Savage Mark 2 BTVS or CZ 452 in .22 mag?

[JonF 79]

I'm thinking about getting a .22 Magnum rifle lately and have narrowed it down to either a Savage Mark 2 BTVS (thumbhole stock, stainless bull barrel, bolt action, accu trigger) or a CZ 452 (bolt action, blued bull barrel, traditional stock). They both fall in the ~$400 range and although each has some slight differences, these are the ones i'm leaning towards. I got a chance to handle a basic savage in .22LR at Cheyenne mtn and the bolt didn't seem that smooth. I hear the Savages are good shooters though and the accutrigger is nice out of the box. I have not handled a CZ rifle in any rimfire configuration though so i'm unsure what the quality is like on those. Does anyone have any of these two rifles and can comment on them? Anyone have or handled/shot both and can compare?

 

Jon

[lunker 274]

I'm thinking about getting a .22 Magnum rifle lately and have narrowed it down to either a Savage Mark 2 BTVS (thumbhole stock, stainless bull barrel, bolt action, accu trigger) or a CZ 452 (bolt action, blued bull barrel, traditional stock). They both fall in the ~$400 range and although each has some slight differences, these are the ones i'm leaning towards. I got a chance to handle a basic savage in .22LR at Cheyenne mtn and the bolt didn't seem that smooth. I hear the Savages are good shooters though and the accutrigger is nice out of the box. I have not handled a CZ rifle in any rimfire configuration though so i'm unsure what the quality is like on those. Does anyone have any of these two rifles and can comment on them? Anyone have or handled/shot both and can compare?

 

Jon

 

I have handled a number of CZ rifles and find their quality to be excellent. I do not own any though and haven't shot them either, so take my recommendation for what you think it is worth.

[Joe_D 0]

I'm thinking about getting a .22 Magnum rifle lately and have narrowed it down to either a Savage Mark 2 BTVS (thumbhole stock, stainless bull barrel, bolt action, accu trigger) or a CZ 452 (bolt action, blued bull barrel, traditional stock). They both fall in the ~$400 range and although each has some slight differences, these are the ones i'm leaning towards. I got a chance to handle a basic savage in .22LR at Cheyenne mtn and the bolt didn't seem that smooth. I hear the Savages are good shooters though and the accutrigger is nice out of the box. I have not handled a CZ rifle in any rimfire configuration though so i'm unsure what the quality is like on those. Does anyone have any of these two rifles and can comment on them? Anyone have or handled/shot both and can compare?

 

Jon

 

I own a CZ452 American in .22lr. It is a quality rifle. The action is smooth and it shoots better than I do, even when using inexpensive ammo like Federal Champion or Automatch. I don't think you can go wrong with one. I have not handled or shot a Savage so I really can't make a comparison between the two.

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

I can't really help you as I own neither of the guns in question. What I am curious about is what you are going to do with a .22WRM and whether or not you have considered a .17HMR? I do have a .17HMR and it's about the most fun you can have sitting down. You are going to pay a premium for .22WMR ammo anyway, why not get an inherently accurate cartridge. BTW, the .17HMR in the Savage, from what I've read, is a real shooter. Sorry to muddy the waters.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

[JonF 79]

I've considered the 17HMR but decided to go with the larger .22 with its higher energy, less drift and finally, lower TCO. Both are fine calibers though and for many purposes, would be interchangeable.

[JonF 79]

Well, i looked at a few local places and no one had any CZ rimfires to try, however i did find a used smallbore centerfire model at Sportsmans center and the set trigger was awesome. The bolt was quite smooth too but not sure if the rimfires would be representative of the same. I ended up getting a Savage 93 BTVS at Cheyenne and it turned out to be an absolute tack driver! I had a spare Muller scope and began sighting it in at 50 and took a few shots at that distance and it was shooting touching clover leaves! I moved out to 75 and worked on that a bit and was able to shoot a few more good groups before running out of ammo. Need to get some more and head out there again, this thing is too sweet! I can see my 10/22 becoming quite lonely now.

[Col. Mortimer 11]

I have a CZ in .22LR and .17HMR. They are good values for the money. The .17HMR trigger had some creep. I would really think about the .17HMR. It is a more accurate round than the .22 magnum. I have a Henry lever action in .22 magnum so I do shoot the mags.

[HODGIE 3]

17HMR are center fire velocity with rimfire cost. The 17s shoot very fast for rimfire, (2300- 2500fps.) And very flat. With the Vmax bullets you get rapid energy transfer that you don't with lead round nose and hollow points on the 22s.

 

They lack much energy roughly half again what a 22LR will give and less than 22mag, and when they run out of steam tend to fall off in ballistics rapidly. Basically a 200 or less yard smaller varmint round. Wind effects them terribly as well.

 

They are accurate if that is the prime requirement, and fall in around about the same cost to shoot as 9mm.