Bought my first rifle - CZ=452!

[The Undertoad]

I picked up my first rifle lsat night, a CZ 452 Special from member MP-44. I am pleased as hell with this rifle, it looks to be very well put together for the price. Wood is pretty, trigger is nice when dryfiring. The stock is very comfortable too. Easy to take down for cleaning also.

In about an hour I'm going to the store for ammo and a case, then to the range, assuming the weather holds.

Is there any way I could hurt it by dryfiring, since it's a rimfire? I remember reading somewhere that some .22 pistols shouldn't be dryfired without snap caps because you could damage the firing pin. ???

I can't decide whether to get something in .308 (like Savage 10FP) next, or something based on the AK platform.

I'll let you guys know how the trip to the range goes!

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Don't dryfire your rifle without a snap cap! With rimfires the firing pin may contact the edge of the chamber, which can damage the firing pin, the chamber, or both. (There are some exceptions to this, but this is general -- and safest -- rule.)

Most commercial .22 snap caps I've seen are cheap plastic junk. What I recommend is that when you take it shooting, save a bunch of the empties. Then use them as snap caps, rotating them in the chamber as needed. When the rim is indented most of the way around, toss it and move onto a new case.

Use only empties from your rifle, otherwise you may wind up having to run a cleaning rod down the bore to poke a tight empty case out. (Been there, done that.)

 

[Brian Dale]

Congratulations! I keep reading about what a terrific rifle the CZ-452 is; I bet you'll enjoy it for a long time to come. Everybody needs a .22LR rifle. You wrote,

Is there any way I could hurt it by dryfiring, since it's a rimfire?

YES!

The firing pin of a rimfire weapon hits the (you guessed it) rim of the cartridge when the rifle or pistol is fired. That means that, without a cartridge in place, the firing pin will strike the edge of the chamber mouth when the trigger is pulled. Unless there is a mechanism in the particular weapon to prevent it (and none of mine have such; somebody might chime in to tell you that it's a great feature of the CZ-452, but it's outside the realm of my knowledge) the firing pin can be broken, or even worse, it can peen (leave dents in) the steel of the chamber mouth.

Always put a spent cartridge in the chamber, then double- or triple-check it (if you're like me) to be sure that it's a spent cartridge, before you dry-fire any rimfire weapon. And as you know, Four Rules. Always.

Well Done! We'll expect a range report

{EDIT: Dave beat me to it, and he's right about rotating the ctg.}

 

[The Undertoad]

Thanks guys, I'm on my way out the door to the gun shop right now.

OK, that is what I thought but my friend assured me there wouldn't be a problem dry firing it. Glad I didn't listen to him - love the guy but his rifle experience is pretty much limited to his AR as far as I can tell.

Even so, I was anxious and I dry fired it about 5 times last night just to get a feel for the trigger...won't do it anymore without some spent brass in the chamber.

 

[hksw]

I have not gotten a 452 yet but there are rimfire rifles made that are ok to dryfire. The Ruger 10/22 has a firing pin stop that prevents the face of the firing pin from coming into contact with the barrel. Others, like the Marlins, have a stepped firing pin face that allows the 'outer' surface to hit the barrel farther out from the chamber. The step is shallow enough that the 'inner' surface crimps the rim of a cartridge to ignite it but not allow it to hit the edge of the chamber. (Also true for the Walther P-22.) The Anschütz 1451 allows dryfiring.

This is not to say the 452 is OK to dry fire. When I get one I'll see for myself. Just to say in some cases, dry firing a rimfire .22 rifle is OK.

 

[The Undertoad]

Well, looks like the range report will have to wait. Did go to a giant relatively new store called Outdoor World. They had a good selection of guns, concentrating on hunting. The ammo options, I felt left a bit to be desired - but at least they had all the major calibers. I picked up:

525 Remington .22lr brass plated hollow points Value Pack
500 Remington .22lr Thunderblot "hi-speed" lead round nose
100 CCI minimags
100 CCI minimags (hollowpoint)

But we didn't have a chance to use em. Apparently there was some vandalism at the range back in December and it hasn't been fully fixed yet. The range is closed until further notice, which is really frustrating because it's about a 40 minute drive each way.

 

[Dave R]

That's frustrating, Undertoad. You picked a nice rifle.

It would NOT be good to set up some really thick backstop stuff in the basement when the wife's away, and close all the windows and doors, and then shoot Colibri's or .22 shorts, and then immediately open the windows to air out. Bad idea. Don't do it.

 

[The Undertoad]

I gotta say, I like the way you think, Dave

Unfortunately, I'm still in college, so I live in a dorm room. not quite big enough to set up a range, even with Colibris.

I'm searching online for a new (preferably free) range nearby. Anybody know of one? The one I'm referring to that's closed is the Chickahominy range up route 5.

I'll be calling the 1-800 number to bug the park services every day about if the range is open yet. Hopefully they'll get the hint and open up soon!

 

[RussB]

I recently picked up a 452 trainer...It is one sweet shooting rifle. Of the several brands/types of ammo that I tried, Remington Standard Vel. and Aguila Standard Vel. were outstanding. Dime sized groups at 50 yds.

Oh, and beware of the Super Colibri! CZ's have a tight bore, and a long barrel. I got a Super Colibri projectile loged in the bore...not enough Oomph for it to find it's way out the muzzle!

Here's a pic with a 4X Simmons Pro-Diamond scope...the gun now carried a Tasco 2.8-10x42 Varmint scope on BKL 257 rings...