I picked up a thermal scope (ATN Thor 4) as I'm wanting an accurate night time varmint whacking rifle (and whatever else might find itself on my property without an invitation). I do have two 10-22s, but my Takedown is unreliable as far as accuracy goes, and my older one I'd need to get the barrel threaded (that I'd rather not do). So, I figured I'd trade in the Takedown and maybe a pistol or two and pick up the CZ.

From what I'm reading, they are good quality and as accurate as a 22 can get. Bonus that it comes threaded, and I can throw a decent rail on there and be good to go.

Am I looking in the right place, or should I consider another rifle?

For the price I do not think any company makes anything better. I have a 452 and a 455, both varmint barrels. They are excellent shooters.

CZ 457 Pro varmit shoots better than my CZ 457 At-One.
I can consistently hit 10 ring with Mask suppressor at 25 yards with CCI Quiet. I haven’t found the right ammo for the At-One yet.

After going through several trial rifles, the Ruger American Rimfire turned out to be the best rimfire suited for thermal night vision.

The magazine alone put it over the top. Fiddling around with reloading a 5 rounder vs a 10 rounder is difficult, but reloading the mags in the field is a pain in complete darkness on a new moon.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
For the price I do not think any company makes anything better. I have a 452 and a 455, both varmint barrels. They are excellent shooters.

This ^^^^^
You can spend more money but you still might not get a better rifle. .22's accuracy is largely determined by the ammo you feed it. If you do happen to get one that doesn't shoot that well you can buy drop in barrels from Lilja and others that likely will shoot better. I have owned several and all of them shot very well with high end ammo.

As I understand it, there are some larger magazines available for the CZ.

How is Ruger's quality these days? I've not been at all impressed with my Takedown. Frankly, it's a piece of junk.

What made the American stand out with regard to thermal?

quote:

Originally posted by got2hav1:
... you can buy drop in barrels from Lilja ...

He's my neighbor, so that'd be easy.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
What made the American stand out with regard to thermal?

The ability not to beat the everlovin shit out of it. I started gettin dents in my CZ452 and Ruger 77 the first night.

Thermal lights up meat, but not anything else you are going to bang into.

I was looking for a Pro Varmint, couldn't find one, and ended up getting a good deal on a 457 Scout, which I promptly removed the sights from and scoped. The stock is too short...still trying to find a replacement for that (currently it's wearing a slip-on buttpad)...and I had a heck of a time finding mags for it (must have bought during a "drought" because they're everywhere now), but otherwise it's an absolutely fantastic rifle and excellent supressor host.

I had a Ruger American Rimfire when I bought the CZ, but found it to be pretty ammo picky. The CZ is much more consistent across a wide variety of ammo, and groups as good with any random ammo as the Ruger did with the stuff it "liked". Find a round the CZ really likes and it's even better yet.

I agree with Mars_Attacks...the Ruger magazine design is better. Flush-fit 10-round rotary mags are awesome, and you also have high-cap options that are pretty affordable. The CZ mag isn't bad per-se, but it's a legacy design that doesn't offer the benefits of the Ruger, and costs a lot more money. Aftermarket and factory support for the Ruger is better, too...the CZ is a pain to find stuff for, if you do find stuff it's expensive, and I was less than impressed with CZ customer service as well.

Ultimately, I sold the Ruger and kept the CZ. The accuracy and nicer fit and finish sold me on it. The Ruger was OK on both counts, but the CZ is a step above. If I was doing something where Mag capacity was a greater priority, I might have done differently, or at least kept the Ruger, but I found that it just sat in the safe because I always grabbed the CZ when I needed a suppressed .22.

Thanks for the input fellas.

My son "built" one a few years ago for his 7th bday.





Shoots just as good as my 455 VPT below:

it is possible convert cz457 mags
to ruger mag system?

quote:

Originally posted by white wolf:
it is possible convert cz457 mags
to ruger mag system?

I don't see any possible way.

My 457 ProVarmint finally arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased. I put a 419 rail on it for the ATN Thor scope and put on the Mask. A couple of things that really amazed me are that this thing is a tack driver. Inside a dime at 25 yds (and not much worse at 50) with Gemtech subsonics is something that I could only dream of with my 10-22s, and that was with the thermal scope in the daytime, so not a great picture. Also, I'm amazed at how much quieter this rifle is than my 10-22 (all I hear is "tick"). I suspect it's because it's a bolt vs semi, but not sure on that.

Despite the pricetag, I'm very tickled with this set up. I have several 10 round mags on the way (I can't believe that for the price they only give you one 5 rounder ) and I need to find a decent bipod for it, and I'll be set.