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Mini Review of CZ527 Carbine in .223 (Pic Heavy)

25125 Views 17 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  ECVMatt
10
Here you go:

First it was very hot!


I tried three different loads today, the Speer 70 Grain handload, a 55 Grain V-Max handload, and some American Eagle 55 Grain AR223 ammo. I placed the targets at 50 yards and used the factory iron sights from prone, no sling. The target squares are about three inches.

First the Speer:



These shot the best out my rifle. I use these quite a bit in my Ruger M-77 MKII with a 1/12 twist so I was hopeful they would shoot well in the CZ and they did. I have used these bullets on deer and pigs with great results, so I was very pleased to see them shoot well in this rifle. If you check out the reviews of these on the Midway site you will see similar reviews. This is a real sleeper bullet in the .223.

Next was my V-Max load. These usually shoot the best out of my .223's.



I have to admit by this point the heat was affecting my mental acuity. Sweat was dripping into my eyes and the heat was becoming oppressive. I still feel I put forth and pretty good effort, but it was more difficult to concentrate and focus on the target. I was hoping to try a similar load topped with Sierra Game kings, but of course forgot them at home. I would like to shoot these again to confirm actual group size.

Finally the AR223.



I have not had good luck with this ammo in other rifles, so my hopes were not too high with this stuff. I was also done at this point. I had spent about an hour shooting with no shade. I simply shot this for comparison.

Pics of the rifle:




And the desert for perspective:



Final thoughts:

I am very pleased with the rifle so far. The trigger cleaned up nicely. I like the factory sights, but I am going to put on a NECG ghost ring very soon. I hope this will help tighten things up a bit. The rifle functioned 100% and ejected all cases about three feet and to the rear. They all clustered nicely into a small pile about ten inches in diameter. The heat was brutal. After about 25 rounds the barrel was too hot to touch. This did not seem to effect accuracy though as all groups stayed about the same. Overall I shot about 120 rounds. I was concerned that the 70 grain bullets would not stay stabilized over distance, so I shot at a rock at about 185 yards and hit it every time. Then I fired on a small boulder at about 265 yards and was able to hit it pretty regularly, so I think I am good to go. I will shoot it on paper when things cool down to confirm my findings.

I hope others find this information helpful.

Cordially,

Matt
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Nice. Very usefull. And appreciated that you took the time to document.
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nice post very useful ,,,, Need more like this
First off Bro...I was about to seriously hate on you until I saw it was chambered for 223. I have been in search of the Holy Grail (a 527 in 7.62x39) for about a year now and it seems as though no one has one or can get a hold of one.

Great write up! Yes it was very useful and should make for a great guide for anyone else with a simular gun. Thanks for the hot tip on the Speer 70 gr bullets. I will definitely have to check out a box or two and see what they do in my guns. Its one I have never considered.
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Is it chambered for .223 or 5.56? Do you know the twist rate . placing a dine in the shot group would help judge group.
One thing for sure it would put the rounds in a man size threat.
Nice review, and good dedication, I love to shoot but I don't think I could have lasted in that heat!lol
First off Bro...I was about to seriously hate on you until I saw it was chambered for 223. I have been in search of the Holy Grail (a 527 in 7.62x39) for about a year now and it seems as though no one has one or can get a hold of one.

Great write up! Yes it was very useful and should make for a great guide for anyone else with a simular gun. Thanks for the hot tip on the Speer 70 gr bullets. I will definitely have to check out a box or two and see what they do in my guns. Its one I have never considered.
You can hate me...I had one in 2003 and traded it off for a Mini 30... They are nice rifles. Maybe CZ USA's customer service center has gotten it's act together since then. As I recall I wanted a spare magazine and a different height front sight. The give a shite less attitude I got from the service the rep was a deal ender for me. Nice rifle though...
First off Bro...I was about to seriously hate on you until I saw it was chambered for 223. I have been in search of the Holy Grail (a 527 in 7.62x39) for about a year now and it seems as though no one has one or can get a hold of one.

Great write up! Yes it was very useful and should make for a great guide for anyone else with a simular gun. Thanks for the hot tip on the Speer 70 gr bullets. I will definitely have to check out a box or two and see what they do in my guns. Its one I have never considered.
7.62 x 39 mm drool on my keyboard
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7.62 x 39 mm drool on my keyboard
Thats what I am talking about! The older I get the more I am in to the more effcient rounds vs the wham-bam at a gazillion yards. I think it would make a perfect woods game getter for deer and a exceptional Hog gun, not to mention being minute of bad guy to 200 yards. With all the ammo I already have it would be a great compliment to my AK's, and SKS's. I think you also have to look at the "What if they ban owning the latter two"? What are you going to do with all of your ammo? In the heated anti gun climate we are currently in I dont think you can afford to over look that aspect of the equation.

The 223 is a great round too, I would just like to have a little more bullet frontal area to work with, hence the reason I love the 6x45 so much more than the 223/5.56.
Smitty,
The CZ527 in .223 Rem. has 1:12 and the 7.62X39 a 1:9...
Seneca, do you have those numbers backwards? a 1 in 12 for the 223 will only be good for the lighter bullets - no heavy ones at all and the 7.62 uses a light bullet that would do well with a 1 in 12, although I like the 1 in 9 better.
I don't believe I have then backwards...been there and done that tho...so I re checked...lol

Check for yourself...

CZ-USA -> CZ 527 Carbine
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The .223 with a 20 inch barrel was designed for lighter rounds it did a great job at what it was designed for short to mid range stopping a threat.
When the short 16 inch barrels came around the 1 in 12 did not cut it so they went to the 1 in7 but that required a heavier round .
Most of my shooting with 223 and 5.56 are with AR but I do own a Ruger 77 chamber for .223 it is an easy 400 meter shooter.
Yesterday was an up planned day of shooting. One son and I started out just to zero some new AR sights then Daughter ,wife nephew we burnt up a lot of 5.56,9mm,38 and some 380's.
This is a standard correct .223/5.56 AR zero target the 300 meter is what the target size would be a 300 meters. The 300 meter target size was shot at 6 times at 100 meters.
Ammo was M855 5.56 62 gr aka green tip lake city. AR 16 inch 1 in 7 Font Rectangle Style Line Material property

This Ar has make many 600 meter shot using that ammo. To get the most out of a .223/5.56 understanding the round is very important.
Having many years experience with them I would take 5.56 AR over 7.62X39 in any case The only time the 7.62X39 excels is up close
This is a full size qualification target at 300 meters rapid fire
Font Grass Terrestrial plant Circle Symmetry

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Thanks a lot for the post on the CA .223. I am considering a bolt action .223 myself so this was a timely thread. I am leaning towards a Ruger so the operation of it will be similar to my Ruger 30-06. I have small kids so it would be a starter rifle after they master the .22
Thanks a lot for the post on the CA .223. I am considering a bolt action .223 myself so this was a timely thread. I am leaning towards a Ruger so the operation of it will be similar to my Ruger 30-06. I have small kids so it would be a starter rifle after they master the .22
The Ruger model 77 .223 is hard to beat out of the box
Great post, Matt. Like that rifle and your outdoor range. 122 degrees is brutal so I admire your endurance.

I bought a Remington 700 SPS Tactical .223 bolt action with a 20" barrel about a year ago. I like shooting it a lot and it is very accurate. It will shoot Remington UMC 55 grain FMJ sub-MOA if you do your part. 1 in 9" twist. And it is great practice for my .308 700s at 1/3rd the cost per round.... I put a 3-12x42 Nikon scope on it, which allows me to actually see where the bullets are hitting.

I have heard good things about those CZs so I appreciate the post and pictures.
I appreciate the post as well, I rarely find someone that fires open sights on a high performance round like the .223, I guess it is handy to be able to practice with iron sights but I am not sure why you choose them over using a scope. My experience with CZ's is they are very accurate so I am guessing the poor performance you showed was a combination of the heat and your ability to shoot iron sights.

Poor performance, yes your "3 inch square" shows a 50 yard group of about 2.5 inches or 5 MOA, ANY shooter would be seriously disappointed with those patterns. Hell my AK-47 will do 3 inch groups at 100 yards all day long rapid fire, I admit your heat index is off the charts but I suggest you try your CZ under different conditions and get back to us.

Here is my input

First to test the accuracy of a gun use a bench rest, this doesn't highlight your natural shooting ability but it will show the guns accuracy instead of human error with sweat in your eyes.

Second do the test at more reasonable temperatures where the bullets are likely to be used, and allow the barrel to cool between your strings as it will skew the results. To shoot batch A with a cold barrel and Batch C with a "too hot to touch" barrel is not a good test of ammo lots.

Third. Use a scope. Even if you plan on shooting the gun with iron sights to do #1 and #2 WITH a scope. Once you get the load the gun shoots best, go back to iron sights and then hone your skills since you know the load is accurate in the rifle.

D. OMG get a real shooting target, one of my favorite movie lines is AIM SMALL, SHOOT SMALL and it is true. To get the best pattern on a rifle you need to aim at a SPOT not a 3" x 3" box at 50 yards. I realize you are only shooting 50 yards but the smaller the target the more accurate your patterns will be.

E. For open sight shooting shoot at 25 yards not 50 as a dead on hit at 25 will be about dead on hit at 100. This also makes your open sight shots more accurate with half the distance and less shooter induced wobble.

I seem to be harsh today, it is my intention to teach rather than mock but your patterns with the CZ are disturbing.

Here are my AR-15 patterns at 50 yards, yes they are scoped, off shooting sticks in the sitting position. Each square is 1 inch.

Handwriting Triangle Font Rectangle Material property


I hope I don't have to mention that these were "test" loads so the point of impact isn't really realavent as the scope isn't sighted in for that particular bullet, it is the pattern I am looking for. My actual sighted in load is a hand load, I was testing factory loads and potential hand loads in this string.
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So I finally got the NECG sights installed and the rifle is shooting very well. I will try and post an update with some new pics. MR- I have lots of rifles with scopes and they all shoot very well; considerably better than the groups posted above. I have real target and like to use them to sight in, but also like to shoot at less defined targets once I get sighted in. I generally use a 200 yard zero. With the removal of extreme heat, the group size was cut in half. With the NECG peeps, it was cut in half again. I now have a very simple rifle that shoots great and handles even better. These are important qualities for a rifle that I carry a lot on an ATV and in my truck.
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