It depends. What do you consider “A1 accuracy”?

 

I’m working on making my cz457 as accurate as possible by barrel and action screw torque settings. How accurate can the OEM barrel be? Do I need an aftermarket barrel to achieve A1 accuracy? If so what brand and length?
I’m thinking an 18” to 20” drop in barrel.
Any thoughts?

Q1. Generally, almost all factory CZ barrels are very accurate however, there are exceptions.
Q2. NO
Q3.????? I have a Lilja that is very accurate.

What is A1 accuracy?

 

Define your requirements. Define your ammo requirements.

 

Hope you realize that you're opening a BIG can of worms with questions like those.
What you hope to achieve and the $$$ you are willing to spend make a large impact
on answers you will get. Many, like myself, have gotten really good barrels from CZ.
Others have spent a lot for a different barrel in hopes that it will enhance their goal.
Lots of barrels to opt for if you choose. Good luck in your quest...

 

I would consider A1 accuracy for myself 1/4” to 1/2” groups.
Ammo I’m working on. Trying all brands below 1,100 fps like cci sv, Norma tac, I have some ely target, ely match that I didn’t use yet and I ordered some ely tenex biathlon.
I am at the range now but last week I was using 48 in/lb for the barrel and it was shooting fairly good with the action screws set at 23 in/lb and was getting my 1/4 to 1/2 groups periodically with 1 in 8 shots or so being a flyer.
I changed the barrel setting to 40 in/lb and left the action screws at 23. It’s shooting all over the place today. I went to change the setting back to 48 inch pounds and I forgot the fitting for the barrel screws. Bummer.
So I’m still fooling around with torque settings and ammo so I need a few more weeks at the range to figure things out.
The last time at the range, I was shooting Norma tac that I sorted for rim thickness and weight all with the same lot# and it didn’t seem like it did a darn thing.
I think I’m trying too many things at once. I thought the sorting would help with accuracy, but it didn’t.
BTW I’m new to the .22lr bench shooting.
SO, I’m going back home now and set the barrel torque back to 48 inch pounds and the next time I come to the range, I’m gonna shoot Norma TAC and only fool around with the action screws.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

I just started with my CZ 457 but the barrel and action screw torque settings make that big of a difference huh? I guess that is really the starting point for tuning the rifle for accuracy?

 

I shoot long range matches with a bunch of guys and many of them shoot CZ457 MTRs (I have 3). In my experience and observations of others I compete against. A Typical stock 457MTR’s accuracy is 1 MOA (1/2”) @50 with many shooting tighter with premium lot tested ammo with barrel tuners. You may not see much difference in group size at 50, between the 18” and longer barrels but the 24 and longer barrels almost always perform better at long range (100yds and longer) without much velocity difference. The longer barrels tend to have lower ES/SDs, fewer fliers, less picky on ammo, and are easier to tune. You can usually buy a hotter lot of ammo that will make up for any losses in velocity. Still an 18” barrel should perform adequately for NRL 22 but again the longer barrel helps with balance on obstacles. My 2-cents

 

I agree with your analogy. I have noticed the ammo choices and lack of pickiness and just being less cantankerous overall with the longer barrels. I have never really thought of that till your post but you are spot on in my experiences. That might be something one would add into their choice of barrel thinking when you think about the 20" MTR liking a particular brand or a narrow field of speed or lot numbers to get good groups. There are probably people on RFC that already know that.

 

These 5-shot groups were shot with five different lots of SK Rifle match (three of which were pretty good, IMHO) with a bone stock 24” CZ MTR barrel in my CZ457 Chassis rifle using a basic rest set, rudimentary wind flags and a Vortex Venom scope. If this meets your standard for “A1 accuracy”, there ya’ go. I think it’s pretty good considering my old eyes and poor skill. Your barrel should shoot just as well. If this isn’t good enough, and, in full transparency, I wanted better, stand by to spend a good bit of coin for improvement that you will need a micrometer to measure.

 

Set the grub screws at 43 inch pounds.
Action screws to 31 inch pounds and shoot it.. if you want better precision find some sk rifle match or some lapua center x

 

I have a 20" factory LRP MTR barrel that I just installed into my VPC. So far, I'd say it matches the accuracy of the Lilja it replaced within the 100 yds I've tested it too. IMHO, the highest end accuracy is going to be more about ammo than a barrel upgrade. I've never had a CZ that wouldn't do less than MOA if I fed it the right flavor of quality ammo.

 

It will take some tinkering, but MOST CZ 457 VMTR OEM barrels I've encountered, including my own, will meet your requirements. Measurment are Outside edge to outside edge; subtract .223 for center to center. The European CZ catalogue shows 457 VMTR accuracy @ 15mm @ 50m.

 

It will take some tinkering, but MOST CZ 457 VMTR OEM barrels I've encountered, including my own, will meet your requirements. Measurment are Outside edge to outside edge; subtract .223 for center to center. The European CZ catalogue shows 457 VMTR accuracy @ 15mm @ 50m. View attachment 596474

Good shooting Diddy, I’ll try that method of calculating center to center.

 

pdyson, H8DIRT and Gman. Thanks for the reply’s.
I’ll post pics soon from last week and today. Got to measure the groups. Thanks again.

 

Thanks Diddy and Tacoma

 

Nice pic and great shooting H8DIRT. I’ll try and post pics soon.
🔜

 

Last week using Norma tac at 50 yards. Messin with the action screws. The best I could do with these old eyes. The 2 oops are getting the hang of the new yodave trigger spring. 11.5 oz. Average. I have the mtr standard wood stock. Arken EP-5 7-35x56 scope.

 

Last week also using cci sv. Action screws at 20 in/lb

 

 

It is cci sv . It says Norma but it is cci

 

Today using Norma tac barrel 40 in/lb and action screws set at 23in/lb. No oops today lol.

 

Those look like a good start. Generally, I run torque settings every time I take the rifle out of the stock, like after making any trigger adjustments. Techniques on how to go about it varies. For me, I start at 15in/lb. I set the action into the stock and start the screws until I feel resistance. Then I gently tap the rifle on the butt a few times. I apply the torque setting to the rear action screw first, then the forward screw. After firing the test group (I prefer 10 shots), I reset the torque wrench back to 0 then set for 15 in/lb. Apply rear then front and fire again. I keep increasing by 5 in/lbs up to 30 in/lb. Factory recommended torque is 31 in/lb. The rifle's preference should be noticeable and sometimes nearly the same for two adjacent settings. When that happens, I untighten the action screws and set the torque for the in-between level and fire a 5th group. That's how I wound up @ 27.5 in/lb for my rifle.

 

Thanks DIDDY, I’ll try that torque method. Nice shooting .

 

I would be a little concerned running high torque settings on a wooden stock with no pillars if that is your case. The wood tends to compress upsetting your torque values as you go up and down on the torque.

 

As other have mentioned, it's all about ammo! Try some SK and Lapua. I personally have had the best luck with those in my MTR. And of course, some lots are better than others.

Here are my latest test results at 50 yards with various types of ammo. Five shot groups with the first number being the best group, and the second number being the average.
I just tested the Eley Match last week and obviously those results were terrible. I've heard lots of guys have had great success with Eley Match so I expect better. Conditions were not the best wind wise during my test, and maybe it's just a bad lot #. Who knows, I will need to retest the Eley.

CZ 457 MTR 20” (Action Torqued @ 25#)

TAC-22 (5) .52” ~.85”
SK-S+ (5) .39” ~.56”
SK-RM (5) .44” ~.56”
SK-LRM (5) .38” ~.70”
Lapua LR (5) .27” ~.41”
Eley M (5) .72” ~.91”

 

You didn't say what length your barrel is and what distances you are shooting. I'm guessing 16", since you are considering a 18 to 20" barrel. Short story is setup a good trigger, good match ammo, and a good bipod and rear bag and run what you have. The CZ 457 is capable of sub 1/2" groups at 50 yards without difficulty, and that is hard to improve on consistently.

The biggest issue I have with CZ barrels is velocity and trying to keep the speed subsonic, particularly with Eley ammo. I have my best luck with lapua doing this. I would recommend a 24 to 26" barrel, From my experience, a 20" CZ barrel will be faster than your 16" barrel. A 24 to 26" barrel will help you manage speeds when shooting past 150 yards. You typically can get away with high SD's up close, but that will not happen at distance, partcilrly past 200 yards. CZ offers a 24" MTR barrel set, but they are hard to get.

If you like to tinker, have fun, but don't expect major improvements over what you have now if you are punching holes at 50 yards. If your gin does not regularly shoot sub moa with Match ammo, I would be surprised. I would first set the action torque to factory spec and focus on first finding the best ammo for your gun and then play with the harmonics afterwards to try to shrink the groups.

Good Luck

 

I have 3 457s and have a Lilja on one (tackdriver); a lother-walther on one (also tackdriver) and I'm waiting on a Mullerworks. The factory barrel shot fine, but the after market are better. Seems like best in Kenny at Desert GunWorks, but he's a year backordered and pretty expensive. If Iweren't 85, I might order one

 

Good to know! I just ordered a 1.0"X24" Lilja, wondering what length yours is?
Also, I would be interested to get your thoughts and comparison on all 3 of the barrels you have! I was undecided between those exact three (plus the L3i), but went with the Lilja because I could get it the fastest and it was the bit less expensive.

I'm only 65 so I think I still have some time.

 

I have the 20.5” cz457 mtr barrel. Thanks for the replies. 😃 Weather won’t permit shooting till next week. I have ely match, ely target, norma tac, cci sv, Sk rifle match, ely tenex biathlon.
thanks again

 

I cant speak for everyone but between me and 2 shooting buddies we all have MTR's. All of them are ammo picky. We usually order sample bricks of a brand and try them. When you find the one that stacks them, order a bunch. Im in the process of that right now with my new MTR.

 

Had a Lilja laying around so I stuck it on my MTR. It seems to love Center-X at 50 yds.

 

I can’t find center x anywhere