quote:

I'm looking for a way to put a 1.65-5 power, 5" eye-relief Nikon on a CZ 550 Safari Magnum.
That 1.6-5 Nikon only has a 4.76" maximum mounting area on the tube, but the big CZ receiver has 5.1"-5.2" external ring measurements, if I remember. I will need a back extending front ring mount or a forward extending rear mount.

...

I would like to try out the 5" eye-relief on one of our 416s but I'm having trouble finding a good 'extended' ring combination for the CZ.

A pleasant update:

A friend hand-carried from "Kozap", Czechia (www.kozap.cz) a one-piece scope mount for a CZ550 magnum to be used for a scope with only 4.75" mounting space, a Nikon slughunter, with 5" eye-relief. The new mount uses 3.9" for outside ring measurements. It looks nice and it should hold up since it's steel (a couple of years ago I bent and ripped a Tikka aluminum ring retainer pin on a 338.) We'll put this CZ mount on one of our Rigbys and try it out this year among the beesties.

CZ-USA really needs to add these to their offerings. I will appreciate going from a 4" eye-relief to 5.0" at all magnifications.

That is extra insurance in case I ever creep up on the stock on a careful, long-range antelope shot.

416 Tanzan,

Do you have a picture of these scope rings and link to the company website?

Best,
Dave

David,

The web site URL is in 416Tanzan's post but unless you read Czech, it weon't help.

I think these might be the mounts:



George

Well, let's see if the picture will work



This shows a one piece CZ 550 magnum scope mount with 1" rings, where the rings only span 3.9" inches and are thus good for the Nikon Slughunter scope with its 4.75" max mounting space.

The website for the company that markets these in the Czech Republic is
http://www.kozap.cz/obrazek/1369/
> 20. montáž č.18 - CZ 550 Magnum, 1-díl.
20. montáž č.18 - CZ 550 Magnum, 1-díl.

There address details are:
See KOZAP Uh. Brod
zbraně a střelivo, spol. s r.o.
687 54 Bánov 134
tel./fax.: +420 572 646 220
kozap@kozap.cz
www.kozap.cz
CZECH REPUBLIC


Price with taxes was 1611 Czech Crowns (about $85 US).

Google translator can help if you get into the site through a Google search.

For curiosity, here are 2 pictures of the Tikka aluminum ring from a 338WM that I mentioned in the first post. They are examples of what not to do in scope mounts.






This should highlight
and CONTRAST
that the CZ 550 one piece mount is STEEL and I expect will hold up over the long haul. The fitted CZ rings are included with the mount as a unit and they, the rings, fit into seating holes in the mount and are retained by a screw. When you order the CZ steel mount you get the mount, rings, retaining screws, washers, and little tightening wrench, as a unit for one price.

The question in North America will be how to get CZ USA to import these mounts. It shouldn't be a big problem from a company that already imports the rifles.

416 Tanzan,

Interesting mounts.

It looks like the base might cover the loading/ejection port on the rifle...???

I was expecting the base of the mounts to be off to one side...

Perhaps it's just the picture and mount sits differently on the rifle?

Best,
Dave

I don't expect it to cover the ejection port, after all it sits on the flat top of the receiver. I won't be able to fit it to the rifle for a few months when I get back to TZ.

I like this one that CZ-USA has been offering for years, I find them at the "Whittaker Guns" store rack here in KY.
Yes, it is solid steel.
Shown on a CZ 550 Magnum, they make one for the CZ 550 Medium also.
Allows me to use QRW rings, Warne QD, or Badger rings up to 34mm scope tube diameter:





A bit high, but that clears the ejection port.
Use lowest height Weaver-style/picatinny rings you can find with it.
A second recoil stop underneath the rail and abutting against the rear face of the front receiver would be an improvement,
but would require some precise fitting if added on.
Not impossible.

quote:

A bit high, but that clears the ejection port.
Use lowest height Weaver-style/picatinny rings you can find with it.

RIP, I looked at those before getting the one piece 1" rings. The picatinny set-up seems very much 'a bit high'. Just how low could you get your picatinny? It seemed to me that they would be 'extra-high' rings. For a rifle that already uses the 'hogback' Euro stock that seems too much.

Yep. When you add the lowest possible QRW "low" rings to the CZ-USA picatinny rail mount,
you end up "extra high" which is a bit more than the standard CZ rings alone, which can only be described as "high"
as would the setup you have chosen?

So with the rail mount and an American stock, you end up with scope heigth about like with standard CZ rings on a Euro stock.

I use the rail mount on an "American" style walnut stock or the "Kevlar" with same straight comb, of less drop than the Euro "Lux" stock (hogback).
It works best for .300 to .338 Magnums. It is clamped on by 4 screws that are 8x48, or no-bigger metric equivalent.

Overall, the strongest setup so far is to use the standard CZ rings and torque the HUGE main clamping screws to 65 inch pounds as per spec.
Metric M6-1.0 Socket Cap screws from the auto parts store can replace the slotted ones from CZ.
They come in 16mm, 25mm and 40 mm length, black or stainless finishes.
16 mm length is long enough for standard clamping screw.
Use a 5mm metric hex key/bit in the socket head to torque properly with "The F.A.T. Wrench"
(Firearm Accurizing Torque Wrench from Wheeler Engineering, Midway USA).
If they hold internal combustion engines together, they will hold a scope on a rifle.

Do any of these other mounts allow that degree of security?
I don't think so.
They likely clamp on with 8x48 equivalent screws that you torque to 28-30 In-lbs.

That means, for a big bore, finding a scope with a tube long enough to fit, and a stock to fit too.

All the other options, QD or non-QD are for the smaller bores, IMHO,
unless there is an extension ring made with the same main clamping screws as CZ uses ...





Look at the size of these M6-1.0 x 40 mm screws that were cut shorter to allow proper length for homemade QD lever ring conversion of standard CZ rings ,
on 500 Mbogo No.2 that weighs 9.5 pounds bare/dry in the CZ Kevlar stock, same weight as in the hogback.
The ring may be too close to the objective lens on this 2.5X Leupold, but I have not broken one yet.
I also glue the scopes into the rings with RTV silicone adhesive also obtained from the auto parts store.
Torque the scope ring screws to only 20 In-lbs., just check them frequently for tightness.

Folks- Please look carefully at the way RIP has this gun set up. Focus, Pay attention!
Note the rings, Note the Leupold scope, Note the THREE crossbolts on the stock. This set-up won't break. My Heavy kickers are all set up the same way. .600OK number one has over 1000 rounds through the same Leupold scope, rings and stock! STILL WORKS! With all due respect,YOU DON"T NEED 5" of eye relief on a big bore. IF you NEED that, your not holding the gun properly or have other flaws in your shooting technique. Trying to use a questionable scope to make up for bad technique isn't going to work. Cheap scopes BREAK, CHEAP rings Break, Cheap stocks without glass bedding and crossbolts break. We have know this for YEARS, just seems like some folks don't listen and need to learn these lessons for themselves.-Rob

quote:

montáž č.18 - CZ 550 Magnum, 1-díl.

I think that montaz c. 13 for CZ 550 may also work:

fficial%26prmd%3Dimvns" target="_blank">http://translate.google.com/tr...icial%26prmd%3Dimvns


but check this, it was not suggested to me when I wrote a few months ago.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the Nikon scopes over the past three years, and Michael on Terminals is quickly becoming a believer.

Yes, Rob, 4" is enough, but sooner or later people seem to creep up on a funny shot and 'kapow'.

416Tanzan,
I like that setup better than the other you showed.
If the 4 clamping screws are 8x48 or larger (surely they are) and you degrease them and use blue Loctite, it might hold up on a big bore.

Thanks, Rob.

I actually don't like those clamping screws at all. OK for a .30-06 but a big bore? Bet they shear off. They also look like they are torqued with allen wrenches. That should work out great! Not! Save your money and buy mounts like RIP showed. I even have six screw Badgers on some of my short scopes. They won't ever fail.
Tanzan416- If you hold the gun properly and keep your head fixed to the stock and let you body roll with the recoil its IMPOSSIBLE to creep the stock and get hit by the scope. You should be able to easily shoot with a 2" eye relief if you do things right.
Forgot to add I lap all my scope rings and LEAVE lapping compound in the rings. The scope never goes anywhere and I don't care if the finish is ever so slightly marred. The goal is a scope that doesn't move or break.-Rob

For clarification on the CZ one piece mount:
there are four clamping screws on the backside of the mount that are not seen. The screws have a wider head than the one screw holding the anti-slide insert.

Another item not visible in the picture, the rings are not integral with the bridge but have 1/4" posts that sit in the bridge and have a screw coming up from under the bridge that prevents any rising of the rings. I will be using that Blue loctite stuff.

The rings themselves have tiny micro-grooves on the inner surface, presumably for gripping the scope. Does loctite help that, too, or is it too brittle, or too adhesive to the scope?

So it has loose parts clamping on both sides of that rear bridge?
Very bad!
Both the CZ rail base and the standard CZ rings have solid steel on the right side, and clamping screws and moving parts on only the left side.
Stronger.

RIP, the difference is left versus right. The one piece CZ ring mount has solid steel on the left (visible side of picture) and the clamps on the right (back) side.

In addition the left side has the anti-slide projection that is added or removed by a screw. I don't know what their purpose was in such a thing, but I don't see any problem with it. It fits very well into the clamping steel, is fully supported against sideways movement, and is smoothly machined. Perhaps it has a little more metal on the bottom hook that hangs down, under and into the CZ anti-slid slot. My CZ's are several hours away by plane, and one has Warne rings, the other has Talley, so it wouldn't be a direct comparison anyway. If you look at the pictures of the separate rings and the one-piece ring above you can see that the extension in the one-piece set up hangs down considerable farther and may have more of a lip on the backside, too.

It reminds me of the 'sliding nut' question on the forearm underbarrel lug of their Safari designs. Why didn't they machine that underlug flat and simply drill one hole? The only reason that I could think of was to enable stocks to be fit with an eschuteon and forearm hole separately and then the barrel-lug nut could be adjusted.

Also, I never understood why the funny digamma (double L) lug stop was just inserted loosely into the forearm instead of glued or epoxy-ed in place. Maybe Brno got credit for extra moving parts before 1990?

All the potential for problems with a CZ are easily remedied by gunsmithing and aftermarket parts.
A CZ 550 Magnum properly set up is as good as anything regarding a reliable, functional rifle.
All it may lack is snob appeal.
Some people who know how: Q.V.
Wayne at AHR
Rob Gunbuilder
My gunsmith, Rusty McGee at Hilltop Gun Shop, Falls of Rough, Kentucky

I think that both EAW and MAK offer scope mounts for the CZ 550 to suit any tube length.

Lefteris
www.europeancartridgeunlimited.com