After doing my duty and voting today for those that don't mind guns being available to the law-abiding public, I thought I would go by the Gander Mountain store in our area...who, by the way, is VERY happy to sell you about any kind of gun you may want (notice I didn't say NEED). Anyway, essentially sitting side by side was a new Ruger Magnum (3 actually) and the CZ Safari. The Ruger was priced at $1699 and the CZ at $799....a big difference I agree. The difference in the rifles, however, was also HUGE. I was surprised as I own a CZ in 9.3 and a Ruger Magnum in 375. There was no comparison....the CZ took some effort to work the bolt back and forth...like it was binding..and the Rugers...all 3...were pretty smooth....infinitely better than the CZ. Did CZ's quality take a dump in the last 5 years? That's about when I purchased my CZ 9.3 new. My Ruger is less than a year old. I realize there's a big difference in price, but you would need to do some serious work on the CZ I held to get anywhere near the Ruger...not to mention the better wood and bluing on the Rugers.
Oh well....that's today's tidbit.
I'm not predjudiced either...I own both makes of guns...I was just surprised at what I looked at side by side.

Gary

It will take about 30 minutes to have the CZ as smooth as the Ruger. I would be glad to do the work for the differance in $$$ between the two.

This has been rehashed over and over in the past. It all boils down to personal preference. There are quite a few who just don't like the Rugers, no matter what. If CZ offered the same package as Ruger did, the price would be comparable. CZ was the cheap answer to Ruger's taking a bit of the bigbore and African rifle market. Every CZ I've ever encountered has cheap wood that was basically unfinished and cheap bluing. Of course, there's the very rough action. I owned a CZ for only a week as I was going to use it for a project but somebody wanted it as is and paid me retail for it. That's the last time I'll ever own one of those cheapies ever again.

Brain....wouldn't dispute that possibility, but I was very surprised at the "roughness" of the CZ...and I own one. I'm talking a BIG difference. Now maybe the Rugers were the best that have come out, and this particular CZ "just barely passed"....but there was $900 worth of difference...unless you can get a new stock, new sights, new bluing, smoothing the action, etc....for that $900. They were flat a better looking and feeling gun.

Gary

I owned one of the very first Rugers in 416, 1990-what? Weighed about fifteen pounds, or so it seemed at the time. Sold it. Currently have one CZ SM416, and am contemplating a second. I can buy two CZ's for the price of a Ruger, and do NOT feel the Ruger is twice the rifle. A month of basketball season sitting in front of the big screen working the bolt will clean up the CZ stiffness, and I really like the set trigger for load testing off of the bench. Don't like it? Adjust the trigger; the Ruger does have an adjustable trigger doesn't it...? down to 3.5lbs and the set feature disappears. At $1200 the Ruger is worth the extra jingle, at $1600+, IMHO, it is not.
Buy me two CZ's, both in 416, and shoot them for accuracy. The worst one gets a 470M'bogo barrel, or reworked significantly and becomes a 505 Gibbs.

Do not get me wrong, the Ruger is a verrrry nice rifle...just a bit beyond me compared to building an M30/P17 into exactly what I want. As well, a CZ 416 action is $618 retail via Brownell's newest catalog.

Rich

475.....tell me what on this forum HASN'T been beat to death....that's what makes it interesting and , at times, amusing. I LIKE CZ rifles...I own one, but the difference between my own CZ and what I saw today was interesting...no where near the quality of my CZ. By the way...those prices were from Gander Mountain....it's not too hard to beat the #'s by 10-15% in this area....especially on the Ruger.


Gary

The ruger is an awesome rifle, and the cz can be as good or better, sans ribs, and lighter, for the same money.

but, the cz in 458 is HARD to beat

jeffe

GarBy- How much bigger is the Ruger
Magnum than earlier Ruger Mark II
long actions for 458 Lott,416 Rigby, etc. Ed

I sure hope CZ can come out with a lefty magnum action before I have to retrain myself to shoot right handed.

I own and like Ruger 77's. My first 458 was a Model 77 with the tang safety. Loaded and with the scope, that thing weighed around 13 pounds or so. It was uncomfortable to carry and uncomfortable to shoot. I lost that gun thru a business deal that went south, so this past spring I decided I needed another 458, and the chances of me ever going to Africa rivals President Bush's plan to bring Democracy to Iraq.

I went to a local store where I have bought several guns and looked at 3 CZ 550 Safari Magnums, 2 in 416 Rigby and one 458. I seriously considered going with one of the 416's, but at around $3.00 a shot for handloads, and due to the fact that I still had all of my loading stuff, plus loaded ammo for the 458, I went with it.

I am quite please with the CZ. I have no trouble with bolt binding and the recoil with the same ammo that I was using in the Model 77 is more pleasureable to shoot. JMO.

GarBy,

I don't think you are going mental

I now own a CZ 375 H&H and just sold a CZ 416 Rigby, and also have Ruger RSMs in 416 Rigby and 458 Lott (we won't go into the the M70 375s I have...)

The CZ 550 Mag is one hell of a rifle and a great buy. It shoots well, is reliable and actually comes with a good recoil pad and longish LOP! The wood can vary from so-so to quite nice, the bluing is just okay.

The RSM has a crap pad , good bluing, intregal quarter rib, nice to great wood and a 3 position saftey I prefer over the CZ.

When I bought my RSMs I found them for $1200 not the $1700 retail and I consider then a good deal.

Any of these rifles will need to be worked over by a good smith for propper functioning...feeding and bedding,etc. One would think the rifles would be sorted out from the factory but one would be wrong!

Instead of comparing $750 rifles to $1300 rifles dollar for dollar I always say go with the one you like the best.

John

H458....not sure how much bigger as I am not familiar with the MKII in the same calibers. If you are asking about the MKII in smaller calibers compared to the Magnum...then there is quite a bit of difference. Action size, WEIGHT, the interal rib, barrel band...did I mention WEIGHT? The Magnums weigh A LOT....probably too much for a 375...but thankful when touching off a 458 Lott.
John...I too like my CZ in 9.3...that's the only one I own at the moment as I sold the one I had in 6.5. They are nice...and shoot very well. The Rugers are tanks....with weight to match.
I was just passing on an observation...especially since it was done side by side.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer

I am not sure if the action is any bigger on the older RSM but the barrel contour was way thicker (really contributed to the extra weight). My 416 Rigby RSM has a huge barrel, about the same as a Ruger No.1 Tropical. My newer RSM rifles in 375 & 458 have much slimmer contoured barrels. The 416 was purchased by a friend in the late 90s and then sold to me about 4 years ago. He said it was too heavy and there is no way he could carry it around all day. When I bought the two other RSM rifles (about 2 years ago) I was shocked to see the thinner barrels (just right for the 375 but a little to light for the Lott IMHO).

I have also owned both types of rifles Ruger & CZ and am partial to the Ruger. The CZ is probably more customizable, but in my experience the Ruger is a pretty good rifle out of the box (except for the recoil pad ).

Matt V.

I noticed the same thing in the CZ I checked out at the local gun store. I doubt I will buy one as they are too rough for me to trust.
The Ruger is a bit over priced as well. For that money, I would buy a M70 or Sako.

My Ruger .416 purchased in Atlanta earlier this year was $1,550.

The brand new CZ 550 Safari Magnum (american stock)I fondled at Cabela's yesterday afternoon was $799; standing next to a Ruger 416 for $1699. I spent half an hour comparing the two. The Ruger only offered the quarter rib extra from what I saw along with a bit nicer wood. They would have ordered me a new CZ 505 Gibbs for $1500. I could have taken the CZ home with 100 rounds of the new Hornady 416 ammunition, a set of RCBS dies and shell holder, and a Leupold 2-7X compact for the cost of the Ruger. The Ruger may be a bit nicer, but not for $900 more. My brother Dona and I could each have taken a CZ 416 home and shared the set of dies.

JMHO...

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by Brain1:
It will take about 30 minutes to have the CZ as smooth as the Ruger. I would be glad to do the work for the differance in $$$ between the two.

I'll second that!!

I bought a CZ 550 Magnum in .416 Rigby recently. It was standing next to a Ruger in .416 Rigby and I directly compared them. Sure....... the action on the CZ was rougher. But the wood was way better than the wood on the Ruger (maybe because it was the "Lux" - version of the CZ ??). The one and only thing that was better on the Ruger was the safety. I spontanously decided to buy the CZ and the gunsmith reworked the action within a few minutes so that it is now veeeeery smooooth and made some other modifications so that I now can put 4 rounds in the magazine. I did not shot the Ruger but hell........ the CZ shoots lights out with the first load I tried.

Unfortunately I don't know how to instert a pic here, but if someone would like to do it for me it would be a pleasure for me to mail him the pic.

greetings,

sniper

Don't the CZs over .375 need bedding or an additional recoil lug or some such not to split the stock?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Don't the CZs over .375 need bedding or an additional recoil lug or some such not to split the stock?

Well....... it is often said that it would be absolutely necessary. In fact I don't really know, but I think it is not necessary. First of all it has a recoil lug behind the bolt, it has anotherone (some sort of) in the fore stock that is inside the stock and a thick piece of steel in front of the magazin that is also inserted in the stock. I shot some dozens of ammo at the range without any problems until now without additional recoil lug and without bedding the action. But you can do it if you feel better, it would not be an disadvantage...... only costy... ;-)

This is the recoil lugs on my CZ550 375H&H

Exactly!

And there is also a crossbolt behind the bolt. As I have said,.......until now no problem at all, without additional crossbolts, recoil lugs and bedding.... They are no idiots at CZ! If these were weak points, be sure they would have fixed that...

Garby did the CZ have two crossbolts in the stock? I talked with there customer service the other day and they told me all CZ rifles 375 and up will now have two crossbolts in the stock and they hoped the transition would be complete by January 2007.

Tanoose:

No, it had only one. I too had heard that they would all have 2...but not this one. I'll keep a look out for the newer ones.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer

Hi all, I have a 416 Rigby CZ hog back with really nice wood that really shoots. Accuracy is great and the price was right. I also am picking up a CZ in 458 Lott very soon. The new rifles come with cross bolts from factory. I too looked at the Ruger at Cabellas that Rich looked at. It was pretty but I just couldn't see paying almost $800 for it. The trigger was way better on the CA and the stiffness in the bolt action has alot to do with the bolt spring.
The action on the Ruger was no smoother, just a little easier to work. The express sights on the Cz I felt were better and thought that the Ruger sights were crap.
It is interesting to compare how many PH's use CZ's over other makes including Ruger.
Dana

My brand new 416 Rigby did not have cross bolts. It has the American stock and is the Safari Custom. The target with it shows a July 2006 production date.

I didn't mean to bash Ruger. I have both and love them both. The Ruger has a better polished action from the factory, but the CZ can have the same thing with a little elbow grease. I also sell both and have seen more than one nice piece of wood on the CZ's. If you don't like the sight on the CZ I may have to question your integrity about that, or maybe the shape of your head. They line up for me out of the box. I have been told that I have a rather large and ugly grape though.