Tweaking the 457
- Thread starter Hattrick
- Start date
A year back I bought a 457 Scout model "$315 delivered" for the sole purpose of doing what are thinking about. Sold the stock and barrel, bought the MPA Hybrid chasses, IBI barrel, polished the trigger surfaces and lived happily ever after.
Shoots pretty good, I'm happy with it.
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Thanks, I might play with those. Right now the 457 closes on the go gage but I really don't know if the bolt could be further out.
Kissofdeath Looks like a shooter! Mine came with the manners stock and I like it and I really like my trigger it’s plenty adjustable. I’m thinking of upgrading the barrel I get decent groups but my cold bore is really fucking bad since I’ve had 1000 plus rounds down the tube. After the first shot I’m good but man I could miss by a 8”-1’ at 50 yds it’s bad. Just trying to figure out if it’s worth investing in this rig or more up to a voodo or rimx.
Thanks. I'm happy with all my "upgrades" on the 457 as well as my other rifles. With the Vudoo track record you can't go wrong with one of those either. Right now I have the Ultimatum Deuce on order. Honestly I expect it to shoot in the .300 - 375" range. If I had a Vudoo I'd expect it to shoot the same. Is either worth "that" much more than an "upgraded" 467? Honestly in my mind, no. Only reason I'm getting the Deuce is because they had a really good Black Friday special and I just wanted one. When the 60 degree bolt throw Vudoo comes out I'll get one of those too, not that I "need" it or think it will outshoot everything I have but because I like different things.
My 1st CZ .22 was a 457 American that came with a pretty nice stock - no fancy grain or figure, but very attractive. Was immediately impressed with how well it fed, extracted, and ejected, and also appreciated the fully adjustable trigger - very nice features (along with the bolt release) at the price point. But mine didn't shoot worth a damn at 50yds - not with any of the std vel match ammo I tried through it. I pulled the bbl & re-cut a fresh crown at the muzzle, as the factory had done a pretty crappy job of it - that helped a little, but still never got consistent 1" groups at 50yds.; was averaging over 2 MOA. Didn't want to send it in under warranty, as I was afraid they'd just replace it, and I'd lose the nice stock. So bought a Shilen ratchet rifled blank, parted-off the 1.2" shank, and did a very little contour work to finish it at 23" and a weight of 1/2lb more than the factory bbl. Chambered it with my EPS reamer, cut the extractor slots on the mill, then mixed some CeraKote graphite black & tungsten in an effort to match the factory nitrided action, then glued it in with Loctite #609, left it sitting overnight, and the next morning, I had a rifle that shot at least as good as it looks. Since CZ went with a threaded bolt knob on the 457, I heated the steel knob a bit with a Bernz-O-Matic torch, and it came off easily. Measured the threads, and turned an extended knob with the same general shape as a B-O knob, blasted & CeraKoted it, then loctited it onto the handle. The extended length reduced the effort of running the bolt, so was well worth it.
Eventually, I ordered in one of the 24" 457 VPTs with the Manners PRS1T stock, and after putting a few hundred rounds through it, thought it was shooting ok at 50yds. Groups at 100 were acceptable I guess, but when I backed off to 200, I couldn't keep 10rds on an 8" plate. Compared to the custom .22s I've built for myself over the past several years (Stiller 2500XR/Krieger, 40X/Benchmark, 40XB/Lilja titebore, V-22/Krieger, RimX/Bartlein), it just wasn't acceptable, so another Shilen ratchet rifled bbl was ordered & installed, and now it's a very decent shooter. Yes, I'm spoiled by the upper tier customs, but who wouldn't be? Once you find out how good a really good .22 shoots, you're kind of ruined for rifles with lesser accuracy. I've kept both these 457s because I really appreciate the way they run and the features of the actions - and with custom barrels with very good chambers, I don't feel the need for making excuses for them, even when they're compared to full custom builds using the above mentioned actions. But would I have paid to have someone else up-grade the 457s? Would've been a tough call, although I really enjoy having the American with it's pretty stock, and the VPT's Manners stock is much appreciated too. And I would guess that my experience with lack of accuracy of the OEM CZ bbls might not be typical - you might get a pretty decent bbl on a 457. But it's a roll of the dice, and there's no telling for sure. If you go into the purchase of a 457 knowing that you might have to pay someone to replace the bbl, are you better off than buying a Vudoo in the 1st place - especially if you have an aftermarket M700SA stock that would work on a V-22 bbl'd action? I think not.
Eventually, I ordered in one of the 24" 457 VPTs with the Manners PRS1T stock, and after putting a few hundred rounds through it, thought it was shooting ok at 50yds. Groups at 100 were acceptable I guess, but when I backed off to 200, I couldn't keep 10rds on an 8" plate. Compared to the custom .22s I've built for myself over the past several years (Stiller 2500XR/Krieger, 40X/Benchmark, 40XB/Lilja titebore, V-22/Krieger, RimX/Bartlein), it just wasn't acceptable, so another Shilen ratchet rifled bbl was ordered & installed, and now it's a very decent shooter. Yes, I'm spoiled by the upper tier customs, but who wouldn't be? Once you find out how good a really good .22 shoots, you're kind of ruined for rifles with lesser accuracy. I've kept both these 457s because I really appreciate the way they run and the features of the actions - and with custom barrels with very good chambers, I don't feel the need for making excuses for them, even when they're compared to full custom builds using the above mentioned actions. But would I have paid to have someone else up-grade the 457s? Would've been a tough call, although I really enjoy having the American with it's pretty stock, and the VPT's Manners stock is much appreciated too. And I would guess that my experience with lack of accuracy of the OEM CZ bbls might not be typical - you might get a pretty decent bbl on a 457. But it's a roll of the dice, and there's no telling for sure. If you go into the purchase of a 457 knowing that you might have to pay someone to replace the bbl, are you better off than buying a Vudoo in the 1st place - especially if you have an aftermarket M700SA stock that would work on a V-22 bbl'd action? I think not.
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I have a 452 that would toss cold bore fliers pretty badly... maybe not as bad as yours but easily 6" at 100M. A decent cleaning pretty much eliminated the problem. As long as I run a couple patches through it every few hundred rounds now it hasn't been an issue ever again.
I just rolled the dice on a 457 American. I have a couple 452 Americans. One is a great shooter. The other is NIB. I also have a 455V that has good wood and shoots good (high 3’s low 4’s at 50 yards with a certain lot of SK RM).
I’ve been wanting a 457 since they were introduced. I had been waiting to find one with good wood. I figure I had a good chance to find one since I live near Bud’s and they sale a lot of them. They keep six or eight on the wall and they change often. I got tired of waiting and pulled the trigger on a plain Jane with the best test target of the three the counter person let me look at. The American had a better test target than the MTR and regular Varmint had. On the first outing I put 175 rounds of Blazer through it. It was 25 degrees, moderate wind and I lost what little talent I accrued over the summer. I couldn’t concentrate and keep it consistent. I’m not going to have an opinion until I put another couple hundred rounds of cheap stuff through it and then try some Lapua and SK through it on a decent weather day. I adjusted, polished and changed a spring in the trigger today and it feels great.
I’ve been wanting a 457 since they were introduced. I had been waiting to find one with good wood. I figure I had a good chance to find one since I live near Bud’s and they sale a lot of them. They keep six or eight on the wall and they change often. I got tired of waiting and pulled the trigger on a plain Jane with the best test target of the three the counter person let me look at. The American had a better test target than the MTR and regular Varmint had. On the first outing I put 175 rounds of Blazer through it. It was 25 degrees, moderate wind and I lost what little talent I accrued over the summer. I couldn’t concentrate and keep it consistent. I’m not going to have an opinion until I put another couple hundred rounds of cheap stuff through it and then try some Lapua and SK through it on a decent weather day. I adjusted, polished and changed a spring in the trigger today and it feels great.
Well, if it makes anyone feel better to know that you are/were not alone, my first 457 was the Varmint model and it didn't shoot that good either, .5-.750" at 55 yards. Sold it later and bought the Scout model with the sole intentions on turning it into what I have now. The Scout, in Scout form would shoot as good if not better than the Varmint would.
I've said it before, if I had NRL events around me I wouldn't feel handicapped using any of my rifles. I believe a miss with one would be a miss with any.
I've said it before, if I had NRL events around me I wouldn't feel handicapped using any of my rifles. I believe a miss with one would be a miss with any.
