CZ put the best of everything into the 457 Varmint Long Range Precision rimfire rifle to truly stretch the abilities of the .22 LR, whether you’re scoring points at the range or lying far away to snipe rabbits.
It is a rifle for those who want clinical accuracy and have the cash to justify it — a .22 rimfire that’s more accurate at 100m than the majority of centrefire rifles and is suitable for shooting beyond 200m.
I know, it’s not a $600 sporter to carry around and take pot shots at bunnies but such a comparison is meaningless when you consider the purpose of this $2125 rifle and the level of sophistication it boasts.
The best place to start with the Varmint LRP is the bit that’s most deeply buried inside all the impressive parts that make up this rifle: The match-grade chamber is the key to its incredible accuracy and the justification for everything built around it, because CZ has made it to the tightest, most precise tolerances possible.
CZ claims it has built the chamber to “the very edge” of tolerances allowed by CIP, the European small-arms proofing commission, which is more exacting than the American-based SAAMI standards. In a nutshell, this means a close fit for every cartridge you feed into it and, therefore, greater accuracy. If your ammo flops around in a loose chamber, there’s not much point building the rest of the rifle to the quality of the 457 Varmint LRP.
The receiver is beautifully machined and finished, with wonderfully smooth bolt travel. Clamped into the front of the receiver, the cold hammer forged 52.5cm (nominally 20”) barrel is finished with a match-grade crown to ensure the good work started inside the chamber is continued as the bullet leaves the rifle.
The barrel is a heavy one, 22mm wide from front to rear, but lightened somewhat by 7mm wide, 1mm deep flutes running almost its full length.
There’s a 45mm long muzzle brake on the end with 20 small, round ports in it. A brake might seem superfluous on a .22, particularly one as heavy as this, but every little bit of recoil reduction and muzzle-jump mitigation helps improve the accuracy you can achieve.
More to the point, according to the CZ, is that it also reduces the de-stabilising effect the escaping gasses can have on the bullet as they swirl past its base at the instant it leaves the barrel.
At the other end, the bolt is only 13cm long and has a short 60-degree lift. Bolt travel is just over 4cm — nice and short. The oversized rubber bolt knob is almost overkill but, like everything else, it guarantees supreme functionality.
The CZ has one of the sweetest-operating rimfire bolts you’ll use and, like the entire rifle, it is nicely finished.
The bolt is released by thumbing a typical lever on the left of the receiver, but if you’ve raised the cheek piece you’ll have to lower it, requiring a T25 Torx driver, before you can fully extract the bolt.
The trigger is adjustable for weight as well as travel before and after the shot. From the factory it came set at 1.3kg with a little free travel before releasing. To suit my preference, I adjusted out the travel then lightened the pull as far as possible, which was down to 1kg but that’s not as low as the 800g or so CZ claims it should go. Given that I was plinking and shooting vermin, and that the release was crisp and extremely consistent, I was satisfied.
The two-position safety of the 457 is a sear blocker built into the trigger, its lever positioned on the right side of the receiver with light but secure and tactile travel.
On top of the receiver, a 25 MOA long-range rail comes standard. Its built-in elevation makes it easier to dial any scope for the high trajectories required for long ranges but won’t be enough to hinder close-range aiming with any modern scope.
The stock is made of beech wood with a synthetic coating, and it is quite stiff. The bedding is firm enough to provide all the support the action seems to need.
Two action screws thread into the front and rear of the receiver. A steel recoil lug set into the stock engages the underside of the receiver’s tang. The barrel does not touch any of the stock’s channel, which is a neat, consistently close fit.
The stock’s shape is pure benchrest chic and as beefy as a prize bull. The fore-end is broad and flat-bottomed, the pistol grip is straight and almost vertical, and the butt is designed for a tailored fit as well as imparting stability. Its speckled finish is smooth and attractive, while soft-touch grip panels have the texture of very coarse pumice stone.
To get the fit right, the length of pull is adjustable using spacers while the comb can be raised. Additionally, you can slide the butt pad up and down to get it just right in your shoulder. The grip is big and broad with a notable palm swell on both sides for ambidextrous use. Despite its size, I think even small hands won’t struggle to grasp it and the trigger is within easy reach of your finger.
The fore-end is almost 6cm wide. You can hold it firmly to pull the LRP down onto a rest if that’s what you do, but the hooked butt also gives you plenty to hold onto if you use your non-shooting hand to hold the butt. The hooked butt can be wedged into a rear bag, and the butt’s base contains a rail to which you can attach a foot. With a spare sling swivel stud up front, you can attach a bipod. If you use a sling, the front stud is the standard type while the butt contains left and right cups to accept QD swivels.
It’s exactly the stock you want for prone or benchrest shooting because it gives you all the options to get set up and has the weight, bulk and bedding to enhance accuracy.
There’s nothing to stop you buying almost any of CZ’s other stocks — all but the sporter-type ones, essentially — so you can turn your LRP into a more portable rifle, too, and have the best of both worlds. From the lighter synthetic stock to a Boyd’s At-One laminated stock, there are several possibilities.
I fitted a Meopta Optika6 4.5-27×50 FFP scope to the CZ (see our test), creating a long-range rimfire beast with the magnification and adjustment to put rabbits at risk at 200m, at least in theory. Then I began shooting at 50m, the CZ snuggled into bags on a bench.
I could watch every shot go and hit. The rifle weighs 3.8kg bare and well over 4kg with the big Meopta, so with the muzzle brake’s assistance there’s almost no movement from recoil. With earmuffs to soften the already limited noise of the rimfire ammo (especially the slower target loads) there’s no excuse at all for flinching or even blinking.
Testing with 10 varied types of rimfire ammunition demonstrated the results you’d expect of such a high-end rifle, with above-average accuracy in most cases. As expected, the CZ favoured the match-grade ammo: both types of Eley competition rounds produced excellent results, with best groups of 5mm and 7mm at 50m, and nothing worse than 12.5mm, ie, everything under MOA. The RWS stuff was close behind.
S&B’s Club ammo and Winchester’s M22 target/plinking loads did nicely, showing good potential if you were to experiment with other club competition-grade ammunition that doesn’t cost as much as the likes of Eley.
All the hunting loads varied, as is the case with typical rimfire ammunition, but I’d back the CZ to find something it liked well enough to trust beyond 120m — long range by .22 LR hunting standards.
It’s worth noting that even the lighter hyper-velocity bullets produced decent results, albeit with the odd flyer, whereas many rifles just won’t deal with them.
Interestingly, all of the ammunition shot faster than the makers’ nominal velocity claims except the two hyper-velocity loads, which were significantly slower and showed the greatest variation from shot to shot. Some supposedly subsonic target loads shot faster than the speed of sound out of the LRP’s barrel, if only just.
Speaking of ammunition, we should briefly revisit the idea of the match-grade chamber. Match-grade ammo made with the same close tolerances to CIP dimensions should work best. It means there should always be at least .76mm from the case mouth to the point at which the chamber starts to narrow. There may be as little as .02mm clearance between the case and the chamber walls immediately in front of the rim, and no clearance at all at the case mouth. The bullet will be seated in the rifling.
Not all .22 LR ammo is equal and certainly not all will fit comfortably in the CZ’s chamber. The wrong ammo will be hard to chamber, may not shoot accurately and could even pose a danger of damaging the rifle. Choose wisely and you’ll give the CZ the chance to shine, but otherwise there’s no guarantees.
There are fewer guarantees when you begin shooting past about 100m with any .22 LR. With a few light breezes blowing crosswise, I set up a target at 200m and grabbed the remaining RWS Rifle Match ammo I had. The ballistic calculator said to dial in 8.2 mil of elevation but by the time I was on target the turret read 7.5. From there, I put 10 shots into 10cm; five shots were in a 20mm group, with four of them in one ragged cluster.
Considering the casual approach I took to it all, I’d say that’s a remarkable result that could easily be improved upon.
There’s much more to say about the 457 Long Range Precision. I haven’t even mentioned the fact it’s a switch-barrel design so you can change calibres and barrel profiles in minutes; nor the good looking and exceptionally tough satin finish on the barrelled action.
Overall, it’s clear that CZ has made no compromises in building its Long Range Precision rimfire, equipping it with a stunning array of top-shelf components and putting them together with care.
The accuracy speaks for itself while the ease of use, out-of-the-box performance and quality construction speak volumes for the CZ’s design and execution. It’s a rifle that delivers peak performance and pride of ownership.
Thanks to Mudgee Firearms for assistance with transfers and having a great variety of ammunition available.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Manufacturer: CZ, Czech Republic
- Type: Turn-bolt action rimfire
- Calibre: .22 LR
- Barrel: Cold hammer forged, 52.5cm (20”), 1:16” twist, heavy, fluted with compensator
- Magazine: Detachable, 5 rounds
- Trigger: Fully adjustable, 800g-1.4kg
- Safety: 2 position, sear blocking
- Sights: None; 25 MOA Weaver-type rail fitted
- Stock: Beech with synthetic coatings; adjustable comb and butt height and length of pull
- Weight: 3.8kg bare
- RRP: $2290
- Distributor: Winchester Australia
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