Cz 455 FUGLIE

[justin amateur]

Coming up on 3 months, and my Precision Trainer stock still hasn't shipped.
That's ok, just means that there's been time for my overactive imagination
to come up with a project to keep me occupied. The CZ 455 FUGLIE.

(F)irearm
(U)tilizing
(G)lued
(L)inear
(I)ntegral
(E)mbedding

Or, my answer to CZ walnut stock flex and barrel harmonics.
I'm going to take my barrel block, which produces consistent accuracy
because the barrel is integrally embedded in epoxy, in the linear channel,
I chiseled into a 9 inch section of 3x3 poplar, and held in place using
steel plates with leather pads to prevent barrel movement.

And fabricate a stock to accept the barrel block
and allow me shoot my 455 off the bench to determine
how much difference it'll make compared to the factory stocks.


So I attached the block to a mounting plate
and made some modifications to a section of 2x10

The plate/block will attach to the stock

with the receiver tang flush with the comb of the stock

So the bolt can be cycled

Some jigsaw work and there's a grip

Not going to worry about stock flex or barrel oscillations.

This is going to be a free floated action, not a free floated barrel.

 

[glock24]

 

[bm11]

Haha, have fun! Maybe it'll be the answer...

 

[djdilliodon]

That's gonna make a great conversation piece at the range! I am very interested in the results of this project.

 

[justin amateur]

Now, now, enough of the chuckling...it's not like it's an original concept.
Think about bench rest rail guns. Free floated action, clamped down barrel.

Rail Gun « Daily Bulletin

Or this guy with a machine shop and skills I don't have

6.5 "Mystic" Barrel Block F-Classer

If this project produces positive results, great.
If not, I'm out about 5 bucks worth of white pine and a couple hours.
My wife just laughs at me, according to her, I have no fear of failure.
She blames it all on that defective "Y" chromosome.

 

[Hammertime]

What color are you going to go with? Tacticool black or camo? Thompson's Water Seal?? I'm going to have to find a new hobby when that out shoots my 455!

 

[justin amateur]

For now, "au naturel".
No use wasting good paint on a fuglie stock.

Plenty of lumber left there to get artistic with
if the results downrange make it worthwhile.

Now if I can make some time to spend a couple hours playing...err, testing.

 

[gonzaga]

Desperate times call for desperate measures!!!!

So how do you change the mag out? Running single shot?

Just sand the edges down so you don't get any splinters.....

 

[ker2222]

dude, you've got to paint it camo. That would be hilarious.

On the other hand….you should end up with a pretty good sense of the mechanical accuracy of the cz. I am interested in a report

 

[justin amateur]

I haven't used a magazine in my 455's for over a year.
Strictly single shot adapters. If you look closely
you can see the electrical tape wrapped around the mag well.
Keeps the 22lr adapter and pin in place as I swap barrels
and stocks on a weekly basis. Just depends on my mood.
22lr, 22wmr, 17 hmr, factory barrel or Lilja. The single shot
adapter allows all the calibers to be loaded 1 at a time.

Needed a bipod to stablilize this fuglie beast.
My Harris wasn't going to get the job done.
Plenty of scrap pine laying around, so,
cut a couple open mortises, added 2 pan head screws.
The round head screws act as feet to allow recoil slide.

Drop the stock in the bipod slot and it stands up.
There's about a 1/4 inch of play to be able to adust to the bench.

I did ease all the edges, no splinters.
Just need to hang a scope on it and drag it to the range.
Man, that is a fuglie chunk of timber. I knew it would be.

 

[russ10x]

Justin, all kidding aside, have you used this rig for ammo evaluations?

 

[justin amateur]

Yes, Russ, but only on dead calm mornings.
Surprising just how much even light breezes affect trajectories.

The barrel block and vise combo, clamped to a shooting bench,
is how I learned how much of a difference quality ammunition
makes in target accuracy, as compared to the low cost per round stuff.
Prior to building the barrel block, the limitations of the factory CZ stocks
were affecting the accuracy of all brands of ammunition so I couldn't
rely on the results at the target for diagnosis. Shooting from the barrel
block displayed just how much stock flex, action/barrel movement
interfere with desired results down range. Once I proved that the barrels
weren't the problem, I was able to figure out what was, and deal with it.
That's why you see my CZ walnut stocks pillared, bedded and barrel bedded.
I'm waiting for the CZ/Manners to arrive, to learn how much of a difference
a high tech stock makes, compared to a mass produced wood one.
I spent 30 plus years chasing rabbits and squirrels with an old Marlin 60,
and only 3 years ago did I get into target shooting at a range. Up until then,
no need to worry about serious accuracy, as stalking skills are more important
than making shots at the limits of your abilities.
Any rifle can hit a dime every time, if you get close enough.

This project is just a continuation of the learning process.
I've read about barrel block rifles and the accuracy they deliver.
Figured that I'd already done the hard part of making the block,
Might as well see if the same accuracy from the vise
carries over to a stock/block combination.

 

[russ10x]

Yes, Russ, but only on dead calm mornings.
Surprising just how much even light breezes affect trajectories.

The barrel block and vise combo, clamped to a shooting bench,
is how I learned how much of a difference quality ammunition
makes in target accuracy, as compared to the low cost per round stuff.
Prior to building the barrel block, the limitations of the factory CZ stocks
were affecting the accuracy of all brands of ammunition so I couldn't
rely on the results at the target for diagnosis. Shooting from the barrel
block displayed just how much stock flex, action/barrel movement
interefere with desired results down range. Once I proved that the barrels
weren't the problem, I was able to figure out what was, and deal with it.
That's why you see my CZ walnut stocks pillared, bedded and barrel bedded.
I'm waiting for the CZ/Manners to arrive, to learn how much of a difference
a high tech stock makes, compared to a mass produced wood one.
I spent 30 plus years chasing rabbits and squirrels with an old Marlin 60,
and only 3 years ago did I get into target shooting at a range. Up until then,
no need to worry about serious accuracy, as stalking skills are more important
than making shots at the limits of your abilities.
Any rifle can hit a dime every time, if you get close enough.

This project is just a continuation of the learning process.
I've read about barrel block rifles and the accuracy they deliver.
Figured that I'd already done the hard part of making the block,
Might as well see if the same accuracy from the vise
carries over to a stock/block combination.

It would be interesting to note what would happen with a harmonics damper...great post.....

 

[justin amateur]

Harmonic dampener, eh?
That'd be a weight mounted on the barrel
in an attempt to control barrel flex/oscillation.
Kinda like this bit of red neck tech:

that's a prop shaft zinc anode, repurposed as a tuner.

Normally the zinc is mounted like this,
to slow galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals:

The zinc and some sorbothane padding,
makes for 18 ounces of harmonic dampening.
Still playing with it on my 3 CZ Varmint barrels.
Still haven't quite got it figured out.

 

[Hammertime]

Now this I have to see! I wish I could see this live when you try it. And if it actually does work well, you may have to change "Amateur" to Macgyver or Evil Genius. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it though. Can't wait to see what you use for glass!

 

[justin amateur]

Glass? That'd be:

Operator Optics.

 

[djdilliodon]

Yes, Russ, but only on dead calm mornings.
Surprising just how much even light breezes affect trajectories.

The barrel block and vise combo, clamped to a shooting bench,
is how I learned how much of a difference quality ammunition
makes in target accuracy, as compared to the low cost per round stuff.
Prior to building the barrel block, the limitations of the factory CZ stocks
were affecting the accuracy of all brands of ammunition so I couldn't
rely on the results at the target for diagnosis. Shooting from the barrel
block displayed just how much stock flex, action/barrel movement
interfere with desired results down range. Once I proved that the barrels
weren't the problem, I was able to figure out what was, and deal with it.
That's why you see my CZ walnut stocks pillared, bedded and barrel bedded.
I'm waiting for the CZ/Manners to arrive, to learn how much of a difference
a high tech stock makes, compared to a mass produced wood one.
I spent 30 plus years chasing rabbits and squirrels with an old Marlin 60,
and only 3 years ago did I get into target shooting at a range. Up until then,
no need to worry about serious accuracy, as stalking skills are more important
than making shots at the limits of your abilities.
Any rifle can hit a dime every time, if you get close enough.

This project is just a continuation of the learning process.
I've read about barrel block rifles and the accuracy they deliver.
Figured that I'd already done the hard part of making the block,
Might as well see if the same accuracy from the vise
carries over to a stock/block combination.

The manners won't have the flex that the cz or other stocks have but it's still a stock that needs bedding. I've worked on 4 precision trainers with more coming and found that the inlet is far from the same on each stock. I've seen the trigger guard area way to tight (bent the snot out of the guard getting it out!), seen the action inlet to tight, to loose (rare), and the factory front pillar is useless. IMO nothing beats a stress free pillar bedding job with a perfectly fitted glass bedding job.

 

[justin amateur]

The manners won't have the flex that the cz or other stocks have but it's still a stock that needs bedding.

I expected that, dj. Every stock is different
and needs to be custom fit to the receiver.
Epoxy makes that real easy to accomplish.

I'm beginning to think that bedding the barrel
of the CZ 455 is necessary, due to not just stock flex,
but also attributable to receiver flex. Recoil and stress
loading, caused by the leverage created by barrel length,
is actually changing the shape of the receiver. By bedding
out to the center of gravity of the barrel/receiver,
we're alleviating the loads transferred by the barrel tenon
to the receiver, and preventing receiver distortion.
It's not much, but even a thousandth of an inch deflection
along the 1-1/4 inch length of the 455 barrel tenon,
results in about 5/8 inch error at the target.

 

[Slug-O]

oh god....that is awsome.... please paint it and go tree rat hunting with it and post picts back!!!!! PLEASE!!!!

 

[justin amateur]

C'mon Slug-o, the fuglie isn't in any way, shape or form, a squirrel gun.

No, I take that back.
Any squirrel that saw it would die laughing.
Now that could have possibilities.
Buncha happy meals fallin' outa the trees.
That'd save on ammo, big time!

This is what get's used as a squirrel gun,
Marlin 60 SS with a 1x red dot. Lethal tree rat combo.
Very effective in low light conditions.

 

[Lazer]

Can't wait to see results !

 

[mr2.0]

What trigger is that on your tacticblock rifle? Thanks

 

[Slug-O]

Yeah but it still would be EPIC!!!! I salute you sir...

 

[justin amateur]

The trigger is one of the last remaining, fully functional CZ 455 Single Set Triggers

Most were returned to CZ after a recall due to liability issues and safety malfunctions.

Mine has no issues, full function of the safety and no accidental trigger release
due to improperly adjusting the sear or trigger spring pull tension. I'm keepin' it.
No creep, no play, breaks clean using the set at 12 ounces and when hunting,
the straight pull is set for 3.5 lbs, like the rest of my hunting rifles.


Tactiblock? Noooooooo! It's a CZ 455 FUGLIE! One of a kind!

It doesn't even have a picatinny rail on it.

 

[jbell]

Good stuff Justin! You may want to go a bit lighter on the barrel weight though.

If you get really board you could try and make a barrel clamp that extends from just before the action face to an inch or so before the muzzle, basically clamp the whole barrel into the rig. I have never seen any rail guns configured that way but if you could clamp the barrel tight enough and have it all bedded both top and bottom clamps then there should be no weird harmonics induced from the clamp. Just a thought.

 

[justin amateur]

Don't do that jb, it's like throwing thermite on an already lit fire.
You mean, like a fully locked down barrel on a totally rigid stock,
No room to shift, no stock flex at all?

Too late, been there, built that.

My Savage 64 Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal was a project created so I could understand barrel whip.
After hand machining the inletting in the heavy wall aluminum tubing
it looked like this:

Results at the target were horrible.
Receiver didn't budge, but that pencil barrel was flinging rounds all over.
That's when I figured out "free floated" is just a suggestion, not a rule.
So I fabricated some barrel blocks and clamped the barrel down.
It shoots much better now.

 

[jbell]

HAHA, That is kinda the idea. I meant to have 100% full contact of the barrel all the way down except for a small area at the parting surfaces of the clamping fixture. I think it would take a lot of work but could probably be done. My idea is something along the lines of:

Take two pieces of material that are the length of the barrel cut a grove in each that is just over the radius of the barrel wide and deep. Then fill them with epoxy/bedding compound, coat the barrel very well with release agent and clamp them to the barrel carefully marking their location on barrel both radially and fore and aft so they can go back to the exact same spot. After the bedding cures then plane each parting surface down until they will not touch when installed on the barrel. Clamp them down. That way there is 100% contact down the length of the barrel. It may shoot like crap, but should remove all of the harmonics from the equasion.

 

[yoteman]

Man's gotta do what a Man's got to do

 

[justin amateur]

What's that 'yote? Shoot standin' up?


Anybody smell paint fumes?

While sanding and fine tuning the shape of the fuglie
this afternoon, I'd left it standing on the butt. It balanced
perfectly, right up until a breeze blew it over. I didn't know
the wife was watching, until I heard "Timber!" and turned
just in time to see it go. She's got a wicked sense of humor.

 

[yoteman]

What's that 'yote? Shoot standin' up?


Anybody smell paint fumes?

While sanding and fine tuning the shape of the fuglie
this afternoon, I'd left it standing on the butt. It balanced
perfectly, right up until a breeze blew it over. I didn't know
the wife was watching, until I heard "Timber!" and turned
just in time to see it go. She's got a wicked sense of humor.

shoot standing up hell no!!!
not unless i have to, thats what bipods are for LOL

 

[justin amateur]

Be afraid, be very afraid....17 pounds of dark and fuglie

What I can't shoot, I can drop it on and do serious damage.

Now if the folks in charge of the local range would take a break
from facility maintenance and site improvements, I'd go test it.

 

[russ10x]

Be afraid, be very afraid....17 pounds of dark and fuglie

What I can't shoot, I can drop it on and do serious damage.


Now if the folks in charge of the local range would take a break
from facility maintenance and site improvements, I'd go test it.

Hey, you can adjust elevation by using a wedge as a T+ E!

 

[MegaMind]

haha +1
Gotta love that movie!

 

[MegaMind]

Tag for range "results."

 

[justin amateur]

I was looking at that butt and thinking about how easy
it'd be to add a wheel style elevator to the underside.
Same as I did on my low tech test rest. Adjust it by
spinning the wheel until the crosshairs split the bullseye.

Elevator wheel underneath threaded into the rest

I wanted to test this evening after work, but the contractor
is still working on the road crossing drainage culverts. Bummer.

 

[Slug-O]

Be afraid, be very afraid....17 pounds of dark and fuglie

What I can't shoot, I can drop it on and do serious damage.

Now if the folks in charge of the local range would take a break
from facility maintenance and site improvements, I'd go test it.

e

Ha!!! You painted it!! Now off to the woods!'

 

[yoteman]

dark fuglie
sweet but heavy!!!
shit keep coming back for range report.
sucks when the only time you can get to the range, somebody working on it
that has happen to me this past week

 

[Hammertime]

I knew you could do it! Tacticool Black it is. In Connecticut, we would have to add a spacer under the mag well so it wouldn't accept anything more than a 10 round mag!
On your "low tech rest" is that a level in the front? I may have to make one of those.

 

[justin amateur]

The low tech rest was built to remove my lack of skill
from diagnosing accuracy problems with my rimfires.
Also very handy for sighting in scopes. Fire one round,
dial the crosshairs to the hole, fire a second round to
check the adjustment. Building a low tech rest is easy.
Scrap lumber, scrap leather, zip screws and some carriage bolts.

28" long

22" wide

Butt vee and recoil strap

Vertical adjustment screw for leveling
sharpened carriage bolt and plywood wheel held by a nut

Found that the U-shape allowed for too much lateral movement
replaced with a 45 degree vee lined with leather for a more stable rest.

Cheap, effective way to test if it was me to blame for poor target results,
or something else on the rifle causing problems. Here's an example:

Groups 1 to 5 are me using a bipod. Frustrated and ready to blame the rifle/ammo
dropped it in the test rest. Same rifle/ammo/conditions from the rest, look at group 6.

Diagnosis: the problem is all me and my inability to use a bipod properly.

 

[Hammertime]

Great, thanks. Have most of that out in the shop.

 

[justin amateur]

Oops, yes it is a bubble level, picked it up at homey depot

Johnson 6-3/4 in. Cross-Check Level-125 at The Home Depot

 

[justin amateur]

Finally found some time to go to the range.
Winds from the south at 12 to 18 mph (from my 4 o'clock)
Windicator was standing straight out and swinging
from my 4 o'clock to my 6 with occaisional gusts.

Set the fuglie up on the bench with the 22wmr barrel, then,
had to let the three resident retired range regulars peer and pry.
All agreed it's mighty fuglie.

After sighting in on the berm, sent some on paper to fine tune

After traipsing down as a group, to see to see how it looked
a side bar was held and a consensus returned.
I was allowed to fire the first group
then the three retired coots would take their turns
so all could experience what it was like to fire a fuglie.

So, the top left group is mine,
the remainders were randomly decided depending on
who argued the loudest, because we were all wearing ear protection.

All in all an extremely interesting afternoon.
When I left the three were still arguing the merits of a free floated barrel
versus the barrel block and free floated action. Opinions were based
on the group size produced during their personal turn at the trigger.

As for me, free floated? Pttthpt!

 

[Hammertime]

How do you think it did compared to your other set ups? Any conclusions? I was really hoping to see the anode in action!

 

[justin amateur]

Hammer, It's just a heavy version of my barrel bedded 455 Varmint.
Same feel, accuracy but with a bulkier stock.

The epoxy barrel shims shut down the stock flex and barrel harmonics.
Here's where they're located in the barrel channel:

Talking with a rail gun benchrest competitor on line,
and he explained why my zinc tuner was providing no real difference.
You have to have unsupported barrel length for the tuner to have any effect.
With my fully bedded barrel, it's like clamping a weight on the barrel of a handgun.
Just makes the firearm heavier, not more accurate, as harmonics are minimal.

 

[justin amateur]

Installed a factory CZ 17 hmr Varmint barrel in the fuglie.
Tried the Hornady 17 gr V-Max and the CCI 20 gr fmj.
This barrel has been a problem since purchased.
Out of the box, it'd shoot 2 moa at best.
I set it aside and purchased a Lilja 17 hmr.
A regular at the local range has been borrowing the CZ barrel
and using it to shoot with from his 455 Varmint as it's easier
to purchase 17 hmr locally than it is 22lr.
Recently he received a pleasant surprise when it started
producing moa groups on a regular basis. Took about a brick
of 17 hmr down the bore to polish out whatever imperfections
that were making it spit out thse 2 moa groups. Still not a good barrel
but 1 moa plus beats 2 moa, I guess.

Here's this mornings results shooting 30 rounds at individual bulls.

First up was the Hornady V-Max 17 gr ballistic tips.
You can see the flyers it still slings.

Then the CCI 20 gr fmj's

Results are as bad as me shooting my 455 American off a spring loaded bipod.
Oh well, knew the results from this one weren't going to be great.
Next trip, the 22lr Varmint barrel and some match ammo.

 

[justin amateur]

Walking through the hardware store and a bit caught my eye.

That'd make cutting barrel blocks too easy
and since I haven't made one to fit the Lilja yet, why not.
Inexpensive to purchase and would save a lot of time
chiseling and sanding to fit the barrel, done deal.
Slapped it into my half-adzed router table and ran a channel
into another 9 inch section of 3x3 poplar from the scrap pile.

CZ better hurry up with my Manners.
The fuglie's beginning to take on a life of it's own.
Get's big laughs at first take, but after a few shots
holding it's fuglie butt and seeing the results down range,
has quieted the giggles down. Changing some minds about
free floated barrels and making for some interesting discussions.
One gent asked if it's even legal to do that with a rifle.
Apparently he was under the impression you had to be licensed to swap stocks.

 

[djdilliodon]

Installed a factory CZ 17 hmr Varmint barrel in the fuglie.
Tried the Hornady 17 gr V-Max and the CCI 20 gr fmj.
This barrel has been a problem since purchased.
Out of the box, it'd shoot 2 moa at best.
I set it aside and purchased a Lilja 17 hmr.
A regular at the local range has been borrowing the CZ barrel
and using it to shoot with from his 455 Varmint as it's easier
to purchase 17 hmr locally than it is 22lr.
Recently he received a pleasant surprise when it started
producing moa groups on a regular basis. Took about a brick
of 17 hmr down the bore to polish out whatever imperfections
that were making it spit out thse 2 moa groups. Still not a good barrel
but 1 moa plus beats 2 moa, I guess.

Here's this mornings results shooting 30 rounds at individual bulls.

First up was the Hornady V-Max 17 gr ballistic tips.
You can see the flyers it still slings.

Then the CCI 20 gr fmj's

Results are as bad as me shooting my 455 American off a spring loaded bipod.
Oh well, knew the results from this one weren't going to be great.
Next trip, the 22lr Varmint barrel and some match ammo.

Justin, would you be willing to sell me that factory hmr varmint barrel? I can most likely easily fix it by lapping it and recutting the crown. I can totally use it for my wife's build I'm doing (no she doesn't deserve a lilja yet lol).

 

[justin amateur]

If you want to make the effort, even after seeing those 2 moa fliers
it's not like you haven't been warned. It's definitely a Monday morning barrel.

pm coming your way

 

[justin amateur]

Another morning playing with the FUGLIE.
Arrived and set up, no wind to deal with.

Went through a some CCI SV to warm up.
By the time I'd run through 100 rounds
conditions had changed

Winds picked up, coming from my 10 to 11 o'clock
swirling over the berm making for interesting shooting.
Waited for lulls when the windicator wasn't flapping to take a shot.
Spent a lot of time waiting, then when I squeezed
it seemed that was when the next swirl would hit.

This mornings results using the factory 22lr Varmint barrel

Last order of CCI SV isn't consistent at all, lots of hot rounds
going high and wide making for poor results downrange.

Then a box of my last order of Wolf ME,
shoots like my pre-panic Wolf MT

And finally the good stuff, RWS R50.
This has been the best 22lr I've been able to order
since the start of 2012.

Considering the wind conditions, that's some good results from a factory CZ barrel.

Free floated? Ptttthpt!

 

[justin amateur]

Free time this evening, no honey-do's.
Grabbed the router cut poplar block to do some fitting.

Set the Lilja 17 hmr barrel in the channel to see what needs doing.
With the block in place on the fuglie, there's too much reveal on the tang.
Needs to drop down about an 1/8th inch.

Out comes the specialty tool.
8 inch section of 3/4 inch diameter stainless tubing
with some 60 grit sandpaper wrapped around it.

Sand a little, check the fit.
Sand some more, check the fit.
Repeat until desired results achieved.

I'll say one thing for a barrel block rifle,
Easier to get a perfect fit than it is with an inletted stock.