I bet probably 1/4 of you guys have shot this rifle at one time or another and can share your experience on what worked.

Question 1: What are the most productive tune up tips for a new shooter with a CZ American ?

Question 2: When did you know it was time to try a higher dollar rifle?

Edgehit,
the answer to question one is as varied as the number of people that are on SC.
As for question two, again probably as many answers as people on SC but from my standpoint having coached at least a dozen juniors into the top five of any national that they have shot in (in the years of 3 and 4P as well as silhouette) I will tell you what I say to them and their parents. Shoot what you are comfortable with, if you have reached a point that you feel that you are aiming/holding and squeezing better than the rifle/bullet is impacting then it is probably time to move to a new rifle/scope set up.

Innocent Mary

A friend got me started in smallbore silhouette and gave me great advice. I had a NS522 & Bushnell Trophy 6-18x, credible starter rig.

He suggested that I shoot a full case of decent ammo before replacing anything. Then I'd have a much better idea of what to buy. He was right.

As a fellow in AA Limbo I can tell you that you can't buy hits with more expensive equipment. With the CZ you got a rig that should be accurate enough to get you to that point.

Might consider that case of ammo first.

Pete A.

My Thoughts,

first get the scope sighted in close to on center at 50 yards, find ammo the firearm likes,run to store and buy as much ammo of that lot as you can find/afford. fine tune sight in for that ammo. Bench rest it to find out how accurate it is. Now you have your benchmark to shoot for.

Shoot off hand at 50 yards at a good small target drawn on something like a paper plate. I like paper plates they are cheap and show holes well through a scope so you can see where your shooting with out a spotting scope.

when your consistently shooting off hand at levels equal to your bench rest groups then you "Need" a new rifle. all the rest are wants.

You will never get the best out of your rifle with out a good trigger, so after a case or so of ammo have your trigger adjusted or replaced.

Shoot lots, the guys that win consistently do it by putting lead down range, not buying the latest gadgets.

Good Luck

Eric

one word Timminey Trigger!!! ok so its two

edgehit, my remarks presume that you are experinced enough to find an ammo that works well in the rifle that you are using, when you feel that you are missing shots because of slow lock time or balance of the rifle is not great, then maybe you want to consider trying a new rifle. 95% or better of the firearms available will outshoot the shooter given matching ammo for the firearm. The fine tuning comes in when you start to see what a smoother trigger will do for you, as well as a properly balanced gun...it becomes an extension of you.

Describing that fit is difficult. I have seen Troy Lawton ( and at least two of my other coach/mentors) take any rifle and shoot it well, after a shot or two... It is a matter of adjusting your mind to cope with the 'handicap' of something not fitting properly. What a good fit/fast lock time will gain for you is allow you to focus on the other details of shooting like conditions. A far as scopes , I continue to repeat my thoughts on that as one that is repeatable with mechanical movement, (sight adjustment) and one that works for your vision requirements (which vary with people).

My experiences with a CZ 452 is that they are fantastic guns, I personally do not care for the balance of most of the American models but that is my perference. I have one of the Lux versions that I shot in the last monthly match (because I loaned my Annie and Winny to to young brothers to shoot...hooked 'em line sinker and all), and still pulled off a 30 without sighting it in, and shooting between the two boys so I could assist them if anything went wrong with the rifles they were using. Granted Coates whipped me with a 34 but it did make me appreciate Karl Keynon's trigger on my Winny...missed that fine action.


Innocent Mary

BTW if your question 2 is an attempt to convince yourself that you need another rifle or not...take on my favorite t-shirt attitude. "If you know how many guns you own, then you don't have enough." So go count your collection, then you know how many you have so it must be time to get another one and why get anything lower grade than what you already have?

Innocent Mary

Pete A. wrote:A friend got me started in smallbore silhouette and gave me great advice. I had a NS522 & Bushnell Trophy 6-18x, credible starter rig.

He suggested that I shoot a full case of decent ammo before replacing anything. Then I'd have a much better idea of what to buy. He was right.

As a fellow in AA Limbo I can tell you that you can't buy hits with more expensive equipment. With the CZ you got a rig that should be accurate enough to get you to that point.

Might consider that case of ammo first.

Pete A.

Not bad advice! In the fall of my first season i managed a 26 with Remington 504, so I stepped up to an Anschutz 1712 the next spring, and it was a year before I short another 26! Sure, the 1712 was a much better rifle but I shot better with the 504, so you absolutely can't buy points.

My criticism of all the CZ 452's is the trigger, but there are after market parts and drop-in triggers that can easily fix that. The next step up from there is the Weatherby XXII, but that's quite a bit more money. Just use something you like and and get that case of ammunition! And practice!

the cheapest upgrade to start with is make sure there is no contact in the barrel channel, there seems to be contact on all of them. a few swipes with some snad paper then seal the wood so it wont swell.

this makes a big difference, then trigger. i have an adjustable sear and thats it . i do hear great things about the timney but have yet to shoot one.

third(after finding ammo it likes) is to figure out how dirty it likes to be.mine likes to be dirty but just a little to dirty and it opens up the groups quite a bit. this step is often overlooked.

dave

Thanks for all the ideas and direction. Will the length of pull improve the shooter's score?

edgehit wrote:Thanks for all the ideas and direction. Will the length of pull improve the shooter's score?

Depends?

Improving the fit of a rifle reduces fatigue, so that two matches a day over a day or two is more comfortable, so in that sense it probably will improve consistency. A good shooter can pick up any decent rifle and whip me nine times out of ten.

Will the length of pull improve the shooter's score?

edgehit, the basic answer to that is Yes.

I would venture to say that the rhythm of setting the rifle in the shoulder, loading the rifle, finding the correct target and sight picture, finding NPA, breath control, trigger finger placement/ squeeze, follow through is only automatic in about 10% of the shooters. When you factor in weather monitoring (spotter or not), listening to you spotter, range officer and other details, such as timing you do not need to be fighting NPA because the length of pull is incorrect.
The LOP will also have a tremendous impact on your sight picture.

Yes BB is correct that it will also cause fatigue.

Mary

The trigger is definitely the weak point on my CZ (other than the shooter)


So where can I get a Timney, and are they easy to install, or adjustable?

I had a 'smith smooth my trigger and it is better than before, but still could be improved.