Well everyone we shot our qualifier last weekend.

My son who was reluctant to go shot a 17/40. Beat me by 8. What a long 2 hour ride home hearing him brag on how he out shot me . My daughter shot a 8/40.

When we arrived and registered there was only 1 other female there and she asked to shoot with my daughter. That put her at ease. My son and I both got paired with experianced shooters which I believe helped us both.

The 1st bank my son shot was pigs. It was funny as he brought his rifle up and snapped off a shot in about 5secs. He hit the 1st pig and was hooked .

After the official match the great people we were shooting with stuck anround and let us shoot some of their nice CZ and Annies. Would not even allows to pay for the ammo we used. Rick, the guy that shot with my son had him shoot 3 of his CZ's, bringing the gun down to cycle the action then remounting for the shot. This slowed my son down and he unoffially hit, 28, 23,and 27 with the different rifles. Needless to say he want's a bolt gun now. He asked when we can shoot again. My daughter also wants to go back, because she thinks she can outshoot her last score because she was nervous this time out. Looks like the sport has 3 new additions to contend with.

What great people and a great time. Sorry this is so long but I just had to share it with my new online shooting family.

Now comes the million dollar question. My wife said no to an Annie for the boy right now, but yes to a new CZ and all the trimmings. As far as a CZ goes which would everyone recommend and why? And how about a scope? He want's an Annie 1712 and a Swarovski scope, good taste but not gonna happen.

I will have this gun built and ready to go as a Christmas present for him.

Thanks for your time and help in getting us involved in this great sport. I look forward to meeting some of you FTF sometime.

gunslinger

remember gun control is a good thing. no gun control no targets hit

That's great, welcome aboard. Like we said it's a great bunch of folks in this sport and all willing to help.

As for the CZ. I'd go with a CZ 452 American. I like the American over the Silhouette because it uses two action screws an not one action an one barrel lug screw like the silhouette does. A Eric Brooks trigger kit (a whole $14) and for optics I like Leupold's but for inexpensive a Simons, Bushnell and a few others will fit the bill nicely and mounted on a set of BKL rings will do him up fine.

Thanks Bob,


I am thinking af spending in the neighborhood of 1000 - 1200 dollars on this set up. Do you have a preference in a good higher end scope. some day he mave get his Annie and i'd like him to have a good quality scope that has good repeatable adjustments on it.

gunslinger

Welcome to the Family Gunslinger.

I like your son already, he's got great taste in steel and glass. That's quite a buget for your sons first gun. If you want a scope that he will be able to use right now and be able to transfer over to the Annie I would recomend a Leupold VX III 6.5x20 EFR with target dials. It's got real good glass and you will be able to start him off on a low power and as he progresses turn the power up. Most guys use a fixed 25 or 30 power scope with a 3/8ths min dot for the reticle. Next time you go to the match see if a fellow shooter has one of these and let your son look through and shoot if possible. If he like it I would get a Leupold FX III 30 power and you wont ever have to buy another scope again. It's good to hear that young shooters like your son and daughter really enjoy shooting silhouette and Its cool that you take them to range and let them shoot. Matt

That's awesome to hear! Way to go, all of you!

As for the CZs, the 452 American that was suggested is a good bet. The 453 is a bit more money, but you get a much better trigger that is well worth the extra dough. And if you go with the 453 Varmint you also get a heavier barrel, but you'll also have to choose your scope and rings wisely. A few weeks ago at the BC Provincials shoot my 453 Varmint weighed in at 8 pounds 5.40 oz with a Tasco Target/Varmint 6-24x42mm scope on it, in B-Square Interlock adjustable rings, with the 5-round plastic magazine. I forgot to take my scope adjuster covers off, so that is a tiny bit of extra weight there. There are some lighter (and much better) scopes out there, and some lighter rings, too. But you can make weight for hunter with it for sure if you're careful. Much easier to do with the American, though, hehe. I like the extra weight of the Varmint, personally. I'm much more stable with it. It's pretty hard to go wrong with any of the CZs, though. Definitely worth more than their asking price, each and every model. The only way I'd buy something else is with Anschutz money burning a hole in my pocket. Otherwise, I'd buy more CZs again and again.

http://tenmilesback.googlepages.com/Pro ... day028.JPG

welcome trio of new shooters,
i have a 452 varmint with a leupolf fxIII 30x silo scope and love it.

this is a question cause i do not know, is the 453 trigger legal for hunter?can the set part be ajusted as heavy as 2# or disabled? if so that is great!

i tried the brooks kit and still did not like the trigger, still a lil' creepy.i put an automatation souloutions ajustable sear and it is as crisp as you could want. it is a bit more coin though, about 70 dollars.

anywho welcome once again

by the by the cz american is a much prettier gun and the 2 action screws do make a more stable platform, either way you may want to open the barrel channel a bit cause they all(just about) have some contact. i personally like the heft and palm swell on the varmint

You can disable the 453's set function by turning the adjustment screw in, thus making it legal for hunter.

edit - And the 453 Varmint has the same 2-action-screw arrangement as the American.

I started with the 452 Varmint. I liked the heft of the Varmint compared to the American or Silhouette. Even with the Timney trigger in it, I think the 453 trigger is better and, as has been said, the 453 Varmint has two action screws. If I were you, I'd just go ahead and go for the 453 Varmint. Then you can adjust the standard single stage trigger pull to just over two pounds and disable the set function so it's legal for hunter class. Then throw on a good scope and some BKL 257A rings, and spend the rest of your money on ammo to get started practicing.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I liked the varmint myself. But this is the boys gun. We have a big gun show in a couple of weeks, and I know one of the dealers has all the CZ models. I think I will take the kid and let him handle them all and see which he prefers. I want to make sure he gets something he is comfertable with. Then I will order one and have it delivered without him knowing.

If he doesn't like the varmint I guess I will just have to pick up one for myself.

Thanks again for the warm welcome, and we look forward to many years of ringing steel.

Don't forget, the extra weight shouldn't (but could be) be an issue once you start getting comfortable with your stance, since you should be using more bone than muscle. So, the extra weight of the Varmint shouldn't matter, and is beneficial towards a better hold/stance since the extra weight/mass means more inertia, and because of that you should be a bit more steady with it. But everybody's different, so the gun show idea is a great one. He'll be able to check them all out and see what he prefers.

For scopes, the Sightron 6-24x42(? - not positive of the objective lens size) that's going for $500. My personal selection on a budget would be the CZ Varmint. BKL rings and the Sightron - close to your $1,000 mark. A Leupold VXIII 6-18 is preferred, though, if the budget can handle it.

G'Day Gunslinger
I'm with Matt on the scope choice a 6.5-20 EFR will be a lifetime investment. Also they can be used on everything from a Air Rifle to a Centre Fire. As to a rifle I own both CZ's (commonly refered to as BRNO's here in Australia and also I have Annies. My girl's used CZ's and the American (classic here) that one of them used was a nice rifle and as our Hunting weight is lighter than NRA's it could be used in both classes. Even though I have a 54.18, a 1712 fwt and a 64 msr I still use the CZ's now and then. In fact I have a very old model 4 that I used for culling work that goes to the range regularly. You would not be disappointed in a CZ, I have them from 1951 models to current and they all shoot good.
Juddy

I have the American, the Silhouette, and the Varmint. My favorite is the Varmint as to be the balance is much better. Also, stay away formt he 453 as it is a single set trigger model and disabling the set feature makes it no better than the 452 and is some cases not as goo. (my opinion).

Scopes are the money question and I ahve seem the gammut from Tasco to Leupold and have noticed that for fixed power the Weavers are more prevalent and for varible, the Leupold EFR scopes seem to be more prevalent. But most any scope with target knobs will get you in the game.

Definitely get the BKL rings, dole 257A.

George

I'll have to disagree here. The 453's trigger is much better than the 452's, even when ignoring the set trigger function. The 452's trigger only has one adjustment, and that's for pull weight, and it's a pretty limited adjuster. The 453's weight adjustment is more generous, and you also get to adjust pre-travel (creep) and post-travel (over-travel), which you cannot do with the 452 without replacing hardware. Which becomes almost the same price as the price difference between the 452 and 453 anyway. Not to mention in the case of the Varmint you get the better mounting screw arrangement with the 453, rather than the lug in the barrel of the 452.

Travelor wrote:Also, stay away formt he 453 as it is a single set trigger model and disabling the set feature makes it no better than the 452 and is some cases not as goo. (my opinion).

I can't speak much to the scope issue. I'm still searching for the "right" glass myself. However, I shoot a CZ 452 Lux which I love. I have yet to find my way to a match but with any luck, I'll be shooting some this fall.

My comment is more toward the Eric Brooks trigger recommendation. I'm sure it's a great trigger. I'm sure it'll help your son shoot wonderfully at the matches........the matches he attends right before he heads off to college!!!! Eric Brooks is the slowest to deliver a product that I have ever seen. He doesn't respond to any of your e-mails and then sends a product late ( 9 months late in my case ) as if everything is just hunky-dory...I wouldn't waste my time with him or his products.

Go with the Timney or some other option if you want your son to shoot before he gives you grandchildren!!!