I did a side by side shoot off between my RAR and CZ 452 a while back. My rifles are 22lr, though. Also, I'm not a great shooter so neither rifle had the benefit of being shot by a good shooter. My CZ outshot my RAR, but it wasn't a complete runaway.

CZ 452 American 22lr vs Ruger American Rimfire 22lr

I shot these two rifles head to head at 50 yards using SK Semi-Auto. Both scopes set at 9x to keep it as fair as possible. 10 shots in the top sticker and 5 shots each at the bottom two stickers. I don't have my calipers at the range with me, but I believe the CZ won this go round...

www.rimfirecentral.com

 

I did a side by side shoot off between my RAR and CZ 452 a while back. My rifles are 22lr, though. Also, I'm not a great shooter so neither rifle had the benefit of being shot by a good shooter. My CZ outshot my RAR, but it wasn't a complete runaway.

CZ 452 American 22lr vs Ruger American Rimfire 22lr

I shot these two rifles head to head at 50 yards using SK Semi-Auto. Both scopes set at 9x to keep it as fair as possible. 10 shots in the top sticker and 5 shots each at the bottom two stickers. I don't have my calipers at the range with me, but I believe the CZ won this go round...

www.rimfirecentral.com

That matches what I saw in the on-line shoot off between the two rifles. The CZ was measurably more accurate than the Ruger, by only a small amount. But it was more accurate at both 50 and 100 yards. That matters to me. That also reinforces what I experienced with my CZ 452 American. In their price range CZ rifles are very well made and very accurate.

 

I hope you're not drawing conclusions from a sample of one. It's great that you're encouraged however we know they don't all shoot the same.

I'll wager that there are examples of each that will outshoot the other, and vice versa...Tom

 

It simply supported my personal experience. I have owned many different 22 LR rifles over the decades. My CZ 452 has proven to be "the best bang for the buck" of any I have owned. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I had Don Sith make a BR stock for the CZ 452. This essentially gives me two rifles for the price of one, as changing stocks takes about 5 minutes.

In the other hand, I have owned several Rugers, including two different Ruger No. 1V rifles. My first was one in 220 swift. The later one in 222 Remington. Similar to the CZ 452, the Ruger No. 1V in 222 Remington is a keeper. But then I needed to get a Shilen barrel and a Jard trigger to get that rifle to where I was happy with it.

I also have a left handed Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 204 Ruger. Factory stock, it is an excellent rifle accurate beyond my dreams at 300 yards.

Once the 457 arrives (and I sell the Savage 93GL) every rifle in my safe will be either a Ruger or a CZ.

I admit nearly every rifle I have owned has had at least one minor flaw. For my CZ 452 American, it is the lack of a left handed version with a target/varmint barrel. I was excited when the 455 was about to be released. Then I found it did not come left handed. Bummer!

 

I like Ruger firearms. I have a M77 Mark II stainless with the paddle stock in .243 and it shoots under MOA with premium factory big game ammo from Federal and Hornady (75 grains and up). It does not shoot 55 or 58 gr factory loads well, likely because the jump to the lands is too long. I had an original M77 UL in .243 (with the tang safety)... it was beautiful but would shoot around 1.5 MOA. My Ruger #1B in .22 Hornet is another nice rifle, but my Browning Low Wall in .22 Hornet and my Browning A-Bolt II Micro Medallion easily outshoot it... they group between 1/2 and 3/4 MOA with handholds and the Hornady factory loads, while the #1B struggles to shoot MOA.

I think Rugers are well-designed guns with better than average craftsmanship, but I also think they don't do a good job of ensuring the quality of barrels is up to snuff. Most Rugers shoot really well with an aftermarket barrel (pre-fit or gunsmith-installed).

On the other hand, my CZ 452s and 455s shoot very well. The 455 was a combo gun with .22 LR and .17 HMR barrels and both shoot very well. The .22 barrel is as accurate as my Remington 541, the .17 HMR barrel is 1/2 MOA. IMO the 455 is a very attractive rifle, more so than the 77/22. The 455's trigger sucks... heavy and lots of scratchy creep. I put a Timney trigger on my CZ and that has made a world of difference.

If I were going to buy a rimfire bolt-action rifle and it was between the Ruger 77/22 and the CZ 455 or 457, it's the CZ every time. In fact, I'm thinking about buying one of the inexpensive 457 Synthetic .22 spotters just to run my Lilja .17 HM2 spotter barrel on it while keeping the 455 as a .22 LR.

 

Onearm,
Which left hand model did you purchase? The 20 or 24 inch barrel model?

 

According to the invoice:

• Barrel Length: 24.8"

 

Thanks, nice rifle. I was hoping to find the Varmint model, It has a 20 inch barrel so should be a little easier to handle. But seems CZ is only making the longer barrel version.

 

The Ruger American Rimfire isn’t in the same league with the 457. Their 77/22 was a quality rifle, the American Rimfire really isn’t anything I’d be interested in owning.