CZ 527 Opinions

[RedRidge]

Have been looking for a .223 bolt gun due to one of my favorite threads on this forum. The whole family will use it. Me, perfect for the wife and got a 2 year old that hopefully wants to hunt one day.

Does anyone own a .223 CZ 527 on here? Just looking for opinions, honest accuracy assessment and anything good or bad about these guns. My CZ .22LR is a dream to shoot, so curious how the .223 is.

 

[orionthehunter1]

I love mine it shoots lights out. My daughter used it on antelope in New Mexico and both my kids used it for javelinas down there as well. I also haven't found any ammo it doesn't like

 

[TxxAgg]

Had one in 6.5 Grendel. Very accurate. Beautiful walnut and deep blueing. The action got really smooth after a few boxes of ammo.

 

[woods89]

I really like mine! Only thing I might wish was different was twist rate. Mine is 1-9. Works great with 68-73 gr bullets though.

 

[NDhunter88]

I have an older 527 Varmint Kevlar that I prefer over all my other 223s. The gun is super accurate with lots of different bullets/loads. Mine has a 12” twist barrel so I mainly use 40gr, and 50gr bullets. The set trigger is handy as well although not necessary after adjusting the standard trigger pull to your preference. I run a suppressor on mine and it’s primary use is shooting prairie dogs, and other small game. For a 223, or 6.5grendel bolt gun I don’t think you would regret it, They are very high quality for the price you pay. I Would look at the 527 American for a hunting Rifle. Maybe CZ will chamber one in 6mm ARC soon which I think would be the best balance between the 223, and Grendel.

 

[RedRidge]

Thanks for the feedback all.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

On the surface they are neat guns. Old world craftsmanship, controlled round feed, set trigger, walnut/blues.. But the devils in the details


twist rate is not good for good hunting bullets

comb is way too low for scope

bolt handle is better on newer guns but still not good

Mag box is woefully short on COal, and not very good for how much it protrudes under gun.

controlled round feed is not what it’s cracked up to be on smaller cartridges.

No stainless available.

Get a howa mini and buy the oregonsmithing bottom metal.

 

[RedRidge]

Ill check that Howa out too

 

[SecretSpot]

have one in 17hornet, great besides the magazine doesnt work/feed. Common issue if you look it up

 

[TxxAgg]

They're pretty!

 

[Retumbo]

I love mine it shoots lights out. My daughter used it on antelope in New Mexico and both my kids used it for javelinas down there as well. I also haven't found any ammo it doesn't like

I really like mine! Only thing I might wish was different was twist rate. Mine is 1-9. Works great with 68-73 gr bullets though.

I have an older 527 Varmint Kevlar that I prefer over all my other 223s. The gun is super accurate with lots of different bullets/loads. Mine has a 12” twist barrel so I mainly use 40gr, and 50gr bullets. The set trigger is handy as well although not necessary after adjusting the standard trigger pull to your preference. I run a suppressor on mine and it’s primary use is shooting prairie dogs, and other small game. For a 223, or 6.5grendel bolt gun I don’t think you would regret it, They are very high quality for the price you pay. I Would look at the 527 American for a hunting Rifle. Maybe CZ will chamber one in 6mm ARC soon which I think would be the best balance between the 223, and Grendel.

On the surface they are neat guns. Old world craftsmanship, controlled round feed, set trigger, walnut/blues.. But the devils in the details


twist rate is not good for good hunting bullets

comb is way too low for scope

bolt handle is better on newer guns but still not good

Mag box is woefully short on COal, and not very good for how much it protrudes under gun.

controlled round feed is not what it’s cracked up to be on smaller cartridges.

No stainless available.

Get a howa mini and buy the oregonsmithing bottom metal.

have one in 17hornet, great besides the magazine doesnt work/feed. Common issue if you look it up

I recently acquired a used CZ 527 in .223 Remington (post ~2016 version with 1/9 twist), which shots great, but I also purchased some extra brand new factory CZ magazines but they different than my original and cause feeding errors. I can't find any information on the intarwebs about magazine revisions, so I'm a bit stumped.... Curious which type you guys have and if you have any feeding issues?

 

[Hill Difficulty]

I've had CZ527 Varmint makes in 17 Rem, 17 Hornet, and 204 Ruger.

204R is a Varmint Kevlar I bought in 2009. The entire rifle, inletting/fit, magazine feeding, and accuracy = flawless/exceptional. Barrel has been shot out for a bit so have a new Lilja 20 cal in 1/7 twist ready for chambering and fit. Got a hoarding of Berger 55s.

My other 527s had binding and magazine fit problems so had to do some stock relief and action bedding to get them right. They turned out nice, but not what I signed up for.

Some problems and solutions:

• Binding around action fixed by relieving inlet contact areas and bedding tang and lug
• Bottom metal height not right so fixed by filing to fit/re-painting
• Magazine feed lips rough so fixed/smoothed out by filing inner edges with nail file
• Comb height way too low so added a Victor cheek rest
• Integrated dovetail mount is a BAD idea - too limiting for scope position
• Bolt handle contact with scope so filed off a corner for clearance
• Mag length is too limited so not a lot of room for extending bullet seating
• CRF bolt face makes less sense for those little case heads

Am fond of my 204R and the mini-scaled action. Lots of hunting use + looking forward to the new barrel!

 

[Hill Difficulty]

+ triggers are amazing if you disable/crank the screws out of 2-stage mode.

[edit to add pic]

 

[B23]

I've had a few 527's, all varmint models, the only two I've kept are 17 Hornets and that's mostly because IMO they are the best option in 17 Hornet. The best shooting 527 I've had has probably been the one chambered in 204. It shot about as good as you can ever expect a factory gun to shoot. That doesn't mean my others didn't shoot well, just that the one in 204Ruger shot consistently better. Sold it to a friend that is still shooting it.

The CZ 527's IMO were a good value when you could buy them new for $6-$700 but I see used 527's going for 1500-1500++ and that's just nuts. They're a nice little gun but no way are they worth 1500+.

The 527 is a solid little action but they're kind of crude and bolt fit is rather sloppy. They still function fine but they're a bit unrefined.

The trigger is very adjustable and easy to work on. Personally, I don't like using the set trigger because it not only moves the gun to much when I push it forward to "set" it but then it puts the trigger further forward and for me it's in a awkward position so I replace the pull rate spring and that allows me to adjust it down as low as I want without using the "set" trigger.

The 17 Rem and 204Ruger 527's I had would feed fine through the magazine but like was already mentioned they're fairly short on allowable OAL but James Calhoon makes a real nice single shot follower you can use if your OAL exceeds what the factory mags allow. Feeding from the mags in my 17 Hornets isn't nearly as smooth and those rimmed cases require a much more deliberate hold on the bolt handle when cycling rounds through it. Once you learn the tricks to cycling 17 Hornet rounds through one it's no big deal but until you do it can be frustrating.

Everyone bitches about the safety being backwards, which it is, but it's no biggie and you get used to it.

As was already mentioned the comb height on the factory stocks is pretty low so unless you plan on putting some kind of cheek riser on it you can't use much over a 42-44mm scope and you'll want to use the lowest set of rings you can get. I have Vortex HD LH 3-15x42 on my 17 Hornets and with Warne medium rings it worked out ok but any ring taller and I'd need to add a cheek riser of some sort. I had a 50mm on my 204 and had the scope down as low as I could get without touching the barrel and it was way to high had to add a cheek riser to that one. Lifting your head up off the stock to see through the scope just doesn't work for me.

Aesthetically, if you like that old school blued and wood look, the 527's were a pretty little gun and though they had their quirks about them they're still a nice piece and generally shoot pretty well. I don't really miss the 527's I had in 17 Rem or 204 Ruger because I think there are better options if I want one of those but the CZ 527 IMO was the best option for a 17 Hornet and it's unfortunate we don't have that one anymore and I'm thankful I have the two that I do.