I'll be purchasing my first .375HH soon, and know from reading various websites that the CZ needs the stock bedded for strength. I've read that crossbolts are a good idea. I plan on using the factory stock. Questions:

1. what type of bedding, and where?

2. Please explain crossbolts, how many and where?

3. are the stock swivel studs adequete? why do some CZ owners put on a barrel mounted front swivel?

4. I emailed a gunsmith (who I don't know) I told him I wanted to make a CZ good hunting rifle without getting into an expensive custom job. He suggested, A bedding job, trigger job and recrowning the barrel. How does this sound?

5. What height scope mounts?

6. Any suggestions on a gunsmith who knows magnum rifles and CZ's?

Thanks

Brendan,

Welcome to the fray!

I have a BRNO M602 in .375 H&H; this is just about the same rifle as your current CZ 550.

I don't think you will need any additional cross bolts, but bedding the rifle is probably a good idea. I had mine converted to use a M70 style three-position safety. I use the factory swivels on my rifle.

The only thing I did with the rifle when I first got it was to have a trigger job done.

Your choice of rings will be driven by the size of the scope you plan to mount. The factory rings were a medium on mine, I expect that is what you got as well.

jim dodd

Brendan,

I'll skip questions 1 and 2 and defer to those with more experience. Taking the rest in order:

3. The stock swivel studs will work fine. The barrel band swivel is more traditional, better-looking, and allows the gun to hang lower on your shoulder if you sling the gun muzzle-up.

4. Bedding, trigger, and recrown are what I originally intended to do to my .416 Rigby. The project sort of took on a life of its own, though...

5. Like Jim said, ring height is determined by the scope you want to use. Most people want the lowest mount possible. The CZ is most likely to have interference between the bolt handle and eyepiece of the scope, rather than between the objective bell and barrel. Consider Talley rings instead of the CZs. They're lighter, better-looking, and come in both fixed and quick-detachable form. The QDs are available with either levers or screws, btw.

6. Jack Belk, who posts on this forum as JBelk, just finished reworking my CZ .416. I posted pictures of it on the thread, "It's finally done!" in the Big Bore forum. Check 'em out, you might get some more ideas for your own rifle

Best,
Joe

The best thing is to shoot at least one box of cartridges before doing any work to it. A lot of folks send a rifle out for work before they even know what, if anything, needs to be done.

There no sense bedding and crossbolting a stock that you may not be comfortable with. Some folks like the hogs back, some don't. You will have to shoot it to find out.

See how accurate the rifle is before you bed it. Then you will know if bedding is helping or hindering accuracy.

Too many folks send the rifle out for all kinds of work and then complain about how it shoots. When I ask them how it performed before the work, they give me a blank stare.

I had my cz .375 bedded in devcon, relievd around the tang and also floated to the funky front lug. Shoots fine, I like the hogs back and I have made do with the front swivels. In an ideal world I would have all the bells and whistles added but hey I can't afford all that.

Brendan

I completely agree with KurtC, shoot it first. You will see that the rifle is very accurate right out of the box. The stock problems you have heard about are associated with the .416 and not the .375. The trigger is adjustable and has a set feature. Both the normal and set triggers can be adjusted individually. The safety on the 550 works in what most people consider as the "normal manner". Though many like the 3 position M-70 type, I have no problem with the standard safety. The only thing I dislike about the rifle right out of the box (which can't be simply adjusted) is the front sight blade.

Bed it if it won't group, adjust the trigger yourself, the stock dosen't need an additional x-bolt, stock swivels are just fine. If you find a front blade with a larger bead PLEASE let us know! Besides, shooting it will smooth the action.

You will need medium rings to clear the bolt handle, Warne makes nice rings for $35. You don't really need to spend much on this thing to have a nice rifle. MHO

Crash