I will be purchasing a new rifle for plinking and ARA Factory class. I'm trying to decide between a CZ 457 Varmint and a Tikka T1x Hunter. Please give me your insight if you have experience with these guns.
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BigTank58
CZ 457 Varmint or Tikka T1x Hunter
I was trying to make the same decision last fall. I ended up with the CZ because of aftermarket support since I can't leave anything stock.
I am about to pull the trigger and buy a CZ 457MTR, but a more experienced shooter said I should look at a Bergara. Have no knowledge which is more accurate (out of the box).
I plan to continuting shooting Factory Class, thus other than a trigger job nothing else is important (re. Steve_Mi's desire to make changes to the original package.).
I plan to continuting shooting Factory Class, thus other than a trigger job nothing else is important (re. Steve_Mi's desire to make changes to the original package.).
Funny I made that very same decision last year. My needs were not for competition though. I looked at a few 457s at the local shows..Seemed nice enough. And read some good things about them. But I went with the Tikka in the end as I have a thing for Berettas. And that attracted me more to the Tikka. I am very, very happy with the decision. It is surely more of a capable Rifle than I am at my age. Have not ever read a bad thing on the Tikka. There is aftermarket stuff available for the Tikka. Maybe not so much for barrels like the CZ..But the Tikka does not need a new barrel. They did it right out of the gate. Seems I read somewhere that a National Shooting competition was won with the Tikka T1X last year..So it must be a capable Rifle. Heres mine. I have much more practical Leopold Scope on it now.
I did put a DIP aluminum Trigger guard in it, which is nice, and I put it in a Walnut T3 stock. I went with a short barrel to run my Dead Air Mask on it.
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I did put a DIP aluminum Trigger guard in it, which is nice, and I put it in a Walnut T3 stock. I went with a short barrel to run my Dead Air Mask on it.
Hmmmm, every CZ we have, the wife and I have, all the new ones have had to be broken in and torque tested. Also, triggers have had to be adjusted and or worked on. Don't get me wrong we love CZ's, but they are not super accurate out of the box. Then you better plan on ammo testing, we usually test between 25-30 different brands and lots. The wife's new VMT MTR has needed 3 separate range trips and 2 different benchrest matches to finally get the break in done, find the torque sweet spot. She will now be competitive with hew new B-day present.
I, on the other hand, decided that I wanted to acquire and shoot a new Tikka T1x, that i picked up over the winter. it was the easiest rifle I have ever had to prep for benchrest shooting. Virtually no break-in. Adjusted trigger with 1 screw down to about 1 and 1/4 pounds, torqued down on the metal pillars built onto the stock, Have just recently removed the plastic shim in the barrel channel to get a true free floated barrel. The better pistol grip, and that it. Mounted a Sightron scope and went shooting at our club benchrest matches.
So far have won both matches the rifle has shot in, with that barrel shim in place, So I will be curious to find out if it can still win with that shim gone. This is just one persons experience with the same rifles being talked about.
YMMV
,
I, on the other hand, decided that I wanted to acquire and shoot a new Tikka T1x, that i picked up over the winter. it was the easiest rifle I have ever had to prep for benchrest shooting. Virtually no break-in. Adjusted trigger with 1 screw down to about 1 and 1/4 pounds, torqued down on the metal pillars built onto the stock, Have just recently removed the plastic shim in the barrel channel to get a true free floated barrel. The better pistol grip, and that it. Mounted a Sightron scope and went shooting at our club benchrest matches.
So far have won both matches the rifle has shot in, with that barrel shim in place, So I will be curious to find out if it can still win with that shim gone. This is just one persons experience with the same rifles being talked about.
YMMV
,
3 Lbs is the lowest I could get on two CZ 457 triggers using the special instructions only available via RFC search. The factory instructions do nothing and aren’t very clear.
That said, I was able to get an overall average of .667 inch 5 shot groups using 4 different brands of ammo, only one being SK Rifle Match and including one random high velocity brand. I did 5 ‘seasoning’ shots for each ammo before recording the 3 5-shot groups at 50 yards. Winds were 13/17 (steady/gusts), 15X scope. The SK Rifle Match turned in a .5” average for three groups.
CZ 457 Varmint with AR Tactical, SK Rifle Natch, CCI SV and Norma-TAC
I know Tikka guys win matches right out of the box- after a series of easy mods and torque experiments. Would be interesting to see a test of the same or nearly the same ammo from someone’s T1X, at whatever optimal trigger weight is attainable via factory adjustment. Honestly, any Tikka T1X with a stock barrel would be an interesting real-world comparison
That said, I was able to get an overall average of .667 inch 5 shot groups using 4 different brands of ammo, only one being SK Rifle Match and including one random high velocity brand. I did 5 ‘seasoning’ shots for each ammo before recording the 3 5-shot groups at 50 yards. Winds were 13/17 (steady/gusts), 15X scope. The SK Rifle Match turned in a .5” average for three groups.
CZ 457 Varmint with AR Tactical, SK Rifle Natch, CCI SV and Norma-TAC
I know Tikka guys win matches right out of the box- after a series of easy mods and torque experiments. Would be interesting to see a test of the same or nearly the same ammo from someone’s T1X, at whatever optimal trigger weight is attainable via factory adjustment. Honestly, any Tikka T1X with a stock barrel would be an interesting real-world comparison
Speaking from experience here....get the Tikka, they are amazing rifles for the price. Check this out...
I too struggled with which way to go with these two Rifles and chose the Tikka and am very pleased! It is a great rifle!!! All kinds of aftermarket toys. This is the Woox "Exactus" chassis, Jard 3oz-9oz trigger, AccuTac Bipod, Vortex Strike Eagle 5x25x56 scope. I have ski's on the Bipod now. Ryan Cheney's rear air bag (love it)!!!!
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