I have removed a fair number of CZ barrels. Not a hard job. Squirt a little Kroil on the threads & let it work. A proper (robust & well fitted) barrel vise and action wrench are essential. Eating Wheaties for breakfast doesn't hurt but is not required. Some barrels are tight & some have thread sealant but all yield to some penetrating oil and a good wrench.

I remove all barrels I re-chamber to .458 Lott; it's easier to keep close tabs on headspace, which cannot be changed--only the chamber gets lengthened. I also remove CZ barrels when rust bluing, as it's easier to blue the barrel & receiver as separate components.

Roger

Frans,

There have been a flock of .458s converted to Lott configuration by running a reamer into the barrel without the benefit of pulling the barrel.

I do not know what CZ USA is doing with their conversion, but I would be more concerned with the stock reinforcement details.

One of the Lott rifles I saw last year was clearly an original Chay Zed barrel .458 Win Mag that had been rechambered and remarked.

I hadn't heard of a problem with unscrewing Chay Zed barrels, I had a BRNO M602 rebarreled with no problems (almost exactly the same rifle as the M550).

Can't you get the .416 Rigby in Canada, I would think it a better choice for you.

jim

In my relentless pursuit for a .458 Lott ;-)...nah, just exploring all options...I mailed with a gunsmith who has done work for me in the past. His experience with one CZ, experience that was confirmed apparently by "CZ Canada" (that must be Londonarms in Ontario, but I'm speculating here)was that it was very difficult to impossible to remove the barrel without risk of damaging the action. That would make it rather difficult to convert from .458WM to .458Lott. He advised against trying it.

Now this guy builds very nice rifles, and I trust his craftmanship...anybody had similar experiences? If this is so difficult, would CZ-USA just get the barrels in seperate from the actions, at least those that they intend to convert?
(I posted earlier in the CDN forum that the .458 Lott is not a factory offering from the Czech Republic manufacturer, but rather CZ-USA, or someone for them, converts the .458WM to Lott. Which is substantiated by the barrel markings of such guns, which have both the original .458WM and the .458Lott stamp).

Frans