Here is a photo of the 450 grain North Fork FN in my rifle. They feed pretty well now. Depth of feed ramp DOES NOT seem to be a problem.



I think upward pressure on the follower with a stronger spring may be all I need now. You can see the width and bevel on the feed ramp is good to go.

Thanks all for your help.

PS Whatever it takes I think it is worth the trouble.

Andy

LD,
Those are Andy's Preparation-H-Mantel bullets. I have no training in their use.

The wife has plans to go to Villa Rica, Georgia for Thanksgiving this year, for a get-together with my inlaws. I don't know if I can suffer through another one of those! Idaho sounds better to me. Ought to be something to hunt that time of year. I'll bring the truck and coolers and haul another bison home. Hopefully global warming will not have struck Idaho too hard by then. Gotta keep the meat cool.

Now back to the other kind of "feeding issues," before we get accused of thread highjacking.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

If you read the rest of the story, it took the gunsmith at Empire Rifles 30 hours to get the GSC FN solids feeding smoothly.

I think George Sandmann may need a new gunsmith.
.

I wonder why someone would hire a middleman rather than just hiring one of the excellent gunmakers at the American Custom Gunmakers Guild and receive a rifle that reflects the pinnacle of American gunmaking skill.

RIP,

"Those are Andys preparation H mantle bullets. I have no experience with their use."

Just wait until you are my age.

Actually the preparation H coating is what Armor Piercing bullet makers used when teflon was outlawed in 1986.

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by Andy:
RIP,

Actually the preparation H coating is what Armor Piercing bullet makers used when teflon was outlawed in 1986.

Andy

How much bullet shrinkage is there?

Keith

The GS solid is an outstanding penetrator on game. I suppose the very existence of this thread and the talent of the gunsmiths relied on for answers underscores the challenge. The trick is not making the FN bullets feed some of the time, nor most of the time, but all of the time. Sometimes a snap, sometimes a heartache. On the 45s, and depending on who made the action, also look to the width of the magazine box at the shoulder. Good luck, --George

Andy,
I agree with you. A stronger spring will help raise the nose of the bullet. Some of the CZ 550s have a very inconsistant spring strength. A stronger spring fixed my feeding problem immeadiatly.