For those that have a CZ with a plastic magazine well, chances are that if you remove the action from the stock to do adjustments or any other work, the magazine well will probably crack. Especially if one removes it to either do a thorough cleaning of the receiver and the parts within. With the advent of the CZ 455, the changing of calibers / barrels / magazine spacer requires some handling of the unstocked action and is not a question of if the plastic magazine well will crack, but when. Even heeding not over tightening the mounting screws for the magwell, just gingerly handling my action while adjusting the trigger caused the plastic well on my 455 to crack. Other than lowering manufacturing costs and making the process easier, I have no idea why CZ went this route and in my opinion, a weak link on a rather nice platform.
Enter the D.I.P. (Diversified Innovative Products) aluminum magazine well for CZ rifles. If planning to purchase a CZ, you may as well budget the $29.97 (at the time of this review) for a replacement well. While ordering the new aluminum well, might as well get the extended magazine release which adds a little more ease in releasing the magazine. Quite handy for use while wearing gloves or at other times when a quicker positive reload is desired. For $14.97 (at the time of this review), it's nice compliment to the rest of the package, and you will have to remove the original to put in the replacement well - might as well upgrade at this time.
<span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="text-decoration: underline">452/453 </span> </span> (.22LR & .17Mach 2) aluminum magazine well -
http://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=164872&CAT=3600
<span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="text-decoration: underline">452/453 </span> </span> (.22 WMR & .17 HMR) aluminum magazine well -
http://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=164873&CAT=3600
<span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="text-decoration: underline">455</span> </span> (.17Mach 2 / .22 LR / .17 HMR / .22 WMR) aluminum magazine well -
http://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=164874&CAT=3600
<span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="text-decoration: underline">Extended magazine release</span> </span> -
http://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=735026&CAT=3600
First about D.I.P., they are doing things right....in a world where customer service is practically non-existant, D.I.P. gives next or same day processing of an order, and I had received my items in 3 days, even using standard postal delivery. Any questions you may have are actually answered personally from the owner of the company honestly and in a very timely manner - adding further confidence to your purchase. Instead of selling you a bill of goods you don't need just to make a sale and leave you "hanging", they actually take care of their customers, provide handy quality products (some exclusive to D.I.P.) for rimfire / centerfire rifles and a few pistol items at a price that doesn't let you feel taken advantage of. New usefull products are developed and added every few months.
***This is not a paid endorsement or am I affiliated in any other way with D.I.P., just an "Atta boy" to a company that does good business - rarely found these days, and Made in the USA is the icing on the cake.***
Home page:
http://www.diproductsinc.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=164873&CAT=3600
Getting back to the magazine well, installation is easy, and took only a few minutes. The install actually took a fraction of the time it took to write this review, and doesn't require any special skills.
1. <span style="font-weight: bold">As when handling any firearm, make sure the firearm is unloaded!</span>, remove magazine and bolt per the manuals instructions.
2. Remove the action mounting bolts (T-30 Torx bit), remove the trigger guard and trigger dust cover / trigger adjustment tool, remove the action from the stock.
3. Using a 3MM hex wrench, remove the front mounting bolt, loosen the rear mounting bolt, slide out the plastic mag well.
4. An exploded view, shows the magazine release, caliber change magazine spacer, and the silver bolt guide that goes inside the receiver which is held in place by the magazine well mounting bolts. The magazine release and spacer are easily removed by pushing the pins out. Be careful not to lose the pins or the spring that is on the back side of the magazine release.
The factory plastic magazine well on the left, D.I.P. aluminum magazine well on the right (top and bottom view):
The aluminum mag well is lightweight, yet doesn't seem cheap. There is the the one side that is open, I do not know why that is other than to more easily machine the well, but does not hinder the tracking of the magazine during reloads. I don't know at this time if this open area will cause any extra wear to the poly magazines or put wear the inside of the stock if misaligned magazines are forced in time after time, but the magazines are guided nicely into place, again I don't believe this open area will be an issue. The entry of the magazine well has a beveled edge, which I believe is a nice touch, however is not fully utilized as the bottom metal of the stock frames it - at least there is a precise fit. A side tip is to actually bevel the sides of the bottom metal to help in aiding the magazine home.
You can also see the recessed circular area where the spring for the magazine release sets into place, another recessed area is on the release for positive retention. A quick note is that the spring tension can be "adjusted" for a stiffer or looser retention by slightly stretching, compressing, or trimming it.
The extended magazine release - on the left is the factory mag release, on the left is the D.I.P. version. You can see the extra length on the D.I.P. release, plus it's not skeletonized. You will be using the factory pin and spring, align the spring into both recessed areas and the hole for the pin into the magazine well, insert pin. A little lube on the pin lends to a very smooth operation.
5. With the magazine release and caliber change spacer reinstalled by adding the pins, you can now attach the magazine well to the receiver.
6. Slide magazine well into the rear magazine mounting bolt (it is the longer bolt that retains the bolt guide) and screw in the front magazine mounting bolt with the 3MM hex wrench. I do not know what the torque spec would be, however I did apply a decent amount of tightening, no worries about cracking anything.
<span style="font-weight: bold"> I should also note that the ability to torque the mag well down more should give the silver bolt guide rail a more solid foundation than the platic magazine well. And since part of the barrel rests on this silver bolt guide rail, it should transfer over to a more solid foundation for the barrel, and possibly add to improved consistancy and accuracy. I have no proof of this at this time, but it does make sense in theory.
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The installed aluminum magazine well & release:
7. Reinstall into the stock, reverse order of the take down.
You can see the difference in the amount that the magazine release protrudes from the bottom of the stock. I may have preferred it to be 1/16" to 1/8" longer to be flush with the bottom of the 5 round magazine, but it still is an improvement over the factory release for not only ejecting the magazine, but also to helps to guide the magazine into the well. Perfect for use with gloves, or quicker reloads for competition or hunting.
The D.I.P. aluminum magazine well & extended release are definately a very nice added feature to your CZ rifle. The benefits of both by adding a more solid piece added to the receiver that also ties in other parts of the rifle can only be beneficial. Especially when considering that at the time of this writing, $45.00 for both and no requirement for a gunsmith to do the work just makes sense.
