Hi Guys,
Would you buy a factory CZ in 505 Gibbs or just turn around and rebarrel your RSM to the same round with the attention of a good smith well practiced in DGR rifles?
From what i've read the CZ 505 quality control is shocking...I think I'm better to simply rebarrel my RSM with the help of a good smith.
Which would have a higher value on the market?

1) It would be a lot easier to get an AHR trigger, safety, and magazine box refinement for the CZ .505 Gibbs.

2) Might as well have AHR build it from scratch if you don't already own one.

3) The RSM would have to have a proper magazine box and feed work, a new barrel and rebuilt bedding system with a barrel lug and an action lug added.

4) Reboring a fat-barreled old RSM in .416 Rigby is an option but it would still have only one recoil lug/plate that falls off the rifle when you separate wood from metal. It would still need magazine and feed work, or hold only two down and really need feed work with the original magazine! But it would have an integral quarter rib!

Resale value for a rebarreled RSM turned into a .505 Gibbs would probably be least of the four options above.

Question:

If this project was started with a Granite Mountain action would that improve resale market value?

If I buy a factory big bore I want to keep it as cheap as possible.The cz 458WM I just bought is the classic model that is little over a thousand.I will not put a penny in this rifle.Around here rebarreling with a quality barrel cost near a thousand.Changing triggers,stocks,sights will cost another thousand.So,if I bring the cost of the rifle to 3 thousand I really doubt that I will be able to sell it at that.If I spent 4 or 5 thousand on a and a GMA action and Krieger barrel(including experly done express sights,integral sight work and peep sight,etc...) I feel I would stand more of a chance of getting my money back or more in the future.I got this idea after speaking with an associate of a world renowned master gunsmith when I asked them if they could build me a custom rifle that would not cost too expensive and would be ready in a couple of months.They said they would do all the work except the stock because this is the area in which they do not compromise.

what, EXACTLYwhat's your budget for the project?
You could call CZ, tell them what you want (bedding, bolts, good wood) and pay just a bit more than off the shelf, and have a great rifle...

what EXACTLY have you heard about their QC? Do you mean MIke's 404 that they gave him a full refund on? I was there when the problems cropped up.. the rifle feed great, shot great in the bullets/loads under 2100fps, and the NON-CZ BARREL MAKER supplied an oversized bore barrel.

Sucks, and I am very happy that Mike was treated well in the deal.. sucks that it happened, but only a fool would take an untested rifle to hunt... and it should always be acceptable for testing to deliver results, positive and negative

Having built one 505 Gibbs myself, here is what I would do. Find a good donor Rem Mod 30 action. Get a blackburn .505 mag box, some good NECG sights and a quarter rib and barrel band front sight. Send the action, sight parts etc. and a .505 Pac Nor barrel to Dennis Olsen and have him barrel it, install a barrel lug, machine the action for the .505 Gibbs,fit the mag box and make sure it feeds. Have him install the sights too.
Next I'd send the completed barreled action to AHR and have them blue and stock it for you assuming you can't do this yourself.
Prepare to spend $6-8KK and wait and wait.
This way you are 95% certain of having a reliable .505 Gibbs.-Rob

option b:

buy a CZ in 505 and have Marc-Stokeld here or a few others on the board with at least two done and have them Schmooze it a little. That's under $3K I think, can't speak for Marc. Find one in 416 Rigby for a grand or less and have Marc or AHR build it for you. That is just barrel and a little fussing away from good to go.

option c:

buy a 416 CZ and shoot it enough to make sure you want a real thumper. The magazine box is the right size as are the frame rails and magazine box for four 50 caliber cartridges based on the 416. It will be the easiest model to open up for 505 Gibbs and make work every time.

Rich
DRSS

Thanks for all the info guys. I were a bit shy of the CZ from one of the photo's posted here which showed very average metal work like a claw extractor on the bolt looking it had been hand made with a grinder. No doubt this could all be sorted with a good gunsmith. If I had 6-8K then I'd not hesitate to talk to AHR. Would 2K cover new barrel, sights & action work on the ruger.?
Now excuse my ignorance but I've never heard of a Remington 30 action...what rifle did this grace? NZ has lots of BRNO, Cz's, P14-17, 98 Mauser donor rifles..ive just not heard of this model remington.

The Remington Model 30 was based on the Enfield action.

...enfield p14 / m17 to be exact.. made from left over parts

Buy the CZ. Install a 3 position safety, single stage trigger, additional recoil lug (scrap the factory one), straighten and fill the bolt handle, single stack mag box and follower, new sights and sling band, blue or gunkote, and drop it back in your old stock. When you can afford it, restock it in a nice piece of English walnut. That will turn it into a silk purse.

If the Dakota African magnum action will work for this round then they have one in stock at Brownells.There is a quality action,barrel it and your almost there with a rifle second to none.Find a laminated stock and you have a superb rifle for 3 to 4 thousand.I would take this route instead of the modified CZ.

for a "working" rifle, the CZ cannot be beat. They are killing DG in Africa as I type without ANY of the massaging we are talking here. I find no problems with the set-trigger, or anything else with my 416 or 9,3x62.
Heck, buy an action, synthetic stock and a barrel and "git 'er done...".

Rich
DRSS