So I ordered an Integrally suppressed Left Handed CZ 452 American in 22LR from AWC System Technology. Being Left Handed and a rimfire lover, this is pretty much the perfect rifle for me. It is also the first CZ I personally owned. Below are pics of the rifle in it's current form.
First impressions of the rifle aside from the barrel were:
Nice looking wood on the stock
Typical matte black finish on the receiver
Trigger Guard is cheaply made out of stamped steel
Trigger pull was a horrible creepy 4-5lbs
The action felt extremely gritty like there was sand in it
First things first, I mounted the temporary scope in some cheap rings I had that would work and sighted it in with Federal Bulk Box ammo. Accuracy was great. Pretty much one hole at 50 yards. Something desperately needed to be done about the trigger and the action though. So I set off to slick up the action. I had some fine grit lapping compound at my shop. I applied that to the locking lug and proceeded to work the bolt. After a few hours of working the bolt back and forth I could see and feel some progress. Shiny spots were starting to appear. I could then see one of the major problems with the cheap manufacturing process of this rifle. On the locking lug, there should have been a radius machined for a smooth transition. Instead the Czech's in their infinite wisdom machined 3 flats to save on machining costs. So I hit it with the Dremel ever so slightly and rounded it off. I then went to work with the lapping compound again for about an hour. Below are pics of the results. Plus pics of another factory bolt handle/locking lug for comparison.
Did you notice how shiny and burr free everything was? It feels as slick as it looks.
Now some pics of a factory part...
Did you notice the "HUGE" burr on that part and the gritty finish on everything? I can only imagine what this one feels like...
Next step was the trigger. There are a few aftermarket options available but they run anywhere from $90 to over $100 and after looking at the trigger for a few minutes, I knew I could improve on what was there. I didn't take any pics of the process but I could if people are interested.
To begin with, the factory trigger was about 4-5 lbs of weight and had about 3 miles of creep in it. First thing I did was mount the Dremel in the vise so the wheel was horizontal. I removed the trigger and using the existing angle, I ground the engagement tab down removing all but the slightest bit of sear engagement. I re-assembled to test. All the creep was gone and the trigger did not slam fire or drop fire. Now on to the weight issue. The CZ uses a coil spring to keep it engaged. This also controls pull weight. I removed the spring and cut off one coil to start with. After checking weight again I confirmed I was on the right track. I ended up removing one more full coil in 1/2 coil increments to get the desired pull weight. That night I checked the pull weight with my gauge and confirmed that it was an average weight of 2lbs 6 ounces. Perfect in my opinion.
So in conclusion, with these simple and free modifications, this rifle has been elevated from just a cool little 22 to a serious RIFLE in my opinion. It's a shame that it didn't come that way from the factory. If it did, it would be a SERIOUS value. I guess what can you expect for $4-500 nowadays.
First impressions of the rifle aside from the barrel were:
Nice looking wood on the stock
Typical matte black finish on the receiver
Trigger Guard is cheaply made out of stamped steel
Trigger pull was a horrible creepy 4-5lbs
The action felt extremely gritty like there was sand in it
First things first, I mounted the temporary scope in some cheap rings I had that would work and sighted it in with Federal Bulk Box ammo. Accuracy was great. Pretty much one hole at 50 yards. Something desperately needed to be done about the trigger and the action though. So I set off to slick up the action. I had some fine grit lapping compound at my shop. I applied that to the locking lug and proceeded to work the bolt. After a few hours of working the bolt back and forth I could see and feel some progress. Shiny spots were starting to appear. I could then see one of the major problems with the cheap manufacturing process of this rifle. On the locking lug, there should have been a radius machined for a smooth transition. Instead the Czech's in their infinite wisdom machined 3 flats to save on machining costs. So I hit it with the Dremel ever so slightly and rounded it off. I then went to work with the lapping compound again for about an hour. Below are pics of the results. Plus pics of another factory bolt handle/locking lug for comparison.
Did you notice how shiny and burr free everything was? It feels as slick as it looks.
Now some pics of a factory part...
Did you notice the "HUGE" burr on that part and the gritty finish on everything? I can only imagine what this one feels like...
Next step was the trigger. There are a few aftermarket options available but they run anywhere from $90 to over $100 and after looking at the trigger for a few minutes, I knew I could improve on what was there. I didn't take any pics of the process but I could if people are interested.
To begin with, the factory trigger was about 4-5 lbs of weight and had about 3 miles of creep in it. First thing I did was mount the Dremel in the vise so the wheel was horizontal. I removed the trigger and using the existing angle, I ground the engagement tab down removing all but the slightest bit of sear engagement. I re-assembled to test. All the creep was gone and the trigger did not slam fire or drop fire. Now on to the weight issue. The CZ uses a coil spring to keep it engaged. This also controls pull weight. I removed the spring and cut off one coil to start with. After checking weight again I confirmed I was on the right track. I ended up removing one more full coil in 1/2 coil increments to get the desired pull weight. That night I checked the pull weight with my gauge and confirmed that it was an average weight of 2lbs 6 ounces. Perfect in my opinion.
So in conclusion, with these simple and free modifications, this rifle has been elevated from just a cool little 22 to a serious RIFLE in my opinion. It's a shame that it didn't come that way from the factory. If it did, it would be a SERIOUS value. I guess what can you expect for $4-500 nowadays.
