CZ527 .221 fireball conversion to .17 fireball

M

muskieraider

New member
Looking through some older posts on here, I noticed this has been done by a few members. I was wondering if anyone could shed a little light on this topic and elaborate on what it involves and whether it is worth it price wise (reasonably matched) rather than buying a custom/semi-custom .17 fireball. I wasn't sure if this was a simple barrel swap or if there was a lot more involved. thanks.
 
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1454266&page=2

It's a simple barrel swap unless you want to do the other mods like we talked about in the above thread you started on 12-21-09..

About the only other options are Cooper and maybe Dakota. They both have web sites. A search or phone call will give ya a price range depending on what upgrades you want.

To build one it's the cost of the doner gun plus five to six hundred to rebarrel and true the action. You do the math..
Luck
Charlie
 
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I did one on a Rem 700 LVSF 221 fireball. Simple rebarrel. I dropped mine in a McMillan classic. I certainly could have had one cheaper but I had been contemplating this for a year or two before Rem came out with the 17FB and wasn't going to be happy till I did it so I went ahead and built it the way I wanted. Rem should have offered it in the LVSF, it would have been a great gun. Of course they dropped the whole LVSF line in their infinite wisdom. Great walking woodchuck gun. Mine feeds fine, the 700 can be a bit tricky feeding out of the magazine with this little cartridge.

I really liked Charlies CZ as well, that would be a guaranteed shooter.
 
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Originally Posted By: jdunhamI did one on a Rem 700 LVSF 221 fireball. Simple rebarrel. I dropped mine in a McMillan classic. I certainly could have had one cheaper but I had been contemplating this for a year or two before Rem came out with the 17FB and wasn't going to be happy till I did it

I really liked Charlies CZ as well, that would be a guaranteed shooter.

Thanks,, but honestly,,, just about any good barrel installed by a competent smith is probably gonna shoot..

Your coment about wanting to do that build before Remmy came out with the 17FB made me chuckle...
My story's exactly the same,, and like you,, once I had it in my mind I wasn't about to take the easy and less expencive route.. lol
I'm sure the LVSF's a good platform too. I had one in 17Rem that I liked OK, but I'm an old fogie and couldn't warm to the synthetic stock, so I sold it and rebarreled my shot out 700 Classic in 17Rem and put it back into service..
She's wearing a 22" sporter countour Pac-Nor, and with the 2.5-8 VXIII it's every bit as handy as the CZ.
Between the two of em I doubt that I'll ever look any farther for a walikng Varminter..
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Lots of ways to skin that these Cats, and they're all good as long as they're 17cal..
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Charlie
 
There are those of us that love the little .221 Fireball (Furball) would rather you would use another platform (anything with bolt face for the .378 rim size) such as an older .222 or a .223 rather than sacrifice a perfectly wonderful caliber such as the .221 FB. Don't get me wrong here- as I like my .223 rifles very much and have no plans on ever being without 2 or 3, but if you got a .221 now, and it is a shooter, why make it into something else? Get you an older Savage or Rem 700 or something and along those lines. A very good friend of mine made a .221 Furball from an Stevens rifle and what a shooter it is. No reason that something like that could not be done with the .17 either.

I much enjoy the .17 calibers and have them in rimfire and centerfire both, but sure would hate to see you have to get rid of a fine .221 just so you can have an equally fine .17 caliber.

Just my $.02. That and I love my .221 Fireball. I think you should too. They certainly are keepers in my book.
 
Rusty,,,,,,, There's a leigon of Tripple Duce fans out there that probably feel the same way about your recomendation to kick the 222 to the curb in favor of a 221.. Heck,,, I might even be one of em..
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The main reason for converting a 221 to 17 is to avoid any feeding issues. As much as I like the 700 for a platform, even they can have issues with feeding. Remmy actually repositioned the extractor on the FB bolts to address this issue so if ya like Remmy's it's a logical choice to start with a 221 bolt..
As far as the Savage/Stevens goes,, I cant say how they would or would not feed.. I don't hate Savage rifles,, but I don't much care for em either..
It is another way to skin this Cat though,,,, I guess??
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Charlie
 
I did the exact conversion you are talking about. I bought two CZ 527 Americans. I shot them both (both were very good). I took the best of the two and put it away. I took the other and sent it to Pac Nor for a Super Match grade SS barrel with the contour copied. I also had them true the action and fit the barrel. Since the trigger is easily adjusted by the end user, there was no smith cost there, and oh that set trigger! I sent the bolt handle to James Calhoon and for a $40 exchange got a bolt handle that is shaved down so I could use medium height rings. When the gun came back, it got a set of Warne rings, and a Bushnell 3200 compact scope. While you're at it, when you send your bolt handle to James Calhoon, order one of his single shot followers for the CZ 527 short action. I already had one from another gun. You won't be disappointed. I modified the magazine slightly by bending the front 1/3 of the lips out and polished the edges of the mag with Flitz and a Dremel. At the time I built mine, Remington was the only game in town. Me, I am not a Cooper, Kimber, Dakota or wood worshiper. If I buy one of those, it might be a shooter. If I do it my way, it wiil be a shooter. I don't worry about resale. I want what I want, no matter the cost. Just ask my wife. YMMV
 
cmatera,
Didn't anyone ever tell you not to shoot the donor? Geez
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. Never shot my 221 because I didn't want to know it would shoot everything through one hole. It just makes you feel bad when you part it out.

I like the 700's and knew the feeding was a potential issue when starting my project. I had wanted to build this rifle (Mach IV) for awhile before Rem came out with the 17FB. As Charlie said it was less of an issue when starting with a 221 that had already been tweaked by Remington to handle the little cartridge. Mine feeds fine. The other reason is that there seemed to be boatloads of those LVSF 221's floating around. They were never a big seller and I stole mine. Hard to argue with a cheap donor that is already set up for the cartridge you are building around.

I am looking to grab up another cheap one eventually and plan on leaving that as a 221 Fireball. I am a fan of that cartridge as well.
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I love the .221 Fireball. Never saw one that didn't shoot well. Some a little better than others but all were very good. I also have an 18" synthetic stocked G2 Contender with a Mike Bellm trigger job I use a a truck/tractor/ATV gun(short and easy to handle, quick to unload). Can't say enough about the FB.
 
cmatera,,,,,, Great minds really do think alike..
In case you missed it in the last thread,, here's a pic of my CZ..
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I did RVB's magazine/bottom metal conversion as well as the bolt swap, and med. Warn's..
Mine's wearing a 2.5-10 Elite 4200 but I'd really like to find another 2.5-8 VXIII to put on it.. The 4200's just to big for the petite CZ action IMO.. Plus the VXIII weighs a little less although not much..

I shot this gun as a 221 while I was waiting for Remmy to release some brass for trhe 17FB.. I finally got tired of waiting and bought 100rnds of factory fodder for the brass.. OUCH!!
The rifle as a 221 was the absolute most accurate rifle I've ever bought,, but like I said " I had a plan".LOL
I saved the factory barrel, but doubt that it'll ever find it's way back on this rifle..
Charlie
 
Sweet lookin' rifle. Don't know of a finer lightweight carry gun. They're just fun to shoot. It's a New Year isn't it? I'm thinking maybe a .20 Fireball (.20 VarTarg). Can't go hunting with last years gun.
 
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