New Old Stock

[trigger643]

Picked this up in a gun store in Louisiana today.  I'd first seen is last fall listed at $649 -- had been discounted from an original price of $759. When I walked in there today it had an additional steep discount.

I've been wanting one of these .223 heavy barrel varmints with the set trigger.

They said they'd had it awhile and it really needed to go.   I guess so!  The test target is dated 2008.

[viking499]

Nice looking rifle.  Like the straight grain walnut.

[LarryBoy]

Beautiful looking gun, enjoy!!!!!

[painter]

Nice rifle. The 1:12 twist barrels like lighter bullets.

Great for most varmints.

[oleg_cz75]

Looking good, nice pick...i got cz557 30.06 last year...exellent rifle...actually carbine.

[ZG47]

Nice rifle. The 1:12 twist barrels like lighter bullets.

Great for most varmints.

What he said 

Have fun!

[trigger643]

Nice rifle. The 1:12 twist barrels like lighter bullets.

Great for most varmints.

What he said 

Have fun!

While measuring the chamber with my comparator to determine my seating depth starting point with Berger 55gr fb targets, I decided to run a rod to verify twist. 

This barrel is 1:9 (+/- 0.20"), not 1:12. 

[painter]

What is the year of production?

All of the 1:9 barrels reported so far were stamped as such.

Yours can handle heavier than the 1:12 for sure.

[trigger643]

What is the year of production?

All of the 1:9 barrels reported so far were stamped as such.

Yours can handle heavier than the 1:12 for sure.

The test target is dated 2008.  Above the woodline the only marks on the barrel are "223 REM", a firing proof and "08".  I picked this up new in box last week.  Apparently it's been sitting on the gunstore's shelf for 7 years.

[painter]

Very interesting.

Supposedly CZ didn't switch until late 2013 or 2014.

The rod shouldn't lie though.

Dunno what to say.

[trigger643]

I'd not even considered twist rate when I bought the rifle, as I reload for other .223 rifles with rates 1:11, 1:9, 1:8 and 1:7, and generally speaking the Berger 55gr FB Targets can run in all of them very well with a little variation in charge.  The odd exception is the 1:8 ER Shaw barrel where anything less than a 62gr BT seated right up to the lands is likely to keyhole.  I've had the best luck with 70gr VLD BTHP out of the 1:9, and 1:7 twists.

According to Wikipedia all varmints from 2002 on were 1:9.  According the CZ site the barrel for the 1:12 Varmint should be 25.6".  Even the Euro Varmint is reported to be 25.6"   

This barrel is 24".  Could this be a grey laminate varmint that left the factory with a walnut stock?

[painter]

I wasn't aware that the '02 up Varmints were 1:9. The current Varmint models have heavy barrels, but they don't say if the '02 rifles had a heavy barrel. How about yours? That article does have some minor inaccuracies though. It totally missed the shorter barrel length of the FS, and the 3 round magazine of the M1 American.

Sometimes CZ will do stuff that defies all the information that they publish on the website.

Anything is possible.

FWIW my 1:12 .223 FS runs 55's fine as well as lighter projectiles, and will stabilize 60gr Partitions and shoot them with hunting accuracy.

Enjoy your rifle. They're great shooters.

[DCD2015]

VERY Nice looking rifle. I sure wish I would stumble across a deal like that. Ive been wanting a euro varmint 223 for a while. The 455 varmint 22 mag I got last year is incredible for accuracy. Pop cans @ 250 yards on CCI maxi mag total metal jackets are its favorite. It keyholes the target out to 150.  Hows these 223 varmintors  stack up for accuracy?  Anyone got any input on the euro varmint?

[mgkd]

"Hows these 223 varmintors  stack up for accuracy"?

My 527 .223 Varmint does quite well with Hornady 55gr. Vmax. I was doing factory ammo tests a couple of weeks ago and it averaged .36" c-t-c 3-shot groups at 100 yards

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=73210.0