I can't stand them myself. A group at a range here, you'd find about 8 out of 10 with Brnos.

I'd heard of quality control problems years ago, maybe in the early 1960s, and the Big bores are apparently still having them..

Anyway a hot-shot writer here has just written,
"The CZ co. took a giant step forward after the death of communism in Czechoslovakia, the workmanship and finish of CZ firearms showed vast improvement."

So what was it like before this? People here were falling overthemselves to buy them.

But wait, there's more. This bloke goes on to say, "Further improvments in quality took place after Czechoslovakia was split up to form Slovakia and the Czech Republic."

Jeeze, just how much "improving" do these things need?
Now they usually shoot OK, but I've read of and seen some that will not put the first cold shot in with the group. That alone would finish it for me.
And none I've seen here will out shoot even my present Ruger 77-22, let alone my old Anchutz, a 1416D custom.

I don't know, maybe they're cheap or something?
In more ways than one perhaps. A pox on them.

ARE YOU FOR REAL???

Are you going to tell me they HAVEN'T had problems from here to Africa via U.S.A.
The first one I ever saw was an auto. Yep jammed every time.
The last one I saw was this Saterday at the range, stock way over jammed against the barrel.
Was shooting about 8" left at 60 yards.

Take your rose coloured glasses off.

Gee, I just did a search, just CZ-Big bores, last 6 months.
Some of the language used, ie POS & SH**
and no quality control whatever, etc etc.

Our own PC nearly had a heart failure, as he loves his.
Sure SOME go OK, apparently PC's do.

Joke time. Why did the chinese decide to copy the Brno? Give up? The reckoned they could make them just as good.

the vast majority of .22"s i"ve seen people shooting here in the UK are CZ"s.(coz they"re cheap and available)(i mean the guns, not the people!) i don"t own a .22, but i"ve a .308 CZ american varmint. it"s never given me any trouble, and with a clean barrel it"ll put shots on top of each other. i have only heard of one person who had a .223 with an extractor problem, which eventually caused him to replace the rifle, but i"d buy another CZ american today if i could.
just my own experience with them,
good shooting

On ya brass thief. I thought I'd be hung out to dry by now.
Sure there are some good solid and accurate ones around.
But I don't think they deserve the sacrosanct gibberish that some come out with.

One ad here had this old goat waffleing on about how he shot 300 rabbits in one night.
My first thought was it was a pitty he wasn't using our own Lithgow/Slazanger/Sportco.
The second thing was "How many did he miss"?

The other thing that gets me is the hysterical indignation of Brno owners if one criticises any of them. It's is if they are getting paid by CZ.
Now if anyone want's to run down my 77-22, I'll say "well mine is allright".
Or if they want to run down .22 Kriko's, I'll say,"yep, I've only seen 3 and none of them would shoot a damn." etc etc

I've owned a decent amount of both Brno and Ruger products. Brno's are, by and large, made out of better materials. Less like a toy, and more like a "big rifle."

The wood touching the barrel at one point is a European riflemaker thing. Easily "fixed" if you feel the need to. All of my Brnos have been terrific shooters, right out of the box. All of my Ruger products produced shotgun groups, except for that nice .22 pistol they make.

Just my experience, take it or leave it. I've never felt the need to bad-mouth a product in grand terms, as I'm not that insecure. In fact, I'm perfectly comfortable with buying a 10/22 and putting $$$ in it straight out of the box, just to make it shoot. They're cheap enough.

I'm not as forgiving with high end arms, however....

Yep, them CZs shore do suck wind. And just to show you how bad they are, lets see what the results in last year's CMP Sporter class turned out.

CMP results and average scores by equipment

Ranking / Brand / Average Score / Number of Shooters

1 / Kimber / 575 / 3
2 / Anschutz / 558 / 3
3 / CZ / 549 / 6
4 / Marlin / 548 / 8
5 / Savage / 547 / 3
6 / TC / 538 / 15
7 / Remington / 536 / 9
7 / Winchester / 536 / 7
8 / Browning / 520 / 2
9 / Mossberg / 518 / 8
9 / Ruger / 518 / 36

Well, I guess those scores indicate how crappy and worthless CZ rimfires really are. ESPECIALLY since some crack-pot Aussie has proven behind a shadow of a doubt due to his extensive experience with them.

now i"m really scared! i"ve just bought a ruger M77 .22wmr!

Howzit shoot? Hopefully, it's a tack-driver.

quote:

Originally posted by panzerguy:
ESPECIALLY since some crack-pot Aussie has proven behind a shadow of a doubt due to his extensive experience with them.

Heck, I've never even owned one, and if you think I'm going to argue with someone called panzerguy you've got another thing comming.

quote:

Originally posted by panzerguy:
I've never felt the need to bad-mouth a product in grand terms, as I'm not that insecure.

I'm not argueing mind, but I'm the resident nutter here, so how come you reckon a satorical bad-mouthing of a product with a proven record of problems relates to me being insecure. I just don't like the little bastards.

Now being built like a brick shit house doesn't equate to quality, but I'll admit you have me on accuracy, after Kimber and Anchutz anyway.
Um the wood touching the barrel was just on one side, not a pressure tip at the forend.

Where I first went bonkers with Brno was when I was the counter boy in a gunshop. This bloke kept comming in positivly drooling over my glass at this Brno .270 . I had to clean up.

Then I heard from higher authoritys than I'll ever be of tollerance problems (NO not my intollerance panz). Anyway I chose an FN Mauser when I wanted a decent CF.

Only a few years ago a friend selling Brno .22RF's real cheap showed me some samples, and UG. the wood looked like, real greasy. And the checkering about 8 lines per inch done by scraping a nail over the wood. Talk about class.
Then as mentioned above Australia's greatest gun authority,(NO not me panz) keeps saying how much they've improved. From what? I'm wondering.

Not to mention the horror storys I mentioned reading about here on AR with anything over .375 apparently. (NO not MY experence panz)


[/QUOTE]
I'm not as forgiving with high end arms, however....[/QUOTE]

Well I don't think anyone has called Brno's/CZ's
high end arms. NOW I did start to get anziety attacks when I thought I may have to by a CZ new to get a big bore, but luckly I came across a 2nd hand M70 for more money. Phew! Lucky me.
As we say here panz, just my two bob's worth.
John L.

They do nothing for me either. Comb too low, fore end too skinny, barrel too spindly, 5 shot mag. Just too old skool for my taste. They shoot OK from what I've seen. I have a 77/22 with an AMT barrel that shoots average, but I prefer the design of the Ruger and the 10 shot mag, and it's accurate enought for a field rifle. I used to have an AMT Small Game Hunter that would shoot MOA all day long, but all semi autos were banned in Australia in '96.

JAL, what you are describing doesn't sound like Brno. It sounds more like some Zastava and Chinese stuff I've seen over the years. Is it possible you aren't getting the "real deal" there?

I'll grant the machine marks on the action. Every post-war Brno I've owned/shot could've used some polish, but I wasn't paying for polish.

Every single Brno I've ever seen has touched wood on the right. Despite that, they've all shot competitively.

I'd also grant you points on wood finish. I'm planning on stripping and refinishing mine when I get a chance. And you need to pick through them to get good wood.

If you haven't seen it before, here is a pick of my latest lil Brno. Ugly, ain't it?



As I've stated before, the unadjusted trigger on mine is perfection in action.

Don't mind me, you'll see a clue in my first post, first sentance. Brno's are very popular here, and any rough edges are forgiven as they shoot quite well.
Not fussed on Man Likker stocks, but;
I don't mind the look of your cat though.

Damn. You got me. Nice trolling, though. Gotta admire that.

Though I'm mildly disturbed when you compliment the looks of my pussy, though.

Well, it wasn't supposed to be a troll as I understand the term.
I was just trying to start a discussion on Brno/cz, as to why they seem so disproportionately popular, and then I read about their problems and no one seems to give a damn. Maybe over the years I've been reading the same journalist who sinks the boot in every decade or so??
So, who has had any problems with their .22RF brno??

I've had none with my Anshutz/Rugers.
And elsewhere here somewhere people were boasting about the accuracy they get with their 77-22's. (may have been 22WMR's which is even more unlikely?)

I currently own two big bore, 416 Rigby, 458 Lott, CZ's. Both are very well finished, have excellent checkering, VERY tight tolerances and, more importantly, shoot the snot out of Rugers. Moreover, you will find MANY PH's in africa using CZ's. You if you look on Guns America you will also see a few very high grade custom rifles built on CZ actions.
Next, you should talk to gunsmiths, most if not all will tell you that they are VERY well made, very strong actions and the hammer forged barrels are as accurate as ANY factory produced barrle out there. I will say that the bluing could be better but that is it.

Heck Big Cabin, if your looking at posts way back, check out the Big Bore section for all the complaints on CZ's. Too many for me to list but, rough actions, won't feed, actions out of alignment with the barrels, stocks splitting after a few shots etc.

Yes I read a report of a PH apprentice shoot in AFrica where Brno's were the ones to jam or crack the stock.

So when I bought a .458 I could have got a brand new CZ for about $A1500.00, but I opted for a second hand M70 for a bit more. (It even had two cross bolts)

Anyway, getting back to .22rf's the ones here are mainly Mod. 2's. The ejection port is so small it's nearly impossible to load without using the magazine.

And being a noodle-head, I shudder to think of the AD's I'd probably have with a crazy set up of having the safety back to front to everything else in the world.

And then when they changed that on some big-bores they STILL stuffed up. Apparently it's not hard to accidently move it to safe when working the bolt fast.
Did I mention the stupid bolt handle on the .22rf's,? almost always hit a normaly mounted scope.

Look mate, there is a thread in Gunsmiths or Big-bores about Brnos/CZ's and the men that love them. Content yourself with reading that.
I haven't as I'd probably be sick.

I have yet to find any CZ,Brno or whatever name that was worth owning. I've tried rimfires and centerfires, they are cheap in price and crappy in quality,loved by many ,but not me.

I'm with JAL and Rug on this.

I find Brno rimfires crude and poorly finished and the actions always feel like they've had a good handful of sand dropped in there for good measure.
I was up for a heavy barreled .22lr a couple of years back and put a Sako varmint alongside a CZ varmint right on the counter in the shop.
No comparison, for about $150 more than the CZ I took the Sako home without hesitation. It was a jewel compared to the CZ in every way.

No doubt they are robust and function well, but so did the Model T Ford in its time...

Although saying that, my dad bought a brand new Brno semi-auto a number of years ago (before the ban).
The darn thing would rip off the whole magazine in one burst every time you pulled the trigger, the sears were as soft as butter.

I could never work out what the big deal was with Brno's either.
Maybe it's a nostalgia thing??
Or perhaps they could make a fine emergency jack handle if you were stuck out in the bush without one??

I have a BRNO O/U combination 7x57R/12 ga. with an extra set of 12 ga. barrels, and love it. It is not a recent product, but I do not know its age. The rifle barrel is a steady tack-driver, and the shotgun barrels all do their job well. Maybe the recent products are less well-made??

Furthermore, on the topic.....

About 8 years ago I was fortunate enough to find a sporter style used Bruno 22 Hornet with a rosewood forend tip, double trigger, and a Redfield "partner" scope for $335. Let me assure you that the workmsnship is quite good and it shoots very accurately for the puny 22 Hornet.

Yes, most Brnos seem to shoot terrific, most are reasonably well made. It's a damn shame what CZ does with some of them.
The overall concept is great, pitty about the stupid backtofront safety. Or is everyone else out of step.

You know, I hate them so much that I bought my 5th last night.

My CZ452 Lux 22 LR shoots comfortably under an inch at 50 yards with several brands of ammunition, including the $9 USD for 550 round bulk Federal 36 gr HP. I've done nothing to mine in 8 years but put a Leupold 4x RF Special on it. Yes, the backward safety is a nuisance but my Lux outshoots my buddy's 77/22.

That's probably just because your buddy hasn't found the ammo that his 77/22 likes.

Today I think my 77/22 cleaned up the Brno's and even the MPR Anchutz got a fright.

Iam not being smart ,but which bolt 22 would you recommend ?,i agree the brnos comb is too low ,iam in the market for a ''new '' bolt 22 and was thinking of a BRNO but thought i might try a Anshutz or some other quality 22?? some of them though have short stocks for youngsters which is worse than a short comb

/

quote:

Originally posted by tankhunter:
,but which bolt 22 would you recommend ?,i

I'm quite pleased with my 77/22.

The "best" I've had was an Anshutz 1416 custom I think it was. Match action and much too shiney.

The worst I've had was an Anshutz 1422 or something (bottom of the line). It was a shocker. A pile of rubbish.

Still, it seems you'd be hard pushed to find someone not happy with their damned Brno.

So many .22's so little time.