Hi,

I have a CZ 550 Safari Magnum in .375 H&H. I love the rifle but find it a bit bulky when stalking.

I need to put her on a diet and could use some suggestions on how to slim her down.

I don't find the rifle too heavy...rather more a case of the rifle handling being a bit "chunky" if that makes any sense.

First thing that comes to mind is trimming the barrel length down to 22". I will lose a couple of fps but what is the practical effect of this?

I was also thinking of trimming some of the wood from the bulky stock.

So basically I am looking to improve the handling of the rifle rather than just shed weight.

Any other suggestions?

I know you might think this is crazy but my suggestion is that you trade it in on a CZ in 9.3X62. I used to be an avid fan of the .375 H&H until I discovered the 9.3. My Blaser in that caliber weighs less then eight pounds scoped and loaded and my CZ 9.3 weighs less than nine. They handle great and are a joy to carry. I just kind of concluded that a 9.3 with a good 286 grain bullet will do everything a .375 will do and it makes up into a much more compact portable rifle. Just my two cents...

I recently purchased a used, CZ550 that had been done over by AHR. The stock is exactly as you would want. It is much slimer, the wrist and forarm where reduced. That remove all the checkering, it was then recheckered. It does not feel lighter, just looks lighter.

I actually like the feel of the big stock, fit my hands better. This is what happens when you buy some one else custom gun. I like it though, it has very nice classic lines. The workmanship looks good. It sure looks better than one of the plastic stocks or the big factory stock.

If you go that route, for short money you can get the bolt safety upgrade. That is one great improvement. Well, then, I see you are from S Africa, so AHR may not be a practical choice.

I think CZ custom shop in StLouis USA was offering a slim wood stock (I think that was written up in the 09 catalog) . Maybe you could order a new piece of nicer wood?

The 22" bbl, sound like a big improvement for hunting and a perhaps safer compromise instead of the more radical 20" route.

This was a Euro Style CZ in .375 H&H that went to Weight Watchers.

Judge-

Where'd you have that done? That looks very good.

LWD

Ganyana, who posts on this forum under that name, wrote an excellent article for Rifle magazine a little over a year ago entitled Choosing a Dangerous Game Rifle. I would like to quote from that article as a means for offering information for you. First an introduction, for those unfamiliar with the gentleman's credentials:

"First, I must mention that I come from the 'interior' (as one South African acquaintance introduced those of us from north of the Boerwors curtain [Zimbabwe] at a recent IPSC shoot), and that I was one of the government examiners and now am chief examiner on the Professional Hunters' proficiency test. Over the years I have seen a wide variety of aspirant PH's choices of their ideal dangerous game rifles, and more to the point, I have seen what doesn't work."


I personally have listened intently when reading and re-reading this gentleman's articles. You may find interesting what he has to say about rifle balance. I believe it pertains to your question.

"Most factory stocks, while not perfect, can easily be made to fit the individual with a little bit of judicious filing or the addition of a leather cheekpiece, etc. As a rule, almost all dangerous game rifles come with stocks designed for use with a scope or from a shooting bench. They are far too straight for use with open sights from the standing position. Even with a scope, the comb is too high on many of them for standing shooting. I appreciate that a straight stock reduces felt recoil when zeroing off a bench, but any dangerous game rifle...is going to be fired almost exclusively from the offhand position. If you are ordering a custom stock, bear this in mind. A spokeshave (a drawknife for making rounded edges) usually sorts out the factory stocks in short order, though.

"Getting the balance right is critical for reducing felt recoil and making the rifle responsive in your hands. The top shotgun and double rifle makers all say you need the point of balance around 3.5 inches in front of the trigger and 50 percent of the gun's weight between the hands....

"A fairly minor consideration is barrel length. The CZs, which are among the most popular heavy rifles in the 'interior,' come with great, long 25-inch barrels, and I'm always surprised at how many people are content with this. If your rifle has a standard length action, 22 inches is about maximum barrel length.... I appreciate that fit and balance greatly affect the way a rifle points and feels, but any competent stockmaker should be able to make a short-barreled rifle positively 'come alive' in your hands. With a magnum length action, consider 21 inches as a maximum, and personally, if I was ordering a custom rifle, I would order it with a 20-inch barrel even on a standard-length action."


You should consider that what is being described here is an un-scoped, purpose-built rifle. However, the general specification can also have universal application. Hope it helps.

quote:

Originally posted by LWD:
Judge-

Where'd you have that done? That looks very good.

LWD

Roger Ferrell, a American Guild gunsmith from the Atlanta area (Fayetteville). rogersgunworks@yahoo.com

Thank you Judge.

LWD

Quite an improvement! The regular CZ looks like the stock just came out of the sawmill 2 days ago.

This image hijacked off the cz website, an off the shelf CZ550. It looks pretty good to me:

If you guys went to a bigger caliber the CZ stock would feel just about right ...



500 Jeffery ...



Chuck

Hello,
I have a CZ 550 Full Stock (Mannlicher) that is a joy, very nimble.
Now take one of those in 9.3X62 and rechamber for 370 Sako and you will have one hell of a stalking rifle. IMHO

John

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
This was a Euro Style CZ in .375 H&H that went to Weight Watchers.

Hey Judge, not to hijack, but is that you with the A-4 in your avatar?

This is one of two stocks I have for my cz, this being the less club-like of the two. Nothing as nice as Judge's, but I tried to slim some weight off and give it some curvature.

I suggest you go handle a Dakota stock before you start sanding away. The one I saw at Cabela's looked as skinny as the Olsen twins. I tried using pictures to see where I could shave off some weight, I feel actually handling some rifles would have been more beneficial. Just don't forget to reinforce the stock though.

quote:

Originally posted by fourbore:
This image hijacked off the cz website, an off the shelf CZ550. It looks pretty good to me:

Thanks for all of the suggestions. SOme beautiful rifles have been shown here. Mine looks more like this one below. There is a slight difference between the stocks produced for America and the rst of the world. The non-US stocks seem to have more drop at the heel.

Yeah, you have one of the slimmer and trimmer stocks that everyone in the world gets except in the USA. And it saves about half a pound.

The thing I have done in the past, and the most significant thing you can do I think, to shave weight is to replace the barrel, and add better sights while I was at it.

This 550 in 375 H&H was switched to 416 Rem. with a 24" barrel and it cut the weight from 9.88 lbs. (original 375 weight) to 8.87 lbs.



If you can get by with a pretend 375 H&H, get a 9.3x62 like Dave Bush suggested.

The problem with the 550 Magnum is that the action weighs so damn much, and can't do much about that. Whack the barrel off. You can always add more powder to make up for the velocity loss.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Yeah, you have one of the slimmer and trimmer stocks that everyone in the world gets except in the USA. And it saves about half a pound.

Guess I should not be complaining then...she is a big girl but she knows that I love her

I agree that the barrel length is the best place to start when looking for an improvement in handling. She is a bit top-heavy. If I keep the standard bareel, shoudl I reduce it to 22"?

I would say yes, 22 has to be better carry and handling than 25. You cannot put it back, if you go too short.