All:
This is just a short synopsis of the problems I have encountered since ordering a CZ 550 in .416 Rigby in late January. I had asked CZ to glass bed, polish action, jewell bolt, lighten trigger pull, cut stock, install barrel-band swing swivel and shorten barrel to 22". I spoke with Mike at CZ several times and was very confident. I worked with a local Gander Mountain store where I found a wonderful Associate, Gary who was very thorough and helpful throughout the process (I think I got lucky).

2 weeks ago Gary calls, gun is in, but he's got good news and bad news--The gun looks good, but they didn't cut down barrel or install bb swing swivel.
We send rifle back, CZ provides discount, they will rush and get it turned around in a week.....Of course it takes a week and a half, but I get it and that's what counts since Tanzania is still 3.5 mos away.
I go through all kinds of scope mount crap because Warne sent 2 different size rings, I spoke with Plant Mnager at Warne who apologized and overnighted parts, but that's fine because all I want to do is shoot.

More problems SERIOUS!!! the rifle does NOT feed properly, hardly at all with the factory Federal premium bullets( just perfect for a DG rifle?)Shells are skewed to the right when you try to chamber a round. When I say skewed, I mean so far to the right within the chamber that the points hit right side of chamber and stop. Of course, this is IF you can get the bolt to pick up the cartridge. I have only been able to accomplish this once or twice in roughly 150 tries.

I am going to Williams Gunsight in MI today to see how they can help, as I am leery of sending this back to CZ for time and quality reasons.

The Rifle is beutiful, and the weighting with a 22" barrel is perfect, but I would NOT reccomend having CZ do mods in their shop.

Any suggestions are welcome. Have a great day....I'll be on the road to my local gunsmith.

There are several qualified gunsmiths capable of making it feed and function correctly. But you really need someone who understands the geometry of a big-bore cartridge and its feeding needs.

The first one that comes to mind is Stuart Satterlee. He posts here at Timan.

www.satterleearms.com

I would call him and see if he has the time to get it done and turn it around quickly.

I'm presently having the same problem with my Rigby. Apparently, as the fired round is extracted and starts to hit the ejector, its rim catches the rim of the round below it causing the fired round to not eject (just fall loose in the action) and pushing the round in the magazine forward enough to cause a jam when it it pushed on forward by the bolt.

Telly

Hey George sorry to hear about your problems. Try Answer products in troy I have heard they do very good custom work. Good luck

I delivered the rifle to Williams gunsight today. They are going to take a look today, and see what they can do.

...stay tuned.

GDOG,

With all due respect, I think this is why the quality of so many factory rifles is going down hill these days..

On this and other forums, when a person buys a new rifle and it doesn't function properly, the standard answer seems to be: "take it to a custom 'smith"

I say hold the factory accountable!

I had a problem with my CZ550 in 9.3x62mm in that the bolt tended to bind slightly when it was cycled...I also needed that rifle for a trip to RSA..However, I returned the rifle to CZ here in the UK and they replaced it, no questions asked...

In your case, because of the relatively tight time scales, I would still email CZ and tell them how unhappy you are...I would press for them to pick up the bill from your 'smith...

Its bad enough that we still have to get bigbore rifles bedded as an extra, but unless we hold these company's accountable, I see corners continuing to be cut and production standards slipping even further...

Regards,

Pete

I hope you get this all fixed up to your satisfaction so you can enjoy your trip and trust that new rifle.
Good Luck!

My grandfather said "you usually get what you pay for". From what I've read about the CZ's by time you pay for all the "extra's" to get them functioning correctly you could have damn near bought a semi-custom rifle built to your specifications. Just my 2 cents.

First make sure the CZ550 has a .416 extractor in it and not one shaped for the .375 H&H. The extractor shape is slightly different. If the wrong one was installed, poof the extraction problems you described! You also may need to shape the rails slightly to smoothly feed the .416 Rigby. Swiss files and common sense work wonders here! These are about 15 min fixes for a decent gunsmith. The CZ550 is a excellent action that just needs a few tweeks. However, unless you have a fair amount of experience with them, you don't know what the right tweeks are. Trust me a CZ550 in .416 Rigby makes an excellent choice!-Robv

I may have been lucky, but mine feeds and shoots absolutely fine. i have glass bedded it and put on a pachmyr decelerator, but everything else is stock. its a great rifle.It holds 4 down and feeds federal, original rigby and hornady all fine.

I have a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby. I had it glass bedded. My gun functions flawlessly and I get 1 inch groups at 100 yards.

I would have CZ make it right or pick up the tab at the gun smith.

Studdog,
You're an ass!

Had problems with my 9.3x62 FS. CZ sent me a new rifle. Just not quickly. Time constraints may bite you. I like CZs, have more than one; 9.3 is largest caliber I have.

My grandfather also said: "the acorn doesn't usually fall far from the tree".

Glad a few of you guys still like the CZ 550 action because I am having a restocking job and tuning done on a 416 Rigby by AHR. It was one of about eight rifles that were up for sale. But I shot all of them before I let them go to sort them. Even with a factory barrel and iron sights, this thing was accurate at 50 yards. Can't shoot iron sights accurately any further to make my decision to keep the barrel, but I think it will be a good one.
The CZ factory repairs may be suspect as I was amazed that they brought a CZ 550 with a cracked stock, in .505 Gibbs, to the NRA show. However, the local rep did point it out, but it does not leave a good impression.
IMHO these days, I feel every factory rifle below $2000 in price will require some custom work especially on the big bores. A realistic investment for restocking, new trigger, feed/extraction attention, improved safety, etc. will be an additional $2000-2500.

Dak

Even with the feeding problem on the .416, I still like all mine as well. Mine are mostly a little older or in lighter calibers, but have never had a stock problem (as yet). They do need some fiddling with, bedding & such, but they are still fine guns.

Telly

quote:

Originally posted by Telly:
I'm presently having the same problem with my Rigby. Apparently, as the fired round is extracted and starts to hit the ejector, its rim catches the rim of the round below it causing the fired round to not eject (just fall loose in the action) and pushing the round in the magazine forward enough to cause a jam when it it pushed on forward by the bolt.

YES! Exactly what I have! I finally brought it to a gunsmith, and he estimated $50-100 to fix the problem.
And I agree with our moderator... I should have gone back to the store, and have them deal with it. Unfortunately, there are few stores with knowledgable, understanding staff these days. It's so much easier to just cough up a few $$ and have it fixed. That way the chance of it actually getting fixed within a reasonable time frame is much bigger.

In my case (living in Canada), I'd have to bring it back to Wholesalesports, who might have to send it back to the importer in Ontario, who will have to take up the matter with CZ in the Czech Republic? Or Wholesalesports, or importer would have to give me a replacement gun? Which might or might not have the same problem... I had to jump through a number of hoops to get the importer to realize that the follower on the .416 actually has a different part number than on the one the .375 (my follower is marked .375, but it is a .416), parts of which seemed to have been used on other calibers. By that time I'd lost confidence and opted for the gun smith route.

RANT-MODE ON
My experience with warranty is poor, either on workmanship or materials. You always seem to end up in a finger pointing contest. With my first gun, a Sauer 200 in 9.3x62, I started getting rising shots on the second range session. After three shots I figured it really wasn't me, but something was wrong. Turned out the rear mount (EAW mounts) had cracked. Obviously the gun seller had not closed the screws tight enough and it had worked itself loose. It didn't take long for the mount to give way under that punishment. Back to the smith: "Material problem, I'll take it up with EAW". EAW: "Can never have been a material problem, must be a mounting problem". Smith: "You obviously put the scope on the rifle in an inappropriate manner! (He suggested I got the rear mount in, without putting the front mount in, those of you who have EAW Schwenk mount will understand that this physically impossible without BRUTE force) It's all you fault. I can fix this for $XXX."

I wished him a good day (actual verbage no to be repeated in public) and never set foot in his store again).

RANT-MODE OFF

Frans

You complain about your rifle needing work done on it...you buy a supposidly custom made action.... GRANITE MOUNTAIN ARMS ACTION and you still need to spend $1000-1500 to make it just right
food for thought
daniel

i've got one i've had for i think 5 yrs now and it's always cycled flawlessly (except oddly sometimes i can only get 3 rds instead of 4 in the magazine and can't break the code on that). i also didn't screw around with the bedding at all and hasn't been remotely necessary.

what i'm having trouble understanding here is how the rim on a rimless case can catch on another rim of a likewise rimless case particularly when the case head is smaller in diameter than the bolt body and - on mine anyway - doesn't in any way protude past the periphery of the bolt in the first place.

willmcke,
Interesting, I could only get 3 in the mag as well !

My cz 416 is factory stock except for the steel bedding. Feeds and functions flawlessly. However, I'm begining to think my chamber was cut with a very dull reamer. 2 out of the 3 brass types I've tried have been a tight fit. With NORMA brass I would take it to africa today! But still, I'm going to call today and see what they have to say down at the cz factory.
For less than $1000 I've got a 416, can't fault cz for that.

quote:

Originally posted by GDOG:
willmcke,
Interesting, I could only get 3 in the mag as well !

In my 375 I have found that I can get 4 rounds in the magazine with Winchester brass. I fifth just won't quite go in. With Remington brass I can ger 5 in the magazine. It appears the Remington belt thickness is slightly less than on Winchester brass. On an individual round it isn't much but when you multiply it by 4 or 5 it makes the difference in one round more or less in the magazine.

465H&H

most of my brass is norma but i've got 40 pcs of bell. i'll check to see if that's the difference. if so tho, one would think after 1 firing and subsequent resizing in the same set of dies the problem would either go away or be uniformly 3 rds only.

roger

quote:

Originally posted by GDOG:
All:
This is just a short synopsis of the problems I have encountered since ordering a CZ 550 in .416 Rigby in late January. I had asked CZ to glass bed, polish action, jewell bolt, lighten trigger pull, cut stock, install barrel-band swing swivel and shorten barrel to 22". I spoke with Mike at CZ several times and was very confident. I worked with a local Gander Mountain store where I found a wonderful Associate, Gary who was very thorough and helpful throughout the process (I think I got lucky).

2 weeks ago Gary calls, gun is in, but he's got good news and bad news--The gun looks good, but they didn't cut down barrel or install bb swing swivel.
We send rifle back, CZ provides discount, they will rush and get it turned around in a week.....Of course it takes a week and a half, but I get it and that's what counts since Tanzania is still 3.5 mos away.
I go through all kinds of scope mount crap because Warne sent 2 different size rings, I spoke with Plant Mnager at Warne who apologized and overnighted parts, but that's fine because all I want to do is shoot.

More problems SERIOUS!!! the rifle does NOT feed properly, hardly at all with the factory Federal premium bullets( just perfect for a DG rifle?)Shells are skewed to the right when you try to chamber a round. When I say skewed, I mean so far to the right within the chamber that the points hit right side of chamber and stop. Of course, this is IF you can get the bolt to pick up the cartridge. I have only been able to accomplish this once or twice in roughly 150 tries.

I am going to Williams Gunsight in MI today to see how they can help, as I am leery of sending this back to CZ for time and quality reasons.

The Rifle is beutiful, and the weighting with a 22" barrel is perfect, but I would NOT reccomend having CZ do mods in their shop.

Any suggestions are welcome. Have a great day....I'll be on the road to my local gunsmith.

Don't let CZ touch that gun again. They will keep tinkering with it until the action is ruined.

Instead, seek out a big bore specialist.

quote:

Originally posted by 465H&H:

quote:

Originally posted by GDOG:
willmcke,
Interesting, I could only get 3 in the mag as well !

In my 375 I have found that I can get 4 rounds in the magazine with Winchester brass. I fifth just won't quite go in. With Remington brass I can ger 5 in the magazine. It appears the Remington belt thickness is slightly less than on Winchester brass. On an individual round it isn't much but when you multiply it by 4 or 5 it makes the difference in one round more or less in the magazine.

465H&H

Now that you mention it, I've noticed the difference on my Lee Autoprime .375 shell holder. Remington brass fits freely, while Winchester rubs.

quote:

what i'm having trouble understanding here is how the rim on a rimless case can catch on another rim of a likewise rimless case particularly when the case head is smaller in diameter than the bolt body and - on mine anyway - doesn't in any way protude past the periphery of the bolt in the first place.

I can't tell if it is rim-on-rim, but after endless fidgeting I can to the conclusion that somehow the round in the process of ejection catches on the round below it. That round gets pushed forward, and partly out of the magazine. The ejectee becomes a dudd and in the worst case drops dead inside the loading gate.

In my case it only happens when the bullet below sits on the left in the staggered configuration... but I've reported that here a time or two before.

Frans

The ejector on the CZ rises from a recess at the bottom of the bolt, into a vertical cut in the bolt face at about the five o'clock position. It looks to me like the bottom of the case moves down as it contacts the ejector causing the rim to contact the extractor groove in the cas still resting in the magazine. That would be my impression, but I don't do impressions. Just going by how it looks to the untrained eye.

Telly

One more thing. Check that you have a .416 follower in the gun and that the folower spring has not jumped out of position. Some CZ550's have been reported with weak follower springs that would become unseated from the foreward ledge of the follower and cause feeding problems. Also make sure the mag box itself is seated properly in the action recess and not hanging up the follower._Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
GDOG,

With all due respect, I think this is why the quality of so many factory rifles is going down hill these days..

I say hold the factory accountable!


Its bad enough that we still have to get bigbore rifles bedded as an extra, but unless we hold these company's accountable, I see corners continuing to be cut and production standards slipping even further...

Regards,

Pete

I fully agree!
bigbull

quote:

Originally posted by bigbull:

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
GDOG,

With all due respect, I think this is why the quality of so many factory rifles is going down hill these days..

I say hold the factory accountable!


Its bad enough that we still have to get bigbore rifles bedded as an extra, but unless we hold these company's accountable, I see corners continuing to be cut and production standards slipping even further...

Regards,

Pete

I fully agree!
bigbull

Although I agree with Pete, this would only work in a perfect world.

In the real world where companies often don't give a shit, or screw up things they are supposed to fix, I think 500grains words are worth listening to:

quote:

Don't let CZ touch that gun again. They will keep tinkering with it until the action is ruined.

Instead, seek out a big bore specialist.

It's sad that it has to be this way though...

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:

quote:

Originally posted by Telly:
I'm presently having the same problem with my Rigby. Apparently, as the fired round is extracted and starts to hit the ejector, its rim catches the rim of the round below it causing the fired round to not eject (just fall loose in the action) and pushing the round in the magazine forward enough to cause a jam when it it pushed on forward by the bolt.

YES! Exactly what I have! I finally brought it to a gunsmith, and he estimated $50-100 to fix the problem..............................

Frans

I have the same problem with my 550 in 416 Rigby. When I operate the bolt in the right manner, hard! the fired round kicks the round the whole way out of the magazine and on the ground. If I'm lucky the next round will feed in the chamber, if not i'll have a real jam.

And now the qestion to you Frans: Have you got the problem fixed and what did the gunsmith exactly do to fix this problem? I'm going to Africa for the buffalo next year and I want a 100% reliable rifle for that trip.