Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

[XTR]

I'll get some pics of the finished item up shortly.

I got to looking at the work I needed to do to fit my 453 varmint into a Boyd's Tacticool and decided it was the perfect chance to do my first bedding job on a cheap stock. Fitting a 453 into the Boyds stock that is inletted for a 452 requires a fair amount of material be removed. The 453 set trigger assembly is effectively a rail mounted on the bottom of the receiver that needs to be allowed for.

Got the stock from Boyds, pillars from Brownells, hex head action screws from J&P, and the Devcon off of Amazon.

I got 2 of the short aluminum pillars for a Remington action. Both had to be modified somewhat. They are sort of V shaped on the top for the round remington action, so I put them in upside down to get the flats next to the flat bottom of the CZ action. The front one needed to be flattened on one side to allow clearance for the mag well screw and the rear one needed to be shortened a little. Both were easy to accomplish with a dremmel.

After I enlarged the channel in the stock to fit the action I drilled out the holes for the pillars. The J&P information recommends a 9/16 forstner bit for the holes, I used a 5/8 because it is what I had. After that I followed the bedding procedure from the bedding thread on Snipershide.

Things I learned.

1. You will get bedding compound on things you didn't mean to. Tape on the outside of the stock is a good side to protect it if you don't plan to paint it. This is probably more of a deal with the tan paint on my Boyds than if you were doing it on another stock. The flat finish is hard to get clean, it's not big deal, I'm planning to krylon it anyway.
2. Take the time to find a drill press to drill out the holes.
3. I spent a lot of time looking at the action on the 453, one thing I noticed is that the rear screw is not into the receiver, it goes into the trigger group mount, so the front screw is really the only true action screw. I'm sure torque on both screws is important to accuracy, but the front one is the one that holds the action in the stock, the back one is screwed to a block that is not as stable.
4. This is an easy job to accomplish.


In case anyone is interested in the $$

Stock - $92
Pillars - $11.99
Action acrews - $19 (+$4 for the wood screw)
Devcon - $41

Shoe polish, tape and bits I had.

Total cost - 167.99 (+ shipping)

Here you can see the ugly, the bottom where I didn't think to look for bedding on the stock. oops. It;s not a problem, it's getting Kryloned anyway but I thought I'd point it out for those who may do this.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Great job! She looks like she's ready for paint! Let us know how she shoots

-Dylan

 

[ggmanning]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Did you bed the barrel lug?

 

[EXSOCAL]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

How's it shoot?

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

There is no lug on this rifle. In the place where I bedded the front pillar there is a floating "pillar" that was replaced by the bedded aluminum pillar. I bedded it right to the front of the receiver, the barrel is floated all the way back.

For those who have never looked closely at the CZ set trigger action this is it. One of the screws goes in right behind the rear screw on the mag well, the other goes into the back of the bar below the receiver that holds the set trigger assy. That assy is held on my 2 Phillips screws. Looks to me that the one that does the work is the one on the front, which makes sense, a 452 action does not have the rear screw.

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SOCAL</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How's it shoot? </div></div>

I will let yo know after I go to the range tomorrow. Taking about 7 different kinds of 22lr and my torque wrench.

 

[ggmanning]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Interesting....it must be that not all 453's are the same. Mine is a standard trigger.....that could explain the differences. The regular trigger 453 varmints definitely have a barrel lug. I prefer your set up. Mine shoots great but island bedding my barrel lug was a pain in the butt.

 

[eclipse57]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

That turned out really nice. I will be interested in the AAR from the range trip.

What scope is that? Sorry if I overlooked it.

 

[1MoreAR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Look like we will end up with the same set up. I got the CZ452 .22lr with Falcon Menace 5.5-25 scope and just ordered Boyds stock. I probably do the bedding job,bolt knob and digital camo the stock.

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Went to the range today. It was a little breezy but here is what my ammo sampling looks like. (I didn't bother with the crummy high velocity group.

There are a few sighters in there, I went out to 100 yds and back once, nothing to show from out there. 2.4 mils will get you w/i a couple of clicks if you're doing it for the first time.

That scattered group in the middle of the top target I actually cut a stick that was hanging down in front of the target. hit it once, actually cut it with a hollow point.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

So did it shoot better than before?

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Never shot it in the old stock. The whole reason I bought it was to make a trainer to work on fundamentals. My 308 is in a McM A5, the Tacticool gives me a similar feel.

The reason I bedded it was that nobody sells a stock with that profile to fit a 453 varmint so I had to make one for a 452 fit. After I looked at it I figured the easiest way to do it was to bed it. I don't have a milling machine so duplicating the tooling to fit was not going to happen, and I wasn't willing to pay the price for the Manners in the group buy so this was my solution. I could put it back in the walnut and shoot it for a comparison, but I'm really not interested in that.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

I don't blame you. What are your current plans for its future?

 

[EXSOCAL]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Nice groups!!! I did a full pillar / glass bed job on my Ruger 77/17hmr this weekend after seeing your thread. Came out nice.

 

[11B-B4]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

looks like yours shoots like mine... bought a pile of various ammo, it liked the SK jagd match the best, since then I have depleteted all other 22lr stores and have a couple cases of SK in the basement.

Love the way SK shoots in my CZ

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Here it is painted. You cant see it under the Triad stock bag but I added a 1/2 inch spacer to the butt plate. Easy to do,all i needed to use was a dremmel.

 

[RobG]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Looks good. What do you think of the stock in general? I am looking at one for my Marlin 917.

Thanks

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RobG</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks good. What do you think of the stock in general? I am looking at one for my Marlin 917.

Thanks </div></div>

It's a laminate wood stock. It's not high end, but I'm not humping my 22 into a combat zone. I like it because it feels like the McM on my 308.

That said, it works for me because I have long fingers, but the reach to the trigger is very long. SOmeone with small hands will have a hard time using the pistol grip, you'd have to ride up high on the stock to reach to the trigger.

 

[Dantrom]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Looks good bud! My next project is gong to be a 22 trainer!
I like seeing other guys work in progress for motivation!

 

[Country Boy]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Looking good op! Id like to do this to my marlin in a boyds.

Now im new to this whole bedding thing. Do the pillars actually contact the bottom of the receiver?
If they do how do you figure out how tall they need to be?

Or do you leave it a bit short and then put in the bedding compound and that fills the gap?

Thank you for your time

 

[bp78]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Which DevCon product did you use?

 

[vman]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Looks good man

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bp78</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Which DevCon product did you use? </div></div>

Devcon 10110. The jar of Devcon and hardener cost me half as much as the stock.

 

[Erthal]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool


Hi XTR

Nice looking rig. I have a similar project, but cant find the Boyds stock anywhere.

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Liseo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Hi XTR

Nice looking rig. I have a similar project, but cant find the Boyds stock anywhere.

</div></div>

I ordered mine and waited on back-order for a month or two as I recall.

 

[Country Boy]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Country Boy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looking good op! Id like to do this to my marlin in a boyds.

Now im new to this whole bedding thing. Do the pillars actually contact the bottom of the receiver?
If they do how do you figure out how tall they need to be?

Or do you leave it a bit short and then put in the bedding compound and that fills the gap?

Thank you for your time </div></div>
any help?

 

[vman]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Im keen to know as well as most pillar kits have a short and long pillar... as I recall, on the Savage anyway, the pillars are similar in size.

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

I guess I should have taken pictures of the process for everyone.

Brownells sells pilars in pairs, you can get long/short, long/long or short/short, I got short short.

I think I mentioned it above but the pillars are designed for a round action like the R700 so they have a shallow V shape to the top. If you look at the action picks above you'll see that the bottom of the CZ is flat, so I turned them upside down.

Both of the pillars needed to be shortened a bit. Easily done with a dremmel or a file. I cut the excess off of the V shaped end and left the end that was going to contact the action alone.

When I bedded the action I bedded the action and the pillars at the same time using the instructions found in the sticky on bedding in the gunsmithing section here. I used the action screws wrapped in tape to center and hold the pillars against the action the pushed the whole setup into the Devcon and let it set up, when I pulled the screws and lifted the action out to clean it up. The pillars were left behind permanently bedded in the stock.

On the 453 the forward screw is really the action screw, look at the rear screw, it screws into the set trigger assy, not into the receiver. That assy is held to the receiver by a couple of philips screws. In the OEM stock CZ provides what I'd call a "floating pillar", which is more like a metal spacer for the forward action screw to torque the receiver down onto. The bedded forward pillar replaced that. That was one of the main reasons that I did the bedding job was that the Boyds is inletted for a 452 and doesn't have the inlet for the little floating pillar or the set trigger assy so I had to hog out a lot of wood.

 

[SmallBoreSnipers]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Very nice work. Looks like she shoots nice and consistant. Well done!

 

[Country Boy]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Thanks for the info! I get the jist of it now. My marlin has a dovetail on the barrel that is one of the torque points and I would like to remove it by using a pillar where the magazine attaches to to the receiver.

 

[Pat M]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Looks like i know what my next project is (CZ 453)

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Went to the range yesterday to do some 308 load development for hunting loads. Took the freshly cleaned CZ with me. Fired a few rounds down range just to check the function on the chrono (22s are way cheaper than 308s, couldn't resist just one group with the CZ at 50yds.

Wolf Match :^)___~

It took me a couple of seconds to see the first shot, I'd just dialed back from 100 yds and the hole was nearly perfectly in the black dot. I thought at first I'd forgotten to dial back and missed.

 

[GreggNY]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Thanks for the info and pics, XTR. I was wondering how difficult a job it would be to get my 453 .17hmr into one of these. Might give it a try now.

 

[bp78]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Thanks XTR. Probably more interest here than expected. I have a Boyd's on order for my 452 in .22lr. If I find some qualified help locally to do it right - I'll do the same bedding job with photos to help others too.

 

[scsbronco]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Very nice this is on my short list

 

[iShoot17]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Gotta love those CZs. I thought about doing a build similar to this. I have one of each caliber in the 452 American, but thought about getting a 453 specifically for this purpose. You speak highly of it and the feel.

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: iShoot17</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gotta love those CZs. I thought about doing a build similar to this. I have one of each caliber in the 452 American, but thought about getting a 453 specifically for this purpose. You speak highly of it and the feel. </div></div>

I like the set trigger. Mine is not set overly light but it's pretty good. Even w/o the set trigger the trigger is good.

I don't particularly like that the trigger is smooth, I'm more accustomed to grooved triggers.

The 453 has a long reach to the trigger whether it is the OEM stock or some other one. I like the longer reach as I have large hands and long fingers. I find that the standard configuration of most rifles including center fires is too short for me, but I make do because that's the way the world is built. I'm 6'4" and I'm accustomed to things not fitting, that said, the vertical grip makes the reach a tad long, even for me. It's probably way to long for the average shooter.

I added 1/2 to the LOP with a spacer from Midway. It really helped make getting behind the scope comfortable.

I added a Triad stock pack, and I've got a foam spacer under it from a neopreme comb riser that I use on my muzzle loader. The stock pack is great for keeping extra mags in and really makes the cheek wed comfortable and reproducible.


As it stands now I really like it, but it's certainly not "off the shelf".

 

[bp78]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

What software are you using for the group measurement & overlay data?

 

[XTR]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

OnTarget v1.10

 

[iShoot17]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: XTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: iShoot17</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gotta love those CZs. I thought about doing a build similar to this. I have one of each caliber in the 452 American, but thought about getting a 453 specifically for this purpose. You speak highly of it and the feel. </div></div>

I like the set trigger. Mine is not set overly light but it's pretty good. Even w/o the set trigger the trigger is good.

I don't particularly like that the trigger is smooth, I'm more accustomed to grooved triggers.

The 453 has a long reach to the trigger whether it is the OEM stock or some other one. I like the longer reach as I have large hands and long fingers. I find that the standard configuration of most rifles including center fires is too short for me, but I make do because that's the way the world is built. I'm 6'4" and I'm accustomed to things not fitting, that said, the vertical grip makes the reach a tad long, even for me. It's probably way to long for the average shooter.

I added 1/2 to the LOP with a spacer from Midway. It really helped make getting behind the scope comfortable.

I added a Triad stock pack, and I've got a foam spacer under it from a neopreme comb riser that I use on my muzzle loader. The stock pack is great for keeping extra mags in and really makes the cheek wed comfortable and reproducible.


As it stands now I really like it, but it's certainly not "off the shelf".
</div></div>

I was able to play with the 453 trigger today at the NRA convention. It is something I think I would have to get used to but it wouldn't be too hard of a task. My HMR currently has a YoDave kit in it and it is absolutely fantastic. There is no play at all and the trigger is so crisp. Gotta love that little kit!

 

[LongArm]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

I think I will pick one of these up and try to bed it. I wonder why they did not put the rear screw into the action? If one were two drill out the threads on the rear (trigger) screw and the drill and tap the (rear) action screw hole,would there be an accuracy benefit?

 

[Downzero]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

What kind of scope is that?

 

[shaman]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Subscribing for scope info

 

[Davinho]

Re: Pillar bedded my CZ 453 Vmt in a Boyds Tacticool

Looks like a Falcon Optics Menace. I have the same on my CZ-452.