Remington 700 or CZ 550 help me pick!

B

Blackthunder

New member
I am having doubts between a Remington model 700 series and a CZ 550 series both in .308 Winchester. I have always liked Remington’s but have heard that their quality has gone down in recent years. I am not too familiar with CZ, but they are meant to be very accurate and rugged. I want to use the rifles for hunting and target.

What would you pick and why?
 
I think the CZ's are cool and would buy one in a minute over the Rem IF it was made on a short action like the 700. I had a Mauser Supreme in .243 and it seemed really dumb having all that wasted bolt travel.

And I love my 700 SPS buckmasters I just bought. The CZ is my next rifle though.
 
For me, the Rem 700 with its push feed action is a target/varmit action, and the CZ (mauser) with its control feed action is a hunting rifle. When you say you will use it for hunting, and you don't mean varmit hunting, go for the CZ. I might be spliting hairs but that's my opinion.
 
Rem. 700 vs. CZ 550

I grew up on Remington 700's back in the 60's and thought that nothing beat them for accuracy and quality. I think I was on target with that too. Things change though and Remington of today is not quite the same company it was then. I own several CZ rifles now, rimfires and centerfires. The quality of the fit and finish is just superb, kind of like old Model 70 Winchesters use to be. As far as accuracy, both my Remingtons and my CZ's will outshoot me. I only have the older Remingtons so I can't comment on new Remington accuracy levels. My CZ's are newer and they are all real good shooters with more than enough accuracy for me.
 
Nothing against the CZ, they are fine rifles, but I'd pick the 700 just because of all the aftermarket accessories available.
 
The new Remingtons shoot just as good as the old Remingtons. The quality is equal to all the other similar priced rifles. That is all.... :p

And the stuff you read about the quality getting worse is hogwash. I bought a BDL 7mm mag 700 in the early 70's and it had a oval chamber and the blueing on the bolt handle looked brown. The stock was nice. It wouldn't chamber Remington ammo, only Winchester and when you fired a round and rotated the case 90º it would not go back in the chamber. Wouldn't group at all either. Traded it for a H & R Ultra automatic .243. Now there was a beautiful rifle....

My new 700 SPS Buckmaster in .270 shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yards and is well made. I think the CZ is better made but it also costs more.
 
Last edited:
I have both and both are very accurate . I have the old and new Remingtons and CZ 550. The actions on both are smooth they both shoot. The only complaint about the CZ is its weight. This rifle with wood stock is very heavy about 8lbs. Push feed CRF equal unless you are talking dangerous game maybe. I think the Pushfeed is more accurate and that is why Remington and Savage use it more than likely. Winchester even uses it on there varmint rifles. Can not go wrong with either.
Good Luck
roc1
 
If anyone thinks the new Remington rifles are as good fit finish and quality control as the older ones ,great . That has not been my experiance by a long shot . My last CZ 550 American in 458 Lott that I bought 4 years ago makes the Remmington 700 in 300 RUM that I bought at the same time look silly .The CZ has a far better trigger,better finish,better blueing,smoother bolt throw,and did not have to go back to the factory with a bad extractor like the Remington . :eek: For the money a Howa is the bigest bang for the buck .I have a Remington 700 BDL in 308 that I purchased new in 1979 and it puts my brothers 1 year old 700 to shame .CDNN has a Howa 1500 lightning .308 22 inch in real tree camo for $349.99. that is a lot of gun for the money ,and they are tack drivers right out of the box.
 
Last edited:
At the moment, I'm going thru a Browning single shot stage, but I've owned three CZ's and at least seven ADL's and BDL's--apparently I've just been lucky because I have never had a problem of any kind with my 700,s all shot well and all but one were very accurate--bought my first rifle, an ADL in 06 in the early seventies and the most recent, a BDL about six months ago--my two most recent BDL's were well made, well fitted and very accurate---I've also had two CZ .22's and a 550 American with the full length stock in 06, extremely well made and accurate guns--both .22's were absolute tackdrivers and the 06 was also very accurate--from my point of view and speaking from my own experience, both are great guns and either one would be an excellent choice--the Remy action is somewhat smoother, but the 550 had a double set trigger and it was very easy to shoot---the BDL's are a very sharp looking rifle, but that 550 full length stock with a Burris fullfield ll on it looked pretty good to------
 
Here is some unbiased stuff for you. Two comments were made here that I might mildly disagree with. First- Remington target and CZ hunter rifle - I hear this said because of the feed type except the standard trigger will be at best a wash (if the Remington is lucky) yet the CZ has a terrific\fun set trigger, and the slightly more weight makes target shooting with the CZ superior - least out of the box. CZ also comes with good stout rings for free. Second point was that both actions are smooth. The cz's with those big extractor rails will not be, and likely never will be, near as smooth as the Remington. Two things that in my view are overblown are A)- the weight of the CZ- it isn't like lugging around a varmint rig, and B) push feed vs controlled round. I am actually started to lean towards and prefer push feed- call me a heretic but the actions are just plain slicker and I would trust a 700 in a do or die situation. YES - I own both...which do I prefer...I tend to like whichever is in my hand at the time best.
 
I am a volunteer for the the Forest Preserve District deer management program. I use a 700 because of it's accuracy. In fact, many of the others involved keep asking to shoot the gun because of the trigger and accuracy.

+1 for Rem 700
 
Remington or CZ?

I think the Pushfeed is more accurate and that is why Remington and Savage use it more than likely.
Click to expand...

Although that may be a side benefit, I think it is cheaper to make, a business decision over accuracy I think...

The CZ is a tank, strong, dependable, and accurate ... the downside depending on model is weight. The controlled-round-feed is played down by push-feed folks, and played up by fans. It is an advantage to have in most cases, working the bolt fast under stress, either danger or a Record Class elk standing before you can cause problems. The CZ is made as a real rifle without corners being cut.

The Remington is usually lighter, accuracy not a factor between the two, especially for field use. Most of the Remingtons I have owned, although custom models for most, have great triggers, but the CZ is good as well, with a set trigger on some CZ models.

You can get calibers in CZ not available in Remington rifles ... .458 Lott, 9.3x62, and many more.

Remington is made in the USA, which is a big thing these days, and work wonderfully in most cases, with good service if they don't.

I love both, but I don't have both in the same calibers, so I choose which one to match what I am doing ... protection in bear or lion country, or shooting deer and elk, etc.

I say buy both, one at a time!:D

Attached is a photo I shot of #1 Son touching off my CZ .458 Lott on the range in Anchorage Alaska.
 

Attachments

  • #1 son touching off the 458 Lott 1.jpg
    #1 son touching off the 458 Lott 1.jpg
    78.6 KB · Views: 175
HEY BULLETHOLE1!

The cheapest rifle on the market can outshoot the best shooter in the world under hunting conditions!:eek:

Get a rifle, which is the easy part ... now learn how to hunt! Give me a country boy with an ole' 03'A3 over the rich guy with a custom rifle anytime, when you actually need to eat!;)
 
Last edited:
I have a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in .22-250 and 2 CZs - a 527 Kevlar Varmint heavy barrel in .223 and a 550 Kevlar stock in .30-06.

All three are great shooters.

The Remington shot under 1 MOA but the Remington trigger was abysmal and the stock was cheap and binding on the barrel. I changed to a Timney trigger and a Bell and Carlson stock on the Remington to get it to shoot great but now it is a great shooter - and easily shoots under 0.5 inch groups with about 8 different loads with 52 to 55 grain bullets.

One thing to be careful of, some of the lighter Remington 700s have minimal recoil pads and can be hard on the shoulder. My friend's .270 takes the fun out of shooting it after about 3 shots. It is an accurate rifle but it is light and the recoil pad is very thin and hard.


Both the CZs have a regular and set trigger.
I love the set triggers - 2 lbs on the 527 and 1.6 lbs on the .30-06.
The regular triggers are 3.5 lbs.

The CZ 527 was a tack driver right out of the box and averages 0.45 inches with a wide variety of different loads with 45 grain to 65 grain bullets. It is a joy to shoot. Its best groups are under 0.120 inches and there are over 20 scanned and measured groups under 0.25 inches on its 'hall of fame'.

The CZ 550 is a hunting rifle and, in .30-06, it heats up the barrel quickly so group shooting doesn't mean much. It has a Kevlar HS Precision stock with a Pachmyer Decelerator pad. You can shoot it all day and not be bothered by the stock. It still recoils like a .30-06 but it doesn't bother your shoulder.

With a cold, fouled barrel, it puts the first two shots in the same hole at 100 yards. Then barrel heating moves the next shots out progressively by 0.25 inches higher and right with each trigger pull until you let it cool down. Then it is back to the aim point with the next round.
The 550 still averages around 0.75 with is favorite 180 grain loads but it actually is a much more accurate rifle than that. With 2 shots it is amazing.
I figure that if you can't hit what you aim at with 2 shots, you shouldn't be hunting so group size doesn't provide anything but bragging rights.

I think you would be happy with either a Remington 700 or a CZ.
Pick the rifle you like and it will probably be a good shooter.
Expect to mess with the Remington a bit to get the best out of it.
If I hadn't changed the trigger and stock, I would have had a 0.8 inch rifle.
With the new trigger and stock, I have an under 0.5 inch rifle and enjoy it more every time I pull the trigger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top