CZ 452 American

Everyone needs a good .22, and mine is the CZ 452 American in .22 Long Rifle. I kept hearing how nice it is, and I have to agree. The stock on this is excellent: crisp, flawless checkering and a smooth, perfect finish. The fit and function is great. And I was shocked to discover that the barrel is fully free-floated.

Caliber:	.22 Long Rifle
Barrel:
Action:
Stock:
Trigger:	3 lb 5 oz (w/Rimfire Technologies adjustable sear)
Scope:	Bushnell Rimfire 3-12x40mm w/Side Focus and BDC Turret
Weight:

I purchased this rifle in 2008.

Optics

I have a Bushnell 4x32mm Rimfire scope mounted on it. It is good for hunting, but for target shooting, I am wishing I had something with more magnification or finer subtension. I have ordered an upgraded scope for this rifle, a Bushnell Rimfire 3-12x40mm Side Focus Riflescope (633124). It will have wide enough field of view for hunting, but long enough power for target shooting, plus it has BDC turrets, side-adjustable parallax, a larger objective lens, and still uses a 1" tube.

Trigger

The factory trigger had quite a bit of creep, but was only adjustable for pull weight. In 2010, I installed an adjustable sear made by Rimfire Technologies.

Zero

The new scope is zeroed at 50 yards using Remington .22 Golden Bullet High Velocity Hollow Point ammunition. The bullet is within a half inch of the sight axis from 13 to 61 yards.

1280 fps at the muzzle, 1010 fps at 100 yards. 36 grain bullet. BC is .127 (apparently).

NOTE: I need to re-check the sight height and the trajectory. With a 50 yard zero, I calculated that the bullet drop would be 5.5, but I was completely missing the paper. (Duh, the bottom edge of the paper is 5.5 inches.)

Ammunition

The scope is zeroed at 50 yards using Remington .22 Golden Bullet High Velocity Hollow Point ammunition. I like this ammunition because it has a true hollow point, and also because it has a muzzle velocity of 1280 fps with a 36 grain projectile.

WARNING! Remington has made at least three different kinds of Golden Bullet ammunition. I'm happy with the 36 grain, but there are also 40 and 29 grain varieties. Remington is currently publishing only ballistic data on their web site for the 29 grain version, which is surprisingly low velocity. It makes me worry that they may have discontinued the one I like.

I am also looking for good target ammunition. See below for the complete results. Federal Gold Medal Target is sub-MOA in my rifle, and is reasonably priced. It also prints (at 50 yards) in the same place as the Golden Bullet, which I use to hunt.

Remington Golden Bullet HP

This is my favorite ammunition for use in the field. I have successfully killed groundhogs and squirrels with it. It has a real hollow cavity in the bullet, rather than simply a miniscule dent in nose. It also has good ballistics: 36 grain bullet at 1280 fps. Accuracy is sufficient for hunting.

ELEY Match EPS

I love this stuff. I got some really great groups with this stuff. It is easy to see why it is so expensive. Additionally, the bullet is effectively a semi-wadcutter, leaving nice, neat holes in the paper.

Federal Gold Medal Target 711B

Good low-cost target ammunition. In my rifle, groups are typically sub-MOA. Reasonably priced.

Winchester T22

Reasonable target accuracy, reasonably priced.

ELEY Standard

Reasonable accuracy, but nowhere near as good as the Match EPS. Mediocre price ($6 per 50 rds).

RWS Target Rifle

Reasonable accuracy, mediocre price ($7 per 50 rds).

Remington 22 Target

Disappointing accuracy.

Aguila Sniper SubSonic

You've got to be kidding me. Buy this only if you want to see what happens when bullets don't twist fast enough. It was so bad, I wrote a review.

Status

March 10, 2019: I have just upgraded the scope, and it is now zeroed. I need to get some more range time with this scope, because I'm not certain it is doing what I expect it to do at various ranges.