CZ 550's then and now....

She is a six shooter , I like that .. It's a 22" barrel and that's a Limbsaver pad .. Limbsavers work well . I had a 375 No1 that I truly loved , I bought in 1978 and it hurt , until the Limbsaver was put on her . Lost in the housefire of 2007 along with quite a few other firearms , and my baby a WR 500 two shooter ...

I have used stix standing , the stock is ideal for the recoil , more comfortable than many smaller calibers that I have shot .. A stand up "bench" is a great idea ... I have run around 500 rounds through it since I got it .. Many cast loaded to 45-70 levels plus some .. Full power is comfortable ...

Andries I was told that the stock is the European version , is this the Bavarian version , note the area around the magazine

I have the Safari Classic in the Lott caliber , got it from a friend in the MId West US in early 2008 .. He was building an elephant specific rifle and had some trickery done to it ..

She weighs 9 lbs 12 oz. empty . He ran a box of ammo through it at 25 yards and started a new project ..

Bill Reed wrote:

"While Czechoslovakia was in the "Evil Empire" ,for all practical purposes, there were no CZ/Brno firearms imported to the US. Now the CZ's have become a force in this market place.

It is my understanding that CZ's in 375's and 416's are a standard in Africa along with the 9.3x62. Would it be fair to state that CZ may have as much, perhaps, more, experience building production Big Game guns as anybody in the world? CZ appears to have made a true magnum lenght action rifle available to everyone.

I did note that our CZ 550's appeared to be distinctively different from those sold elsewhere. Those stocks appeared to be slimmer lacking recoil bolts. Rifles here are bulky and have now added recoil bolts."

First, regarding the last observation: American shooters do a great deal more (orders and orders more) shooting groups from a bench than we do in Africa and therefore there is a great deal more individuals feeling recoil and complaining about it. The industry responds to that and endeavours to minimize felt recoil by:

1. Making rifles and rifle stocks bulkier (heavier).

2. Developing very thick butt pads.

3. Installing those awful muzzle brakes that make it impossible to enjoy hunting with a client who brings a .338 Win Mag or even a .300 Win Mag with that noise amplifier on the muzzle.

4. Developing and selling the one contraption that must have done the most damage to learned shooting skills than all else combined: the LedSled.

It is this latter tool that is the cause of stock cracking in the M77 Ruger .375 and any slim, lightweight European stocked Africa calibre rifle. A rifle butt belongs in the shoulder of a hunter and was not designed to withstand the very momentary impulse to the action offered by a hard stop. So cross bolts - often two - are installed post factory to spread the impact impulse into the wood and minimise the risk of cracking. US designed big bore rifles are too heavy and carrying it for a day after Cape buffalo becomes a bind.

My new Musgrave .375 H&H has only one cross bolt, weighs only 7.7 lbs with its slim stock but will never break on me. The recoil is hard and sharp but so what. It will very likely crack the stock if I put it into a solid rest. It will never be fired with me bending into it and crowding the rifle on a shooting bench. Any hunting rifle should be a stand up straight shooting piece, designed and built for field work.

Indeed does CZ / BRNO have a great deal more experience in designing and building hunting - and particularly big bore rifles for Africa than any other worldwide manufacturer. They took the Mauser 98 action and refined and improved it to be the most reliable hunting piece anywhere in the world. And you are indeed correct, Bill - at the same time they produced a Mauser magnum action at a price unreachable by any other manufacturer and affordable for most hunters. Apart from Musgrave (who presently also uses BRNO Vz.24 actions) I do not believe that there is any other brand in the world that can present a rifle of the quality of the CZ 550 at nearly that price. Regarding value for money there is no other brand that can come near a CZ 550.

I shall get some personal photos of the Bavarian stocked BRNOs and CZ 550s of my friends and post them here.

The .35 Whelen no doubt is a pleasing calibre for use with 250gr and heavier bullets. I was working hard to determine whether it would equal the penetration on Cape buffalo of the 9.3x62 Bock which is the minimum size calibre allowed here for Cape buffalo - and that with 286gr premium bullets.

After a great deal of research it turned out that if the 30-06 case with its smaller water capacity than the 9.3x62 could propel a 284 gr. Peregrine bullet at 2,400 ft/sec it would equal the penetration impulse per square mm of the old 9.3x62. Quickload suggests a 103% compressed load of Somchem S355 to achieve this but the projected MAP was right into the maximum allowable figure.

We then decided to do progressive pressure tests using strain gauges and in the end cancelled the project because there exists not a single Whelen in South Africa.

With all the rifles I own, books on shooting and some years of hunting experience. I just woke up!

These articles by real hunters are fantastic. Thank you. Still love my Brno .35 Whelen.

With one cartridge in the chamber and three in the magazine it weighs 9.5 lbs. The scope is an old Leupold 1.5 - 3 x 32 which weighs nothing. Yes, it gets carried a lot in Mozambique and when it is not in your hands it is within immediate reach - even in camp.

Thank, I remember you an I spoke about recoil and report in another forum. The consensus was that in hunting situation neither is felt. Funny you should speak of the eleven pound rifle etc. from another forum. That description fits my CZ 550 American. This rifle tips the scale at 11.5 pound with scope. I suspect that rifle was made for people who shoot more than carry (paper). Yours was made for people who carry more than shoot (game).

Here is the CZ 550 in .416 Rigby I use in Mozambique. It has taken many elephant, Cape buffalo, sable, kudu, red hartebeest, waterbuck, bushbuck and the dimunitive duiker, as well as leopard - all with one type bullet: the 400gr Peregrine VRG-2 solid. Zero meat damage on the tiny antelope and nothing but impressive penetration on Cape buffalo and elephant.

The Bavarian stock on the European CZ 550 without a doubt is the most well thought out design for balance between rifle weight and felt recoil and immediate lineup when shouldered. I read in another forum where a newcomer asking about the .375 H&H was getting advice that he must get a heavy barrel, straight stock, rifle weighing at least 11 lbs. It turned out that most of the advice and comments he received were from posters who owned maybe a 30-06 but who could calculate recoil momentum and had read that a certain figure is the maximum tolerable, but in fact never owned a big bore rifle.

This CZ weighs 9.5 lbs with three rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber and has a standard profile barrel of 25.7 inches. It shoulders fast and is immediately on target and very steady off-hand. With 400gr bullets at 2,450 ft/sec I can shoot it all day - and carry it for half a day.

The perfect stock profile and barrel length (25.7 ")of a hard kicking big bore dense brush rifle.

The photo below of me and master tracker Ricardo was arriving at my fly camp on a sandbank in the Loureco river in the Niassa wilderness of Mozambique near the border with Tanzania after a half day of hard but unsuccessful hunting.

Following a herd of 12 elephant during an anti-poaching operation me and my two trackers take an in situ breakfast break.

Top rifle: The CZ that established the name in Africa: my elder son's BRNO ZKK 601. My Musgrave Model Free State below. Both in .308W - by far the most popular big game cartridge in Africa.

A compelling but dangerous moment in the Mozambique wilderness - a few feet away from your rifle.