BigSwad
Registered: October 2002
Location: DFW, Texas
Posts: 905
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Review Date: Fri March 2, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $800.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Price, looks, accuracy, trigger pull
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Cons:
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No Synthetic Stock option
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Looking for a big-bore rifle at an affordable price? Look no farther than the CZ-USA 550 Safari Magnum. This rifle is known world-wide as the 602 Brno. It’s a sight to behold and whether you are out stalking a big dagga boy or a ferocious wild boar, you’ll be glad you had it.
General Specs:
The bolt action rifle comes in three different big-bore calibers, the venerable .375 H&H, the .416 Rigby and the .458 Win Mag. The stock is made out of beautifully grained Turkish walnut and has the classic safari shape. Safety is a slide type on the right hand side behind the bolt. The barrel is blued with a banded and hooded front sight. It weighs in at a whopping 9.4 pounds, but the added weight sure helps with the recoil. It also has a set trigger, but I personally don’t use it. Suggested retail is $999. but I picked mine up at a local gun store for $799.
Accessories:
While at the Dallas Safari Convention, I was fortunate enough to procure a nice rifle sling made out of crocodile hide. Its medium warm brown color blends well with the walnut on the stock. I attached a set of Talley Quick Release scope rings and added a Zeiss Conquest 3x9x40 on top. The Talleys fit great and other than coming loose after the first 10 shots, they have settled in and work well. The Zeiss is clear and sharp and a bargain at the going price of $400. Visually, it’s a sweet looking gun.
Ammunition
Picked up a box of Federal Premium in 260 grain Interbond. Federal’s premium line carries an assortment of tips in different grains. After the first round of shooting, I went back and picked up a box in 300 grain Barnes triple X to shoot for later use.
I also handload so we loaded up some Barnes Triple X in 270 grain as well. One of my loading buddies made up some Barnes solid loads in 270 grain, but haven’t got to them yet.
Shooting:
I first got the chance to shoot it when I met a buddy of mine on a hot August day at a local shooting range. And trust me, August in Texas is HOT! Running the Federal 260 grain Interbonds through it, I was getting good moa accuracy at 50 yards. The trigger is nice and smooth, and after shooting the CZ then going back to my Remington BDL700, the CZ has the smoothest trigger by far. After shooting about 6 rounds, the moa started to move on me. Two things seemed to influence this the most. First the method of breaking in the barrel I was using required me to clean it out after every round. Second I noticed the aforementioned Talley Rings had come loose. After tightening the Talley rings and backing off on the cleaning, it settled down. Most of this shooting was at 50 yards and I was getting about ½” groups. The following weekend I went to shoot at a local gun club I belong to. I ran the rest of the Federal ammunition I had through it at 50 yards and then moved the target out to 100 yards. I then started to run the handloads thru. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. The first round was about four inches low. I took another shot and looked again. Touching! Pretty impressive. Took the third shot and it was touching the second. Amazed! Needless to say, I walked away from that day of shooting feeling very comfortable at being able to achieve ½” moa at 100 yards off of the bench, if not better. My eyes aren’t great, so that seems to be the determining factor. The gun handles just about every type of ammunition pretty well.
Overall
This gun and accessories are a really great setup. Either hunting the wilds of Africa or busting pigs down at the deer lease, you can’t go wrong with the CZ Safari Magnum as your choice of a big bore rifle. My only wish is that they had a synthetic stock version. I love the wood, but I like synthetic stocks for their durability. It will definitely be a big bore worth keeping. I gave up a Marlin 1895 lever action for this one and haven’t regretted it. Great accuracy, nice trigger pull, a beautiful gun at a great price. What more could a gearhead ask for.
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