First Impressions - CZ 527 in 6.5 Grendel

[AQBill]

Dear Fellow Enthusiasts,

Took my new CZ 527 to the range this morning to break-in and sight-in and was encouraged by the experience.

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Used 9 rounds at 50-yards interspersed with bore cleaning after shots 1, 4 and 9. The ammunition was factory Federal premium gold medal using the 130 grain Berger bullet. The scope is a Weaver 6-20x40mm Grand Slam mounted in those atrocious CZ rings. I was aiming at the center of the right hand target. Shots 1&2 were low left and bore cleaned between shots; shot 3 was further right and by the numeral 3; shots 4&5 were in the 5 ring and, again, the bore was cleaned between these shots; shot number 6 was high on the 9 ring; and, finally, shots 7, 8&9 were in the 10 ring with two Xs. I made progressively smaller scope adjustments between all rounds except 1&2 and 4&5.

Will stretch it out to 100 yards this Saturday in a centerfire benchrest match. Everything is a bit stiff, of course, but I like the single-set trigger. I was going to use one of my .222 Remington rifles but have decided to go with the new rifle on the block after this encouraging range session.

[Kilco]

Good report! In my experience barrels tend to get more accurate and gain velocity in those first hundred rounds or so. Things will only get better.

I'm a big fan of CZ rifles, looking foward to hearing how your competition goes

[sreyemj]

Looks good, should do well at 100 and beyond.

[Bill the loader]

For those who don't know CZ hand laps all their barrles , so don't waste your time with barrel break in, Just go shoot. I've owned 6 CZ,s. All shot lights out.

[murfvol]

Thanks for the info Bill. Please update after your next outing.

[AQBill]

My second CZ 527 range outing at 100-yards proved to be not so encouraging. Two good (<1-inch) 3-shot groups while sighting-in and then, during the match, things went south in a hurry as the groups opened up considerably as the barrel heated up with four consecutive 1.5 to 2.0-inch groups. I shot today's informal match with untested 100 gr. handload ammunition because I didn't have enough of the ammo that I initially tried, and that worked so well (130 gr. Berger Hornady Gold) earlier in the week. So I learned that (1) I need to let the barrel cool down between shots; (2) I really shouldn't shoot a match with untested ammunition; and, (3) at the advanced age of almost 66 years, I still have a lot to learn about shooting. Well, then, it's all to the good! I'll keep you informed about my progress.