First off, I like CZs. I currently own two 527s, three 457s, and two 452s. I expect to purchase at least one or two more CZs in the future. So, my criticism comes from the perspective of a somewhat disappointed owner and likely future customer, not someone who hates them. Second, I only hunt and target practice with my rifles. I hunt in pastures, hayfields, neglected old orchards, and mature hardwood forests. I practice in field shooting positions (no bench except for initial sighting in).
The 457 is a great rifle in many ways. I now own three (Royal, Scout, American Suppressor Ready) as well as an additional Scout stock and an American walnut stock, for which I have future plans. They handle well, shoot great, and are well-made. The swappable barrel and stock design has potential, but other factors are currently limiting that. For all the strengths, however, the 457 lineup has some issues.
As a starting point, here is the current CZ-USA rimfire lineup:
A. The American has three subvariants. The "regular" American has a walnut stock, 20" barrel, and no sights. If you want an unsuppressed American-style .22 LR, it's hard to do better than this in today's market. The rifle feels well-balanced, shoots well, and looks good. The left-handed version is the same, but left-handed. Fine.
My criticism comes in with the Suppressor Ready (SR) version. The American SR is not available except with a synthetic stock. And the synthetic stock it comes with is subjectively ugly and feels cheap. Can this be worked around? Yes, but not easily. Why? Because the barrel kits have not been obtainable from CZ for months. So, you can't just order a SR barrel and put it on your regular American. And, if you try to replace the stock, the trigger guard is different for the regular version and the SR version. So, you need a stock and a new trigger guard if you want to put a wooden stock on an American SR. Anyway, I don't think a customer should have to effectively purchase two Americans and mix-and-match the parts to get a walnut-stocked American SR and an ugly, unsuppressed American. The American SR should have a walnut stock option.
Next, the SR barrel is 20”, which is about 4” longer than necessary for .22 LR to achieve full muzzle velocity potential and makes the rifle about 4" too long with a suppressor. No one needs a 26” long barrel + suppressor on a .22 LR with no sights. The rifle no longer feels as well-balanced once you put a suppressor on it. It goes from being a handy length for a woods hunting rifle to being more likely to snag on tree branches, brush, etc. Can it be worked around? Sure. I have other hunting rifles with 26" long barrels, most notably a .25-06 and a 7mm Rem Mag. The difference is that I get at least some more muzzle velocity and more mass (to mitigate recoil) and potentially a better balance point out of those rifles. So, any issues I have using them in the woods are at least somewhat offset by being more capable in other regards. I don't gain anything useful from the 20" SR barrel. If you do, that's fine. I'd love to hear the explanation.
Also, I am not left-handed, but I note that there is no left-handed option for the Suppressor Ready version. Can the customer work around some of these issues? Yes, but this omission seems strange to me. Did CZ's market research suggest that Americans who like walnut stocks don't like suppressors? Or that left-handed people don't like suppressors? Finally, I think it might be better if the American SR had a 16" barrel, but I can live with that limitation (especially if CZ fixed the Royal, more on which below).
B. The Jaguar has a 28.6” barrel and 1/2x28 (American standard) threads. It has good tangent sights and a long sight radius. With a normal length rimfire suppressor, you can end up with a 35" barrel. I do like the Jaguar though. It’s like a 21st-century Kentucky squirrel rifle (which had long barrels at least partially so that all the black powder had time to burn). It looks fun as hell, but not very practical for woods hunting. To me, it's an impractical rifle built for rifle lovers. Despite that, I could see myself getting one of these if it was available in .22 WMR. My criticism of the Jaguar is that it's only available in .22 LR. If I am going to have a rifle that makes a Gew 98 look short, it might as well have a cartridge that performs better at long range.
C. The Lux is a fine-looking rifle with a slightly shorter barrel than the Jaguar (25”). I have no issues with the Lux. I like that it is available in all three chamberings. In the absence of a Jaguar in .22 Magnum, the Lux seems like a good option. I could see myself getting one of these.
D. The Premium is allegedly a slightly nicer Lux with 1/2x20 (European standard) muzzle threads. If it is going to be sold over here, why doesn't it have 1/2x28 threads? This just seems like a poor decision. The rifle should be ready out of the box in the market in which it is sold. Yes, you can use an adapter, but that doesn't always work (more on this below) and isn't customer friendly. For the premium price on the Premium, I think it should probably have a full stock (and come in all three chamberings).
E. The Royal is the rifle I want to love. It could theoretically replace the walnut-stocked American SR I want. It has a 16” barrel and is a well-balanced rifle, with or without a suppressor, but it only has 1/2x20 threads (European standard) instead of 1/2x28 (American standard). This means you need an adapter, which doesn’t always work well and spoils the lines a bit. have been through absolute hell trying to get my Royal to shoot well using the adapter I purchased along with my Banish 22. I got a POI shift of three feet left and a foot down. My groups went from a quarter of an inch at 25 yards to eight inches at 25 yards. Upon further inspection, I got baffle strikes. It appears that no permanent damage was done to the suppressor. I am currently awaiting the opportunity to test out a new adapter that Silencer Central sent me, but this whole fiasco could have been avoided if they just made the rifle with American standard threads in the first place. The Royal needs 1/2x28 threads.
F. The Scout starts off well, checking a lot of boxes for a kid's first rifle. The short LOP beechwood stock looks nice. It has a nice 16” barrel and American threads. But the iron sights are terrible. The sight radius is too short (the sights are mounted in the same position relative to the receiver on all 457s, but this just doesn't work well with the Scout's 16" barrel). Most damning, however, the front sight wiggles from side to side if you attempt to adjust elevation. The rear sight only adjusts windage. None of the sights allow fine control or easy adjustment. You cannot use the Scout to teach sight adjustments to new shooters. The sight picture is also poor. In fact, the Scout's sights are so bad that I took them off. The Scout currently needs an optic or aftermarket sights to fulfill its potential. I would love to see CZ put better sights on the Scout.
G. The Varmint, in all its permutations, is a nice rifle, but has the same design defect as the American in that it is only available suppressor ready with a synthetic or laminate stock. Like the regular American, the regular Varmint is a great option if you don’t want threads. I can see myself getting a regular Varmint in 22 WMR.
I won't comment on the Chassis or Manners MTR. They seem fine, but rimfire rifles in that price range are not my bag, baby.
Since I am throwing out criticisms, I will also add that I also don’t like the 11mm rails on the 457. An integral picatinny rail or good old-fashioned tapped action (or both!) would be awesome. I have an aftermarket DIP rail on all my 457s.
The plastic chamber indicator and magazine bottom are other sore points for me. I replaced those with aftermarket options. It just seems like a silly, corner-cutting measure that doesn't really save much.
The huge roll branding on the stocks also doesn't appeal to me aesthetically.
Many of my issues with the poor designs could be mitigated if factory barrels were readily available. Other people's take-off barrels are relatively easy to find in the heavy variants, but not in the sporter configurations.
Finally, I would love to see a full stock version. Nothing says classy European rifle like a full length stock, tangent sights, etc. In the meantime, I will keep looking for the perfect 452 at the right price.
The 457 is a great rifle in many ways. I now own three (Royal, Scout, American Suppressor Ready) as well as an additional Scout stock and an American walnut stock, for which I have future plans. They handle well, shoot great, and are well-made. The swappable barrel and stock design has potential, but other factors are currently limiting that. For all the strengths, however, the 457 lineup has some issues.
As a starting point, here is the current CZ-USA rimfire lineup:
A. The American has three subvariants. The "regular" American has a walnut stock, 20" barrel, and no sights. If you want an unsuppressed American-style .22 LR, it's hard to do better than this in today's market. The rifle feels well-balanced, shoots well, and looks good. The left-handed version is the same, but left-handed. Fine.
My criticism comes in with the Suppressor Ready (SR) version. The American SR is not available except with a synthetic stock. And the synthetic stock it comes with is subjectively ugly and feels cheap. Can this be worked around? Yes, but not easily. Why? Because the barrel kits have not been obtainable from CZ for months. So, you can't just order a SR barrel and put it on your regular American. And, if you try to replace the stock, the trigger guard is different for the regular version and the SR version. So, you need a stock and a new trigger guard if you want to put a wooden stock on an American SR. Anyway, I don't think a customer should have to effectively purchase two Americans and mix-and-match the parts to get a walnut-stocked American SR and an ugly, unsuppressed American. The American SR should have a walnut stock option.
Next, the SR barrel is 20”, which is about 4” longer than necessary for .22 LR to achieve full muzzle velocity potential and makes the rifle about 4" too long with a suppressor. No one needs a 26” long barrel + suppressor on a .22 LR with no sights. The rifle no longer feels as well-balanced once you put a suppressor on it. It goes from being a handy length for a woods hunting rifle to being more likely to snag on tree branches, brush, etc. Can it be worked around? Sure. I have other hunting rifles with 26" long barrels, most notably a .25-06 and a 7mm Rem Mag. The difference is that I get at least some more muzzle velocity and more mass (to mitigate recoil) and potentially a better balance point out of those rifles. So, any issues I have using them in the woods are at least somewhat offset by being more capable in other regards. I don't gain anything useful from the 20" SR barrel. If you do, that's fine. I'd love to hear the explanation.
Also, I am not left-handed, but I note that there is no left-handed option for the Suppressor Ready version. Can the customer work around some of these issues? Yes, but this omission seems strange to me. Did CZ's market research suggest that Americans who like walnut stocks don't like suppressors? Or that left-handed people don't like suppressors? Finally, I think it might be better if the American SR had a 16" barrel, but I can live with that limitation (especially if CZ fixed the Royal, more on which below).
B. The Jaguar has a 28.6” barrel and 1/2x28 (American standard) threads. It has good tangent sights and a long sight radius. With a normal length rimfire suppressor, you can end up with a 35" barrel. I do like the Jaguar though. It’s like a 21st-century Kentucky squirrel rifle (which had long barrels at least partially so that all the black powder had time to burn). It looks fun as hell, but not very practical for woods hunting. To me, it's an impractical rifle built for rifle lovers. Despite that, I could see myself getting one of these if it was available in .22 WMR. My criticism of the Jaguar is that it's only available in .22 LR. If I am going to have a rifle that makes a Gew 98 look short, it might as well have a cartridge that performs better at long range.
C. The Lux is a fine-looking rifle with a slightly shorter barrel than the Jaguar (25”). I have no issues with the Lux. I like that it is available in all three chamberings. In the absence of a Jaguar in .22 Magnum, the Lux seems like a good option. I could see myself getting one of these.
D. The Premium is allegedly a slightly nicer Lux with 1/2x20 (European standard) muzzle threads. If it is going to be sold over here, why doesn't it have 1/2x28 threads? This just seems like a poor decision. The rifle should be ready out of the box in the market in which it is sold. Yes, you can use an adapter, but that doesn't always work (more on this below) and isn't customer friendly. For the premium price on the Premium, I think it should probably have a full stock (and come in all three chamberings).
E. The Royal is the rifle I want to love. It could theoretically replace the walnut-stocked American SR I want. It has a 16” barrel and is a well-balanced rifle, with or without a suppressor, but it only has 1/2x20 threads (European standard) instead of 1/2x28 (American standard). This means you need an adapter, which doesn’t always work well and spoils the lines a bit. have been through absolute hell trying to get my Royal to shoot well using the adapter I purchased along with my Banish 22. I got a POI shift of three feet left and a foot down. My groups went from a quarter of an inch at 25 yards to eight inches at 25 yards. Upon further inspection, I got baffle strikes. It appears that no permanent damage was done to the suppressor. I am currently awaiting the opportunity to test out a new adapter that Silencer Central sent me, but this whole fiasco could have been avoided if they just made the rifle with American standard threads in the first place. The Royal needs 1/2x28 threads.
F. The Scout starts off well, checking a lot of boxes for a kid's first rifle. The short LOP beechwood stock looks nice. It has a nice 16” barrel and American threads. But the iron sights are terrible. The sight radius is too short (the sights are mounted in the same position relative to the receiver on all 457s, but this just doesn't work well with the Scout's 16" barrel). Most damning, however, the front sight wiggles from side to side if you attempt to adjust elevation. The rear sight only adjusts windage. None of the sights allow fine control or easy adjustment. You cannot use the Scout to teach sight adjustments to new shooters. The sight picture is also poor. In fact, the Scout's sights are so bad that I took them off. The Scout currently needs an optic or aftermarket sights to fulfill its potential. I would love to see CZ put better sights on the Scout.
G. The Varmint, in all its permutations, is a nice rifle, but has the same design defect as the American in that it is only available suppressor ready with a synthetic or laminate stock. Like the regular American, the regular Varmint is a great option if you don’t want threads. I can see myself getting a regular Varmint in 22 WMR.
I won't comment on the Chassis or Manners MTR. They seem fine, but rimfire rifles in that price range are not my bag, baby.
Since I am throwing out criticisms, I will also add that I also don’t like the 11mm rails on the 457. An integral picatinny rail or good old-fashioned tapped action (or both!) would be awesome. I have an aftermarket DIP rail on all my 457s.
The plastic chamber indicator and magazine bottom are other sore points for me. I replaced those with aftermarket options. It just seems like a silly, corner-cutting measure that doesn't really save much.
The huge roll branding on the stocks also doesn't appeal to me aesthetically.
Many of my issues with the poor designs could be mitigated if factory barrels were readily available. Other people's take-off barrels are relatively easy to find in the heavy variants, but not in the sporter configurations.
Finally, I would love to see a full stock version. Nothing says classy European rifle like a full length stock, tangent sights, etc. In the meantime, I will keep looking for the perfect 452 at the right price.
