Long range 22 LR
- Thread starter aprocast
- Start date
Depends on what you are doing. Punching paper from a bench it will do great. Shooting PRS you are going to chase balance but you can make it work.
The tikka probably has the best fit and finish and smoothest bolt on an off the shelf factory rifle. I created a profile and have taken mine out to 350 several times and it hits where my kestrel tells me to aim. The only reason I upgraded was shooting PRS I couldn’t get a 16” to balance like I wanted.
After market support is there but isn’t on par as to what the CZs have with barrels mags and chassis but again if punching paper the tikka is hard to beat.
I have owned 10/22s, tikkas, cz and RimX
tl;dr: Unless there's some additional reason to go with the T1X, aftermarket support for CZ is better.
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From what I've seen at the range and at matches, CZ rules the factory-rifle space. The only T1x experience I have is through a guy I used to shoot with; he bought one of the early T1Xs which shot fine for a few dozen rounds and then it lost accuracy until it was cleaned. That was years ago.
I haven't seen a CZ 457 Varmint or MTR that doesn't shoot very well. I’m There was a guy at the range last night with a 457 in an MDT ACC chassis, pounding away on a 6-inch plate at 295 yards. He had a Lilja drop-in barrel on it. If I was going to do a factory rifle, I'd find a cheap-o 457 variant, put it in something like a KRG Bravo, and replace the barrel. I've heard mixed reviews of the Lilja drop-ins, but the one I saw last night was a hammer.
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From what I've seen at the range and at matches, CZ rules the factory-rifle space. The only T1x experience I have is through a guy I used to shoot with; he bought one of the early T1Xs which shot fine for a few dozen rounds and then it lost accuracy until it was cleaned. That was years ago.
I haven't seen a CZ 457 Varmint or MTR that doesn't shoot very well. I’m There was a guy at the range last night with a 457 in an MDT ACC chassis, pounding away on a 6-inch plate at 295 yards. He had a Lilja drop-in barrel on it. If I was going to do a factory rifle, I'd find a cheap-o 457 variant, put it in something like a KRG Bravo, and replace the barrel. I've heard mixed reviews of the Lilja drop-ins, but the one I saw last night was a hammer.
I think one reason it rules is that they actually make a platform that can. The wood stock MTR is easy to drill pockets for a heavy rail to make balance and comes with a match barrel.
All tikka has is that cheap crappy plastic stock. Hopefully, the sponsoring of NLR22 this year will push them to offer a few more platforms. I don’t think the ACE was it though.
Yeah, if you want a general purpose .22 that you are just going to buy and shoot, go with either the T1X or the CZ. If you are going to modify it to fit some role, the CZ is kinda like the 10/22 of the rimfire bolt gun world.
Mine has a Lilja on it. Although I wasn't impressed with the machine work and was much less impressed with the customer support, I have to admit it's a hammer. Since I intended to shoot SK out if it, I set the headspace to .039, pillar bedded the action and torqued to 35 in-lbs. I've shot it against vudoo and RimX rigs and from an accuracy perspective, it holds its own. When it came to positional shooting, I'm at a disadvantage because mine isn't setup for that.
Mine has a Lilja on it. Although I wasn't impressed with the machine work and was much less impressed with the customer support, I have to admit it's a hammer. Since I intended to shoot SK out if it, I set the headspace to .039, pillar bedded the action and torqued to 35 in-lbs. I've shot it against vudoo and RimX rigs and from an accuracy perspective, it holds its own. When it came to positional shooting, I'm at a disadvantage because mine isn't setup for that.
NO negatives.I got a T1X when they first came out. It will shoot any ammo you put in it. I shoot long range steel matches. And have shot steel out to 500yds with it. The T1X will run with the best of them. It does not need a barrel change, just a $10 trigger spring change for a 1lb. trigger. I put mine in a KRG Bravo to get the weight up. Accuracy did not change. I put it back into factory stock for factory / sporter classes.
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Well then rebarrel it and try other ammo. Rimfire game is not for the lazy or weak at heart.
CZ has a plethora of profit match barrel options, massive aftermarket and mags that actually feed. Other than them not being full aics form factor, it's really hard to beat.
CZ has a plethora of profit match barrel options, massive aftermarket and mags that actually feed. Other than them not being full aics form factor, it's really hard to beat.
This should have been emphasized earlier: what do you want to do with the rifle? And what ammo are you using in your 452?
Full disclosure: my input is based on competition-grade accuracy. I expect a near-100% hit rate on a 1/4" dot at 50 yards or 1.5" circle at 100 with good ammo (ammo is the limiting factor in .22LR accuracy, not the quality of the rifle itself). If all you want is a plinker that will hit a 1" circle at 50 yards with mid-tier ammo, any of the entry level bolt-action rifles should fulfill that role.
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With that said:
Ammo:
You said your 452 is "very average" wrt accuracy. What ammunition have you tried? I had a guy show up at the range with a brand-new 457 MTR... after awhile, he noticed I was shooting .22 and said, "I thought these 457s are supposed to be accurate. I can't get better than an inch and a half at 50 yards."
Yeah, he had a literal "bucket'a'bullets" jug of the cheapest bulk garbage ammo on the market. I gave him a box of SK Standard+ and told him to shoot enough to "re-season" the barrel with the different lube. Twenty rounds later, he could easily cover his 50-yard 5-shot group with a dime.
The platform:
The 452 is two generations old. You could rebarrel it for better accuracy, but the 452 barrel screws into the receiver... dead end in terms of resale if you chase that. The 457 and previous-gen 455 use the same grub-screw barrel mount design; super-easy swap with Lilja or similar drop-in if needed... but every MTR I've seen shoots great - imo, impossible to beat for the $850-$900 current pricing. Only downside is you'll probably have to get on a wait list because they're in such demand.
Also, the current 457 lineup includes entry-level variants at $500-ish with entry-level plastic stock and entry-level barrel and kinda-sorta-adjustable trigger. Not the same at all as the MTR or higher-level Varmint variants. I don't know if the 452 lineup had different levels like that - my point is, don't judge top-shelf 457s on what might be a baseline 452.
T1X is light and that will make positional shooting more difficult for stability purposes. However the rifle is very consistent and accurate, SK Match — 0.3 to 0.4 - 5 shot groups consistently. The action is not as smooth as my CZ or Vudoo, but most of that is likely associated with the lighter weight of the T1X. If you’re looking for something light weight for hunting suppressed, you can’t go wrong with the T1X. Also less aftermarket for the T1X.
If your looking for PRS or NRL- the go with Cz and trick it out.
If your looking for PRS or NRL- the go with Cz and trick it out.
Not a CZ 457 or 455. They have easy to swap out barrels. You can convert to .22lr, .22WMR, .17M2, or 17HMR with just a corresponding barrel and magazine if going to the magnums from standard.
You could probably find factory barrels on gunbroker. And Lilja makes aftermarket ones.
I had a tikka t1x with a 20” LW barrel in a krg bravo with a bunch of weights. It shot absolutely lights out for me with eley ammo. The only thing I didn’t love was the bolt was somewhat rough, the magazines are tiny, and the ejector was weak. This only applied to rimfire PRS, fr any other type of plinking or steel out to 340 yards (max length at my local range without driving 45 minutes) it was a hammer.
I shoot a Vudoo because it addresses my only complaints with the tikka and I love it. I’ll have a rimx action sometime in the next month if their lead times are accurate and I’m sure it’ll be the same.
Otherwise, the tikka is a killer rifle minus those three little complaints.
I shoot a Vudoo because it addresses my only complaints with the tikka and I love it. I’ll have a rimx action sometime in the next month if their lead times are accurate and I’m sure it’ll be the same.
Otherwise, the tikka is a killer rifle minus those three little complaints.
I have a 20" one. Shoots quite well for a medium weight barrel in a plastic stock. Trigger is good too. Cycling is fine.
It does have somewhat weak ejection. This hasnt caused malfunctions, but could if the bolt is weakly cycled.
It turns of accuracy, it has been perfectly acceptable. With good (but not lot-tested) ammo I have been able to average 1.25" 100 yard groups, with some down into the 0.9-1.0" range. This is with SK Rifle Match and Eley Team.
I am not sure that it is as easily modifiable as the other platforms, but mine is being left stock, and it is a very good stock rifle.
It does have somewhat weak ejection. This hasnt caused malfunctions, but could if the bolt is weakly cycled.
It turns of accuracy, it has been perfectly acceptable. With good (but not lot-tested) ammo I have been able to average 1.25" 100 yard groups, with some down into the 0.9-1.0" range. This is with SK Rifle Match and Eley Team.
I am not sure that it is as easily modifiable as the other platforms, but mine is being left stock, and it is a very good stock rifle.
Are you looking for an accurate cheapie rifle or are you looking to get kinda serious about rimfire?
I went the pieces parts route with my CZ 457. I bought the rifle. Modified the stock. Added the timney trigger and then the Lilja barrel.
For all of the time I spent tweaking, tuning and experimenting, if I had it to do over again, I would just order a whole barreled action from Desert Precision.
