Is the CZ 550 Gone or Not?

[Boomstick!]

Just to help... champlins have one for sale....

Enabler! That is a damn fine looking rifle at a sweet price too!

 

[spike.t]

Enabler! That is a damn fine looking rifle at a sweet price too!

One likes to be of assistance..... So what you waiting for....

 

[Rule 303]

450 Rigby's are getting hard to find. I heard rigby getting a new owner. Online sites most of them say that norma 450 brass is discontinued.
PTG got some rechambering reamers. CZ safari classic has large enough magazine to hold 3 450's. Converting 458 lott to 450 rigby is the best option I have found for now. Still need bolt face opened up.

Depends on the magazine box in the rifle. If yours has the mag box with the dimles in it , it will hold one less than mine which has no dimples in it. I get 4 down in the 416 Rigby and 5 in 375H&H. It can be confusing as you get both sorts of mag box's marked as 375H&H or 458.

 

[krish]

My mag boxes are marked 375/416. Got the shipment of reamers and 416 bolt assembly. The bolt works fine in the gun functions flawlessly.i picked up a cz 458 with fancy stock and recoil reducer already installed. It is cross bolted and bedded. Will be taking to my gunsmith for re chambering job. If it works out I might do a few more cz's and rugers. I dont know what it is going to take for rugers. Havent looked into that yet. The down side is the cost of brass for the 450. Got plenty of 416 rigby brass but dont want to convert them. It is all fun.

 

[Rule 303]

My mag boxes are marked 375/416. Got the shipment of reamers and 416 bolt assembly. The bolt works fine in the gun functions flawlessly.i picked up a cz 458 with fancy stock and recoil reducer already installed. It is cross bolted and bedded. Will be taking to my gunsmith for re chambering job. If it works out I might do a few more cz's and rugers. I dont know what it is going to take for rugers. Havent looked into that yet. The down side is the cost of brass for the 450. Got plenty of 416 rigby brass but dont want to convert them. It is all fun.

Krish the markings on the mag box do not indicate how many rounds the mag will hold. Does it have dimples in the sides to stop the rounds moving forward under recoil?

 

[krish]

Mine has dimple in them

 

[krish]

 

[krish]

This one took 4 in the box.

 

[krish]

This is the conversion job. This is one of the CZ's. 458 safari classic. Full size action. The other one is 458 lott.

 

[Cody hunt4life]

I believe they replaced it with the CZ 557 if I'm not mistaken. I have the CZ 557 in .308 which I recently got about 6 months ago and I also have a
CZ 550 American Safari Magnum in .416 Rigby which I had to purchase from a friend who had only fired it approx 8-10 times because I too was unable to find it new anywhere in the 550 model. I am very happy with the quality and trigger of the CZ 557 too though. Just my 2 cents.

 

[DrBob]

I thought about a Bell and Carson for my 375. Its a want not need but if i evere hunt bear i would want an all weather rifle but im in Australia and any chance of bear hunting is a long way off

I upgraded my 416 Rigby 550 to the synthetic stock. I initially glass bedded the action only but accuracy was nowhere as good as with the wood stock. So... I modified the forend to use the barrel lug and screw to equal the same setup as with the wood stock. Bingo... accuracy came back. That may be my rifle, but now it shoots fine... under 1 MOA. Sad to see the 550 magnum go... but I have three of them so I am set for life and several reincarnations.

 

[Rule 303]

Krish, thanks for the photos. unfortunately for me they have just added more to remember. I have not seen the flat dimples. The one a mate had had just two V shaped dimples in the shoulder area and these protruded somewhat further into the mag space only allowing 3, 416Rigby cases to be seated in the magazine.

I have mine in a McMillan stock. 15" length of pull, Kevlar reinforced in the action area. It is not as bulky as the CZ wooden stock.

 

[krish]

I am wondering how well a detachable 5 round magazine feasible on these big bores and reliable. Any input is welcome. Wanting to customize one and see how well it functions.

 

[Boomstick!]

I am wondering how well a detachable 5 round magazine feasible on these big bores and reliable. Any input is welcome. Wanting to customize one and see how well it functions.

The Beretta MATO had a detachable magazine and came in 375 HH. Dakota made the first ones and then Beretta took over production. To get a spare mag it had to be custom fit at the factory.

 

[Rule 303]

I am wondering how well a detachable 5 round magazine feasible on these big bores and reliable. Any input is welcome. Wanting to customize one and see how well it functions.

They would be feasible and could be totally reliable. The cost would be exorbitant. Just look at the British Boys anti tank rifle a .55 cal from memory. magazine was on top though.

 

[Desert Dog]

They probably got sick of doing the constant warranty work on the 550. All of my 550's were sent back to the factory (and eventually ended up at AHR). Someone mentioned that the tooling was old and very worn out, and I believe that after looking at the last couple 550's I bought. I think the 550 line became a huge headache for CZ and was becoming a stain on their reputation. It just sucks to lose the option of buying a factory 404J, 458L or 505G.

 

[colorado]

Latest information...

I am right now in Reno at the SCI show and I have personal friends in both CZ USA and Triple River Gunsmithing.

Here are the facts as related by these sources:

• CZ as eight times (8 X) more business in pistols than in rifles.
• CZ has stopped production of ALL 550 actions and rifles.
• CZ USA does not have any - zero - CZ 550 medium length (30-06) actions left.
• Whatever CZ 550 rifles are offered by CZ and existing dealers, in shops or on line, is all there is. There will not be any more after that. Period. By my rough count on Gunbroker.com etc. a few months ago, it seems like there are less than 1,000 African caliber rifles for sale in calibers .375 , .416, .458 in the USA.
• CZ USA has ~100 magnum length actions with .375 bolt faces and ~25 actions with .416 Rigby bolt faces left for custom builds at Triple River Gunsmithing.

The CZ 550 is gone friends, and I wager that it will be dearly and sorely missed.

A true:
- double square bridge,
- integral scope bases,
- magnum-length,
- controlled round feed (CRF),
- drop belly large capacity magazine,
- 100% forged steel,
- appropriate barrel contour,
- barrel boss integral rear sight base,
- barrel-band front sight base,
- tough as nails "Mauser" rifle in mythical .375 H&H, .404 Jeffery, .416 Rigby, .458 Win/Lott calibers for ~$1,200 ................... and people poohpooh it because it needs an hour or two of breaking in and polishing of a few critical surfaces to become the functional equivalent of a $15,000 original Mauser/Rigby ?!?!? You gotta be kidding, right?

Anyone out there wants to bet that barely used as-new CZ 500 actions/rifles will sell for twice or triple their original price within the next 3 years?

Sad to see. I'm glad I have my CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Just picked up a NIB 550 in 375 H&H. It leaves Thursday to Wayne at AHR for some work. Decided to pull the trigger and buy one since there will be no more. Hope to have it ready to take on June 2020 trip to South Africa hunt with Bos en Dal.

 

[colorado]

Latest information...

I am right now in Reno at the SCI show and I have personal friends in both CZ USA and Triple River Gunsmithing.

Here are the facts as related by these sources:

• CZ as eight times (8 X) more business in pistols than in rifles.
• CZ has stopped production of ALL 550 actions and rifles.
• CZ USA does not have any - zero - CZ 550 medium length (30-06) actions left.
• Whatever CZ 550 rifles are offered by CZ and existing dealers, in shops or on line, is all there is. There will not be any more after that. Period. By my rough count on Gunbroker.com etc. a few months ago, it seems like there are less than 1,000 African caliber rifles for sale in calibers .375 , .416, .458 in the USA.
• CZ USA has ~100 magnum length actions with .375 bolt faces and ~25 actions with .416 Rigby bolt faces left for custom builds at Triple River Gunsmithing.

The CZ 550 is gone friends, and I wager that it will be dearly and sorely missed.

A true:
- double square bridge,
- integral scope bases,
- magnum-length,
- controlled round feed (CRF),
- drop belly large capacity magazine,
- 100% forged steel,
- appropriate barrel contour,
- barrel boss integral rear sight base,
- barrel-band front sight base,
- tough as nails "Mauser" rifle in mythical .375 H&H, .404 Jeffery, .416 Rigby, .458 Win/Lott calibers for ~$1,200 ................... and people poohpooh it because it needs an hour or two of breaking in and polishing of a few critical surfaces to become the functional equivalent of a $15,000 original Mauser/Rigby ?!?!? You gotta be kidding, right?

Anyone out there wants to bet that barely used as-new CZ 500 actions/rifles will sell for twice or triple their original price within the next 3 years?

Glad I have my CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery. Love the gun. Like it better than our M70 Classic in 416 Rem. It just feels so solid.

As Boris the Blade said in the movie "Snatch" Heavy is reliable, if it doesn't work you can throw it at him!"

 

[César Diniz]

In this video they said that the CZ 550 will have a replacement in the future, 2023 for the Magnum action.