CZ 452 Varmint in Hunter class?

[Sophia]

Anybody using the CZ 452 Varmint model in the hunter class? Is the weight so close you have to watch what you use for scope & rings? Or are there more than a few ounces of "fudge factor"?

I'm guessing the extra 14 ounces of barrel makes it easier to "hang" on target... true? Any disadvantage to that extra weight?

Anybody using it now that wishes they weren't? If so, why?

[Jason]

There are lots of people who do use the CZ 452 Varmint in hunter class. Up until I got my Anschutz 1712, I was one of them. You definitely do need to be careful with what scope and mounts you put on the gun to make sure you come in under the 8.5lb limit. At the matches I attend, there is no fudge factor. Everyone follows the rules and there is no tension or argument because of it. That's not to say that every gun is weighed at every match, but everyone there knows that one of the main reasons that the matches stay fun is that everyone follows the rules so we're all working within the same limits and the competition is fair.

[Sophia]

Sorry -- please don't misunderstand. By "fudge factor", I meant the number of ounces of breathing space left in that 8.5 lb limit after getting it glassed. I would rather not be right at the limit, but would prefer to have a few ounces left over.

Just browsing the on-line shopping sites and using the weights they give on scopes I was thinking it was going to be a tight fit. So, did you have to resort to special light weight rings? Or were you able to go off-the-shelf with standard rings and scope? How close was your varminter to the weight limit?

[ajj]

I gather that you don't already have the rifle. They WILL vary by a few ounces from one example to another so weigh the rifle as soon as you have it. You can depend on the published weights of scopes to be pretty close. Variables are heavier.
Sorry if this is too basic. You really shouldn't have any trouble. Since accurate, electronic scales have become affordable you don't see the wide variance from range to range that used to prevail. That is, I wouldn't worry about having a big safety margin.
I haven't competed with the CZ but as a very general proposition, weight is good. There are different personal preferences about balance. Within reason, the barrel is usually a pretty good place for a little extra weight.

[Jetmugg]

Sophia:
If you can find a dealer with several rifles in stock, I think you would be able to pick a favorite pretty quickly. I did this with my local dealer before buying my Varmint. I handled the American, Silhouette, and Varmint models before deciding. The Varmint just "felt" best to me in terms of the weight of the rifle and the stability of holding it.

That being said, I'm a tinkerer at heart, and ended up buying a modified CZ Silhouette stock from Jason (posting above), to put the Varmint barrelled action in. I think the Silhouette stock is a bit lighter than the Varmint stock, saving a few extra ounces.

I'd like to see CZ offer this combination (Varmint weight barrelled action in the synthetic Silhouette stock). I think they'd have a real winner on their hands.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has bought one of the Pharr stocks and had a CZ Varmint barrelled action installed. This would be another improvement, but takes a bit more money than I have laying around at the moment.

Does anyone know of (and preferably have photos of) a CZ Varmint / Mark Pharr setup yet?

SteveM.

[GeoNLR]

Rifle = 6.8 pounds

That leaves 1.7 pounds (27.2 ozs) for a scope/rings

BKL rings = 2.2 ozs

Weaver t-24/ FIXED = ~ 16 oz

Spare room = 9 ozs or so...

Leupold / VARIBLE = ~ 19 ozs

Spare room = 6 ozs or so...

As AJJ mentioned they will vary from rifle to rifle... but you should have NO problems making weight. I have even see people ADD weight to that model...lol

[Jason]

My 452 Varmint actually weighed in at just barely over 7 lbs from the factory from what I remember. I tried to use a 22.something oz scope and Signature rings (they weigh a whopping 5 ounces) and was over the limit. If you go with the BKL mounts or a scope that doesn't weigh so much, you shouldn't have a problem.

[iceman]

If you do go over weight, it is not hard to remove the butt plate and take out weight or if you want it lighter in the foreend; remove the action and remove wood from the foreend. There is enough wood to safely remove 8 ozs. from the varmit stock. I have had to do this. So buy whatever scope and rings you wish. Then balance it the way that suits you! To this day, I've built 3 varmit stocks, 2 american stocks, and 1 lux and all were under 8lbs. 7 ozs.

[BlauBear]

I have one partially built up for Silhouette, and it's a good choice if you like the weight.

[GeoNLR]

Rifle = 6.8 pounds

That leaves 1.7 pounds (27.2 ozs) for a scope/rings

BKL rings = 2.2 ozs

Weaver t-24/ FIXED = ~ 16 oz

Spare room = 9 ozs or so...

Leupold / VARIBLE = ~ 19 ozs

Spare room = 6 ozs or so...

As AJJ mentioned they will vary from rifle to rifle... but you should have NO problems making weight. I have even see people ADD weight to that model...lol

As mentioned above that is aproximate... no way of going over every varible out there.. can it make weight? Yes either with the most popular fixed power or the most popular varible scopes on the line. If you are wanting to shoot with a boat anchor on top (not that there's anything wrong with that), than you may have to plan on removing some material as mentioned here. But will it make weight, yes...

Chicken

[BlauBear]

Unlike me...

[Koldkut]

I went with the 452 American just because I knew that I would be modifying the weight on it and adding it to the rear of the gun, this gives me a little more leeway with weight mods over the Varmint model. I'll have to post up when I get around to playing with the gun, I'm trying to break into the 20's/40 with my score before I start with any trigger or weight mods.