Battle of the Modern 98s CZ 550 vs Winchester 70

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Kachok

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OK yall I have owned a BUNCH of rifles but I have never owned a CRF Model 98 style action, and I have been getting the itch to buy one, cutsom Mausers are too pricy for my taste (YIKES) so I have narrowed my choice to the CZ 550 and the FN Winchester 70 I know the Ruger 77 is also a Mauser 98 style, I just don't like the fit and finnish on them, very crude by comparison. I am looking for either a 30-06 or a 300 Win Mag and a hardwood stock not a fake wood or synthetic. What are your experences and recomendations with these two rifles?
 
If fit and finish is your criterion, go with the Winchester Model 70. You'll get a bonus, a true 3-position safety (the CZ has dropped the excellent Mauser safety and gone with a trigger-locking 2-position.)
 
As far as I know, the only CZs available in .300 Win Mag are the "Ultimate Hunter" which is a $2,000+ rifle without the Nightforce scope and the Medium Battue, which is a 20" barrel (IMO too short for the .300 Win Mag) and is designed with some odd open sights
 
20" I have never heard or a long action belted magnum with a barrel that short, I wounder if the bullet or the fireball would kill the deer first LOL
 
I would think a wood stocked Tikka Hunter would be on your list? The fit and finish are very nice, the bolt is as smooth as a well used Winchester 70 and that's saying something. Not knocking your first choices. Just adding one :)

Older Rugers with tang mounted safeties are well fitted and finished too. If you came across one that had not been beat to death in the field, I'd be looking it over too :)
 
Oh yes I do LOVE my Tikkas, I will be buying more I assure you. I am drooling over a 270 win SS right now :) Just looking to add some diversity to the collection. A CRF for a dangerious game rifle would do just that. I did find another good deal on a Tikka a NIB Hunter or $450! Only problem is it is a 338 Win Mag! I am not recoil shy but a 6 lbs rifle slinging a 338 mag would HURT!
 
I am always on the lookout for another good deal on a Tikka seeing as I consider them the pinical of rifle engineering, but having a dozen identical rifles no matter how good could be a bit redundent. The Model 70 and the 550 are larger heavier rifles for a larger harder kicking caliber.
 
I have a CZ-550 full stock in 30-06. Plus a few custom Mausers and a few M-70s.

One beef I have with my CZ-550 (and many commercial Mausers) is the safety.

It works fine, but I like the firing pin to be blocked. The M-70 (and original m-98 Mauser & Springfield) safety holds the firing pin in place even while you are cycling rounds into the chamber if the safety is applied to the first position.

Note* The M77MKII Rugers do not block the firing pin in the first position, only the last. So your firing pin is not blocked while cycling rounds. they just made it look sorta like a M-70 safety, but it is not one....

The other beefs I have with my CZ-550 is that the wood is a little soft and the stock finish is not tough enough to protect the wood few dings.
Plus there is a little problem of bluing salts seeping from the barrel / action joint. Even after a few years and constant soaking in oil.
 
So it is pretty clear that the Model 70 wins for caliber selection, saftey, and durability, how do the two compare in terms of accuracy and egronomics? None of the local retailers had a 550 or a model 70 sporter in stock to compare. :(
 
550 American is available in 30-06 with walnut stock.
 
The new (FN / Browning owned) M-70s are very, very nice. they are not cheap, but they are a good quality firearm.

Accuracy and ergonomics are more a matter of which model, caliber and the shooter.

For example many folks, including myself really like the way the M-70 Featherweight carries and shoulders. And they are fairly accurate for two or three shots before the lightweight barrel starts to heat up.

I goofed around with my M-70 Featherweight, (glass bedding, lapping the bore and action and a recrown) and now it will shoot 5-6 shots at under 3/4 inch before the barrel heat opens up the groups. My CZ-550 is only a 1.5 inch group rifle not matter what I do with it.... But that is probably because it has a full length stock.
 
I am willing to spend a few extra $$$ for a high quality rifle, while none of them are any more accurate then the Savages I bought when I was broke, but the little thing on higher end rifles make them so worth the extra $$$. I handled a Model 70 featherweight the other day and it just felt so solid yet sleek, no $386 Savage walmart combo specal could ever mesure up even if it does shoot just as tight. The Model 70s here run $599. Once they get a sporter in stock I don't think I will be able to contain myself any longer. Other rifles that I have considerd are the X-Bolt, Ruger No1, CZ550 and or course anoter Tikka :)
 
Or go classic and look for an older Husqvarna lightweight sporter....
The only problem with them is the darn commercial style trigger only safety.

This one came with double set triggers which are overly complicated. But a neat topic at the range. It weights 6.75 pounds without a scope, is in 30-06 and now (after one of my full bedding jobs) fires 190 grain Hornady soft point boat-tails into a 3/4 inch group at 100 yards.
It was made in 1957.

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Who sells old Husqvarna Mausers? I have yet to see one of those, I found plenty of 1891 Argintine Mausers (no 1909s) and bunches of hacked up or beat up German 98 Mausers and several Turkish Mausers but nothing like that. I Have been tempted to get a beat up 1909 or 98 and do a little restore project, they are such good looking guns when they are cleaned up. I kinna like long barrels and full length stocks but everything I have found has had the stock cut :(
 
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I have the CZ550 in 308 and am nothing short of pleased with the rifle.

I too am intrigued by the Model 70. The one thing that is either a feature or a bug, depending on how one looks at it, is that the CZ feeds from the center of a detachable box magazine, while the M70 feeds alternatively from left and right.

Now the magnum action CZs use an internal box mag that feeds like the M70.

The checkering on my CZ is flawless, although there is one ding in the wood where the floorplate is installed in the bottom of the wood stock. I have not noticed anything soft about the walnut stock, like one of our other contributors has observed.

I feel confident that you will enjoy either of them.
 
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