New CZ 527 American in 6.5 Grendel - Early Impressions

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  • stilesg57
    Unwashed
    • Sep 2017
    • 24

    New CZ 527 American in 6.5 Grendel - Early Impressions

    I picked up a new CZ 527 American in 6.5 Grendel about a week and a half ago. Was going to hold off until spring but prices are so low now ($620 shipped from Grabagun) that I just had to jump on it.

    I've been excited about this rifle for a long while now -- I'm a big CZ fan and own two of their rifles (455 Trainer in 22lr and 455 American in 17hmr) and two of their handguns (75 PCR and 85 Combat). I've been slowly putting together parts for a 6.5G AR build for long range target shooting for about two years but haven't finished it yet, so this 527 is my first Grendel. Now that I've done some work on the girl and run about 80 break-in rounds through her, I thought I'd share my impressions for others who might be interested in it.

    Looks and build quality:

    Scoped 527 Grendel with case copy.jpg

    Action and barrel look pretty darn nice, although the stampings are generally rough and there are so many of them that it looks kinda cluttered. Blueing is gorgeous though, and the bore is bright as can be. The rifle is very light and incredibly handy -- it's hard to believe there is a 24" barrel on this thing. Three cheers for micro-length actions! Speaking of the action, it's pretty good but definitely needs to smooth out from some cycling. A spot on the bolt handle blueing is already wearing from contacting the receiver upon opening and pulling back, I'll see how that develops. Also, here's a picture of the magazine follower, stamped "7,62x39/6,5GRE". Appears that the 7.62x39 and Grendel mags are exactly the same, even though the 7.62 ones are cheaper by ~$10 on the interwebs.

    Grendel barrel stamp copy.jpg

    527 Grendel Magazine copy.JPG

    The wood on this stock is frankly a mess though. The checkering is fine but as nice as on my 455 American, about on par with my 455 Trainer in beech. The finish feels very light to almost non-existent: it's like they stained the outside a bit and then called it a day (the barrel channel is bare walnut with seemingly no finish at all). Butt pad isn't a perfect fit (it's slightly oversized on the left side and at the bottom), and the wood grain is pretty awful. It's the ugliest walnut stock I own outside of old C&R military guns, and I have a BIG sample size. The butt end of the stock near where your cheek rests has such a bad change in the grain that I decided I absolutely HAD to put a cartridge sleeve over it to cover it up. Usually if a put a sleeve on a rifle I'm bummed that I'm covering up a pretty stock -- this is the first time I've felt the opposite. All in all the woodwork simply feels rushed without much of an eye to QC, which is very disappointing.

    Scoped action copy.JPG

    Setup:

    The included rings look fine, I'm going to use them for time time being. I've got a Leupold VX-2 4-12x40AO with the LR reticle that I want to put on this eventually, but for now the rifle's inheriting a Vortex Crossfire II 4-12x40AO with dead hold BDC reticle I've had for a couple years that isn't the nicest glass but way outperforms the $150 I paid for it a couple years ago.

    Rings look a little taller off the barrel than I generally like, but the bolt handle clearance is too close to drop it any further. The ocular bells on these Vortex scopes are so darn big, I think they're better suited to the new group of 60-70 degree bolt throw rifles like the RAR or XPR or A-Bolt.

    Scope bell bolt clearance copy.jpg

    Setup took a couple hours to get where I wanted it. There were three things I wanted to address: the trigger setup, ensure the barrel free floats, and see see how the action fit was to determine if I need to eventually bed the thing or not.

    Trigger adjustment was done with a YouTube tutorial on in the background. https://youtu.be/BqcwFciaVbc Took a good hour to work all the kinks out but I now I have a trigger with no virtually no take-up/creep or overtravel that breaks at 2.75lbs. The set trigger also has no creep but by design has a ton of overtravel unfortunately. It can be dialed down to almost a quarter pound (!!!) but I couldn't get it to pass the bump test under about 0.75lbs so thats where she's set. It is TOTALLY worth your time to put a little work into the trigger adjustment, it didn't take long or any tools beyond a wrench and a screwdriver and it's miles better than stock. I honestly don't know what I could do to improve it now, it's perfect for me.

    Barrel channel took two rounds of sanding to get it to free float but unfortunately the receiver fit isn't great in the stock. I had it close to floating then sanded a little more then it was completely touching the right side of the stock channel -- turns out there is a lot of movement in the action/stock fit so once I centered it I finally had it floating. This answered my question about whether the rifle would need a bedding job: the answer is a resounding YES. Winter project I guess.

    After all this I put an Allen sling on it and the aforementioned cartridge sleeve, cleaned out the barrel from any factory dust and residue, and was ready to hit the range.

    First shots:

    I started with 20 rounds of Hornady to break her chamber in on the nice stuff, followed by 60 rounds of Wolf steel case. I don't reload and probably never will. The rifle was a HOOT to shoot. Just enough recoil to remind your you're shooting centerfire but otherwise a total pussycat. I blew through all the ammo I had, which I wasn't expecting to do. It was just so much fun. Was on paper immediately, had a rough zero with my second mag. the Wolf definitely shot a little differently at distance, but I was only able to take her out to 225yds. I'm going to put another 50+ rounds through it then go for some serious 100yd accuracy testing with Hornady at the bench and see what kind of MOA this rifle delivers. I think I'm gonna be happy with it though. This is one FLAT shooting round at deer distances, I'm very impressed. I've now got a great lightweight and handy great plinker and 400yd deer rifle.


    Final Thoughts:

    I'm disappointed in the wood quality and workmanship, no two ways about it. That part is definitely not worth the $600 when my $400 455s are SO much nicer. But I'm pretty darn happy with the rest of it. I know they're hard to find (and definitely hard to find under $650) in person but I'd highly recommend it so you can see the rifle you're getting first. I think they're rushing these frankly. If you want beautiful walnut on a classic bolt rifle it might be cheaper to get the Howa and just immediately have a nice stock made for it. Everything else I love about the 527 though. Can't wait to get it bedded and see how accurate it is after a break in and with good ammo, which I'll probably do before the end of the month and report back.

    Grendel Left Side copy.JPG
    Last edited by stilesg57; 10-06-2017, 09:03 PM.
  • kmon
    Chieftain
    • Feb 2015
    • 2095

    #2
    A good pillar/glass bedding job will do wonders for most of the 527s I have been around. When I dropped the 7.62X39 off to teh gunsmith h we talked a bit and went over he rifle and build of course. When he pulled the action from the stock he just looked at me and said this thing needs a bedding job or it may never be consistent, I agreed with him.

    Congrats on the new stick.
    Last edited by kmon; 10-06-2017, 09:33 PM.

    Comment

    • usmcm16a2
      Warrior
      • Aug 2015
      • 538

      #3
      Congrats,



      I pick mine up tomorrow. A2 Great report.

      Comment

      • jkingrph
        Warrior
        • Aug 2014
        • 131

        #4
        I have had mine about 3 months and two of your comments mirror mine. The action is rough. I took a very fine ceramic stone and broke all the sharp edges on various places on the bolt, basically any place that could "dig" into the receiver when the bolt was cycling. Also on the rear of the receiver where it contacts the upper surface of the bolt handle when it is opened to move back had some rather rough mill marks which I also stoned smooth. Those two things smoothed it up quite a bit, then spent several nights just cycling it.

        Your opinion of the stock finish is the same as mine, which looked like it might have had a thin spray of diluted stain. I spent a couple of months working up an oil finish using a linseed oil mix that I found on the doublegunjournal.com forum several years ago. It's slow and gives a nice looking finish. Years ago I liked Tru oil and linspeed,but the last time I tried any of them they were too thick and built up a finish that was too thick and shiney for my taste, so I go the old fashioned way even if it does take a week or so for a coat to completely dry. I actually got a piece of wood that looks pretty nice.

        Other than those two things it's a great little rifle. I have an older 527 Prestige in .22 Hornet and a 550 Safari American in .375H&H with an absolutely beautiful stock.

        I have only had it to the range once, sometime in mid July, and it was so hot and humid I did not shoot too well with sweat running into my eyes. I have been hoping it would cool off some more so I could get back but my wife is having to have back surgery in a couple of weeks, so don't know when I can make it back.
        Last edited by jkingrph; 10-06-2017, 10:13 PM.
        Member before 2010, account deleted per 2011 spam attack

        Comment

        • lrgrendel
          Warrior
          • Jul 2013
          • 662

          #5
          Very nice write up!

          Comment

          • Earl Keese
            Bloodstained
            • Apr 2017
            • 42

            #6
            Nice write up. One of the guys on the CZ forum has a new 527 in 7.62x39, he's now had his second cracked stock.

            Comment

            • Drift
              Warrior
              • Nov 2014
              • 509

              #7
              Perhaps the guy should consider bedding the stock?

              Comment

              • King31
                Bloodstained
                • Oct 2016
                • 70

                #8
                Exactly the thread I was wanting to read! I've been eyeing one of these ever since CZ announced the new calibers. With the price on grabagun, I have come very close to having one shipped my way, but a little hesitant because of a few mixed reviews. It definitely sounds like I might continue to hold off and see if the problems you are having improve any through QC measures. Thanks Stiles!
                Trevor | NRA Life Member

                Comment

                • Kilco
                  Chieftain
                  • Jan 2016
                  • 1201

                  #9
                  Phenominal write up!

                  I have to admit I'm still shocked with the reports of the rough actions and glass with the stock..

                  My 527 in 17 Hornet is one of the smoothest, beautiful rifles I own.. what's going on CZ!!!

                  Comment

                  • usmcm16a2
                    Warrior
                    • Aug 2015
                    • 538

                    #10
                    Stiles,


                    I was concerned about the free float, and was thinking about the channel needed a sanding. Especially after I took it a part to examine the guts. I am glad I did not sand it, a slice of paper glided up and down the barrel channel. A2

                    Comment

                    • stilesg57
                      Unwashed
                      • Sep 2017
                      • 24

                      #11
                      Gonna get range trip #2 in tomorrow. I'll finish the break-in rounds and shoot for some groups and let you all know what I'm getting out of Hornady 123 and Wolf 100.

                      Got the bipod mount on it this evening and worked the action and trigger around a bit. I'm still REALLY happy with the trigger, blueing and handling; pretty happy with the action; and disappointed with the wood.


                      usmcm16a2: glad you could move it around to get it to float, though I'm still thinking that means we both have rifles that need to be bedded if they're that loose in the action. My other bolt deer rifles (a Winchester XPR in a boyds laminate stock, Win 70 in a a boyds lam, and Ruger 77 in factory synthetic) don't have this issue, and only the 70 is bedded.


                      Kilco: yeah, based on what I'd heard from other 527 owners I was expecting a little more. Definitely not a bad rifle, just not what I was expecting or hoping for given my own experiences with CZs and others' with 527s.


                      Earl Keese: yikes! Well at least I don't think mine is THAT bad, ha.


                      jkingrph: ooooh, I like the ceramic stone idea. I might be joining you in that if this doesn't slick up after a couple weeks. I'm not confident enough in my finishing skills to try to refinish the stock...yet. But I may get some scrap wood and practice a bit and then give this a shot Tru/linseed love.


                      kmon: amen!

                      Comment

                      • usmcm16a2
                        Warrior
                        • Aug 2015
                        • 538

                        #12
                        Stiles,



                        Going to have to agree with you, the front barrel channel needs to be opened up a bit. I shot 50 rounds, Cavity Back bullets,118gr MKZ, OAL 2.245. CFE 223, 29.7gr. New Hornady brass, and #41 CCI SRP. Using the Magneto Speed, 10 shot average was 2500fps. The rifle is very sensitive to heating. Once the barrel warms up, the zero wanders. So after the cold barrel shot, 10 rounds evenly spaced. Let it rest a while.
                        When the rifle was brought home, the rear stock screw was tight, very tight. So I loosened it a quarter turn, but it was snug. I was always taught that the action screw in the rear should not be too tight. Anyway after shooting for bit, I check the screws all around the rifle, and the rear screw had loosened a bit. So I fixed that.
                        My range is very close to me, so when I got home the barrel was pretty warm, tried the old paper test between the barrel and stock, no soap. For end was touching. Paper would slip through, all be it snugly, when the barrel was cold. And to other 6.5 CZ 527 owners, is the rear screw the only one with the steel tube in the stock screw hole? A2
                        Last edited by usmcm16a2; 10-11-2017, 10:15 PM.

                        Comment

                        • PGW Steve
                          Bloodstained
                          • Sep 2017
                          • 60

                          #13
                          I'll check my 6.5 this weekend for a factory pillar when I go visit it....IIRC from my other 527's, only the rear has the pillar. I landed some JP hex head screws for mine and I have a Boyds Heritage stock sitting in customs. It'll get a proper bedding job into that at some point and further load development. DIP rail goes on it this weekend too.

                          Looking forward to more of your reports.

                          Comment

                          • stilesg57
                            Unwashed
                            • Sep 2017
                            • 24

                            #14
                            Originally posted by usmcm16a2 View Post
                            Stiles,



                            Going to have to agree with you, the front barrel channel needs to be opened up a bit. I shot 50 rounds, Cavity Back bullets,118gr MKZ, OAL 2.245. CFE 223, 29.7gr. New Hornady brass, and #41 CCI SRP. Using the Magneto Speed, 10 shot average was 2500fps. The rifle is very sensitive to heating. Once the barrel warms up, the zero wanders. So after the cold barrel shot, 10 rounds evenly spaced. Let it rest a while.
                            When the rifle was brought home, the rear stock screw was tight, very tight. So I loosened it a quarter turn, but it was snug. I was always taught that the action screw in the rear should not be too tight. Anyway after shooting for bit, I check the screws all around the rifle, and the rear screw had loosened a bit. So I fixed that.
                            My range is very close to me, so when I got home the barrel was pretty warm, tried the old paper test between the barrel and stock, no soap. For end was touching. Paper would slip through, all be it snugly, when the barrel was cold. And to other 6.5 CZ 527 owners, is the rear screw the only one with the steel tube in the stock screw hole? A2
                            Interesting: I took the most out of the forend of the barrel channel on mine getting it to float initially. Funny that's where you're seeing the contact too. We'll see if mine still floats after it heats up a bit tomorrow or if I need to break the sandpaper back out.

                            Didn't get to the range today after something came up, but I'll hit it tomorrow and report back (and now with an eye for heat effects, thanks!).

                            Ha, I was concerned maybe they forgot a front action screw sleeve -- mine only has a rear one too

                            Comment

                            • usmcm16a2
                              Warrior
                              • Aug 2015
                              • 538

                              #15
                              Stiles,


                              Did a few things to my CZ after I got home tonight from work. I relieved the front barrel channel, before I took the dremel sander to it, I could see where the barrel was impacting the forend. I replaced those crappy CZ scope rings with some Burris units. I watched a tutorial on how to adjust the trigger, cleaned things up a bit. Breaks at 3lbs, no over travel. It would be nice if CZ would put a stock on this capable little rifle that was a bit more properly engineered for barrel clearance. A2

                              Comment

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