Author Topic: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy  (Read 4070 times)

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Offline aerobat

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CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« on: February 14, 2024, 02:40:47 PM »
Hallo to all from germany . I,m new here and this is my first post except introduction .

I recently purchased a 2002 cz527carbine .223rem and simply love it . The rifle fits perfectly , is very agile and pure fun to shoot at the range . Further ( my main reason i bought it ) its very useful for varmints like fox and also great roe deer ( i,m a hunter )  .

With the weapon i purchased 50 shots of s&b 55gr fmj as well a large amount of russian tullamo 62gr fmj .

The russian ammo is awful . The 100 meters groups are at least 5-8 inch fully sandbag supported at front and back with a fully proven leupold vx3 3.5-10 x 50 and a quality mounting

The s&b , from my experience always a proven ammo , is much
better but even here i cannot get closer than 2 inch groups .

With my remington 700cdl .30-06 i can hit supported at front and back nearly bullseye .

I unstocked the rifle but did not found anything wrong . Barrel seems to be clean .

I will now try norma ammo 55gr fmj as well a hunting ammo -geco sp 50gr

Do i expect too much from this carbine or is there any idea how to further improve this ?

Is there a specific torque for the stock screws ?

Best regards




Offline david s

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2024, 03:26:43 PM »
I believe that CZ recommended 5nm or about 44 inch pounds for the action screws. Personally, I would consider this on the high side of things. The screw torque setting can be adjusted by the trial-and-error method of starting low and gradually tightening the screws, stopping when groups settle down. A second thought would be to look at the barrel in its stock channel. CZ is somewhat notorious for not centering the barrel in the channel. Sometimes CZ uses a small amount of glue to bed the recoil lug and other times they leave it unglued. If the barrel happens to be up against one side of the stock channel which can lead to accuracy problems, you might try centering it. This can require chipping out the glue if it's there though.  I would double check the scope mounts to be sure there still properly tightened and then play some with the two action screws. Your definitely on the correct path by experimenting with different ammos. You didn't mention your CZ 527's 223 rifling twist, CZ offered both the 1-12 inch twist barrels (earlier in production) and later began to swap out to a 1-9 inch twist barrel. If your barrel happens to be a 1-9 twist a 50-55 grain bullet with its higher velocity and consequently higher RPM's the bullet may take a bit longer (more than 100 meters) to settle down. The common analogy being a child's spinning top, at first it wobbles and wanders around until it finally settles down and goes to "sleep", then remaining stable and mostly in a single spot. One of my CZ 527's in 223 with a 1-9 twist barrel shoots quite a bit better groups at 200 (substantially smaller than twice the 100-yard target) yards compared to a normal 100 yard groups. I would think the rifle capable of better accuracy than 2 inches with the S&B 55 grain FMJ ammo but then again, it's also possible your rifle just doesn't care for this load.

Offline aerobat

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2024, 03:58:23 PM »
Thanks david for your very useful reply !

I,ve read about the different twists but never found out how to make sure by year of manufacture or serial number what twist i have beyond trying to measure it with a cleaning rod and patch .

How do i know if its 1:12 or 1:9 ?

I currently have the action screws at 4nm and it feels tight but i will try other values . Up to 5nm nothing bad should happen .

I triple checked the mounts and torqued to specs , nothing moves or is loose . The leuopold scope is from my remington where i now installed a new meopta and i,m sure the scope is perfectly fine ao i would exclude this .


Offline david s

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2024, 07:45:27 PM »
I reread your first post, and you mentioned that your Carbines a 2002 vintage, I spaced that out when I first replied. A 2002 barrel would be a 1-12, in the states the earliest I think I've heard for a 1-9 was around 2007 with the Kevlar Varmint model 527's in 223. Later on, CZ began stamping the barrels 1-9. Cleaning rod and patch is probably the easiest way to confirm it though. I have one of the Carbine models in 223 with the Leupold imported Redfield 4-12X on it. A number of years ago I purchased a CZ 527 American in 223 as a lightweight coyote rifle to replace a larger actioned Remington Classic in 223. The little Carbines has since replaced the slightly bigger American in this roll. If I'm remembering correctly the Carbine was made in 2012 and still has a 1-12 barrel. In the U.S. reloading to tailor your ammo to the rifle is one option. Another would be to try a small pad at the end of the Carbine stocks barrel channel to apply some upward pressure on the barrel. One or two layers of business cards thick. The opposite of free floating the barrel. Sometimes this will settle things down. Or you could try going the other way and free float the entire barrel and glass beg the action. I personally don't like to make permanent modifications to a rifle until I've exhausted the other options though. If the pad doesn't work, you just remove the shims. If neither the Norma ammo nor the Geco perform well then, I would begin looking at other things. Hopefully it just didn't like the S&B ammo.
                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                             

Offline Wobbly

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2024, 08:03:23 AM »
The Russian ammo is awful.


And it may damage your barrel. Some of it is jacketed in steel instead of copper or gilding metal. Try a magnet on a bullet next time you have some.
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Offline aerobat

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2024, 09:34:38 AM »
Yes i will check further ammo and see if i can improve this a bit . I will report how the norma goes .

Good hint on the russian ammo . The case is steel for sure , never checked the bullet but will do .

Honestly i do not even know if it is .223 or 5.56nato specs . It appears to be a hot load . I got the bulk for close to nothing so sad it does not shoot right .

The rifle is from a friend so i know it was not shot often . He got a bulk of 1000 shots of the tullamo / barnaul stuff and i got 500 rounds .

So the rifle has ~500-700 rounds in its total life . Hopefully the barrel is not damaged .

Beyond that the 527 is great . I,ve adjusted the trigger to how i like it and generally it works without any faults .



Offline aerobat

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2024, 12:52:41 PM »
And it may damage your barrel. Some of it is jacketed in steel instead of copper or gilding metal. Try a magnet on a bullet next time you have some.

I tried and you are right. Its a steel jacketed bullet after I tried a magnet. Ammunition is Barnaul .223 62gr fmj .
« Last Edit: February 18, 2024, 07:14:18 PM by Wobbly »

Offline aerobat

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Re: CZ 527 carbine .223 only average accurancy
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2024, 02:48:58 PM »
Ok friends , Some good news !

Today i was at the range and before this i inspected my new cz527.

The previous owner removed the fittings for the carry belt and has put blind screws in the place , giving me the original attachments . I wanted the attachments back installed since of course during hunts i need a belt . I saw that uncrewing the front there was much tension between the stock and the barrell . Inserting the original belt attachments on the stock removed the tension and the barrell was fully free floating.

His dummy screws were too long i found out !

At the range the groups immediately improved much while i tried a variety of ammo .

The best results ( all 100 yards , front and back on sandsack with leupold vx3 3.5-10 x50 ) were with geco sp 53gr where the holes touched or were very close too .

Very close to it was the norma 55gr fmj with well sub-moa groups .

The s&b 55gr fmj was a touch more worse but still very good . About the same can be said about federal jhp varmint 50gr

The worse is still the russian barnaul 62gr but even here groups improved noticeable .

All ammo except the russian shoots 1moa or less now !

I,m happy as it gets and love this gun , found my ammo : training : norma 55gr fmj , hunting : geco 53gr sp .

I will no longer use the russian steel case / steel jacket ammo.

It was very helpul from you to provide information about checking if the barrell free floats / tension of the stock as well ammo testing   

Thank you all again !