Moderator

Wasn’t particularly looking for one but a guy at my club offered me a hardly-used CZ 452 American at a price I could not refuse (I shall henceforth call him “The Godfather.”) Heard nothing but good things about them so thought I’d take a chance on it. I’m VERY impressed. It’s a very good looking gun; fit and finish are beautiful and it’s nice to see real walnut again instead of plastic or plywood. I’ve looked in vain for any blemish in the finish of either the wood or the metal. Barrel inletting looks tight but a piece of thin paper slid easily from one end to the other—it’s fully floated!
Shot it for the first time Saturday, and ran it through Snake’s Great Cheap/Bulk Ammo Shootout. First the good news: In 255 rounds, not one single failure to feed, fire, extract, or eject. Perfect functioning, and I don't get to say that often!
The bad news: Trigger is horrible on this one. Somewhere in the 5-7 pound range, it has what feels like 1/8' of creep/travel, and it's not even smooth movement. One of the worst .22 triggers I've ever shot, MUCH worse than the $50 Bingham SB-20 and the mechanically stock '66 10/22 I also had along. I MUST get that fixed before I shoot the beast again! (Afternote: Once again the crew at rimfirecentral.com came through with an easy, no-cost mod to fix it, which I did last night. Trigger is now no more than 3 pounds, with no apparent movement before the clean break. Can’t wait to shoot it again!)
Test protocol: Scoped, benchrested, 25 yards, six 5-shot groups, best five groups averaged for figures below. For comparison, I'm including how each ammo shot in my other four bolt action .22s, too.
Excuses/Disclaimers: Scope used has no AO--very slight parallax evident at test range. Breeze was all over the place, 0-10/12 mph and from several different directions. I shot as fast as I could pull that crappy trigger. With a clean trigger, an AO scope, and no wind, I'm sure I could knock at least ten percent off the group sizes below.
Remington Golden Bullets:
Anschutz 64: .207
Norinco JW-15: .326
Ruger 77/22V: .329
CZ 452: .350
Winchester 69A: .360
Winchester XPerts:
Anschutz 64: .233
Ruger 77/22V: .253
Winchester 69A: .294
CZ 452: .314
Norinco JW-15: .475
Federal 510 Champions
Anschutz 64: .207
Ruger 77/22V: .208
CZ 452: .211
Winchester 69A: .284
Norinco JW-15: .390
CCI MiniMags (solids):
CZ 452: .215
Anschutz 64: .237
Winchester 69A: .292
Ruger 77/22V: .307
Norinco JW-15: .333
Federal Walmart Bulk:
Anschutz 64: .198 (believe it or not, and yes I've backed it up)
CZ 452: .313
Ruger 77/22V: 465
Norinco JW-15: .554
Winchester 69A: .587
Winchester Dynapoints:
CZ 452: .170
Anschutz 64: .235
Norinco JW-15: .291
Ruger 77/22V: .307
Winchester 69A: .337
Note that the CZ actually outshot the Anschutz with two of the six ammo types, and the heavy-barreled Ruger 77/22V with three. (Furthermore, it came within .003' of equaling the performance of the 77/22V with that gun's favorite ammo, Federal Champions.) The CZ 452 shot the tightest group average I've EVER recorded: the Winchester Dyanpoints, at .170', edging out the previous champion, Rhineland R22 with CCI MiniMags, .182', and even beating the Annie 64's best (Fed Bulks at .198').
Oh yes, I LIKE this little rifle!