My 416R has been at "beauty school' for several months (barrel shortened, trigger work, barrel band swivel, new stock, scope, etc.). I went to take a peek at it the other day and when I tried to cycle the action it was binding terribly!! It had a VERY slight "hitch" when I took it in, but nothing like its current state. Could the new stock have any cause? Anyone else have binding issues with their CZ 416's? If so, what was the solution? Thanks in advance.

Haven't had this problem on my CZ 550 American (in .375 H&H); but on one other rifle I had, a model 70, I had that problem after a new stock was put on it and the stock fitting/bedding was not done correctly. It appeared that the action was flexing or bowing slightly when the action screws were tightened, owing to a bad fit between the action and the stock. That apparently made the bolt hang up. If that is what is wrong with yours, the solution would be to have the stock inletting and bedding redone, so that the inletting and bedding fits the action properly.

Or one of the scope mount screws is too long, and it is protruding down into the path of the bolt (this happened to me once).

George

G'day,
BigBrass, I would go with you explaination, it has happened to me too, but with a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby. Turns out, the gunsmith had screwed up the bedding job, causing the action to flex as it was torqued down. An easy fix, once the problem was identified.
GeorgeS, One of my shooting associates had that happen to him, on a Win 70 in 308, couldn't even close the bolt, once again an easy fix, once the problem was identified.
Bwanahile, the CZ 550 is very highly regarded in Africa as a reliable, affordable DGR, just ask Ganyana, I'm pretty sure he is still using his! Stop me if I'm wrong Ganyana, but aren't you still instructing at the PH school in Zimbabwe? If so how many of CZ's do you see at the qualification shoots? It used to be a lot, any change? I don't recall any binding problems, do you?

Cheers, Dave.

No scope mount screws on a CZ. The bases are integral to the action.

Must be a burr or some just plain godawful bedding--although it's hard to imagine how a halfway competent gunsmith could mess things up that badly.

If you have a high spot in the bedding between the two action screws, ja, it is easy to bind the bolt by flexing the action slightly when the action screws are snugged.

Somebody just needs to take down the high spot and properly bed that action.

I was embarrassed for George on that one. Was biting my tongue, but mrlexma straightened that one out.

look at the shroud and stock fit. it's just probably a little deep. Ten seconds with sandpaper should fix it.-Rob

Gents,

Thanks for all the responses. Based on the feedback, I think the problem must lie with the bedding. I am replacing the factory stock with a Brockmans laminated. I was told the gunsmith spent 5 hours trying to get this "finished" "drop in" stock to work. Thus, I cant help but think my gunsmith mucked it up!!! This is VERY FRUSTRATING!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
Or one of the scope mount screws is too long, and it is protruding down into the path of the bolt (this happened to me once).

George

That happens to me nearly every time I mount a scope.

It seems that fitting a new stock to a receiver is one of those things that is harder than it might appear at first blush; and so-called "drop-in" stocks are very often not inletted correctly. (And the CZ magnums have the Mauser type receivers and recoil lug, which is a little different than the Remington and Winchester actions.) An experienced gunsmith can fit the stock properly to the action; but it does appear that some gunsmiths have trouble with this. It can probably be corrected easily enough by someone who knows what he is doing.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
No scope mount screws on a CZ. The bases are integral to the action.

Thanks for clarifying that, mrlexma. Since CZ doesn't make LH 550s, I've never bothered to hold, let alone own one.

RIP,
You know what you can do with yourself. You may want to get to it before you lose too much flexibility.

George

Try it without the stock. Attach the bottom metal to the action and then try the bolt. Have the follower in since it's pressure also affects the bolt.

Hart

Thanks George!

... or just loosen up the action screws and see if the bolt slides easier the looser the screws get.

If i were you lad i would send the ill fated rifle back to the people who just worked on it with a letter explaining the before and after problems. The VERY last thing you want is to have your rifle jam,bolt sieze up of not go into battery because you " fixed it at home"Ther are many graves out there of people who experienced rifle problems when the animal you are hunting decides to came over and talk to you about you being in his territory. Any shop worth its salt will fix the problem so that it doesnt occur again.The last thing they want is word of mouth getting around about your untimeley demise due to their shoddy workmanship.Hope this helps you out. Charlie

First, don't get to excited. This is a pretty trivial problem. Just check to see where the bolt shroud is hitting the wood and with sandpaper or a file smooth it down. If your worried about the stock finish, then file some metal off the bootom of the shroud till it closes smoothly. E-mail me if you need more help.-Rob

CZ's are not Mausers and don't have guide ribs. As such, the ones I have handled and worked on have all been succeptable to pretty bad bolt binding depending on how the bolt was manipulated. One customer handled his rifle mid-project and lavished praises on me for fixing the crappy factory bolt travel. At the time I had not even touched anything on the bolt or action-he was just working the bolt straighter. Extractors and extractor collars can also cause funky bolt feel. Without seeing the rifle, it is pretty hard to jump on the guy who worked on it for you. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt until more is known. Try working th ebolt very slowlt and watch what the bolt does in the action. If possible, remove the extractor and do it all over again.