cz455 17hmr barrel length

eoin.d

just looking for some advice lads, i am going to buy a cz455 17hmr with the thumbhole stock, as far as i know there available with a barrel length of either 16 or 20 inches. i was just wondering is the barrel length going to make a diffrence to performance or what diffrence will it make . thanks

hedzball

Feck all difference on performance but a fair difference in weight if its the american / varmint model..

go with the 16..

Nice tidy gun..








'hdz

eoin.d

yes its the varmint model with the heavy barrel, i wasnt sure if it would make that much of a diffrence. thanks for the info hdz

Cass

I said this in another thread when i was buying mine. the weight difference is not huge however the balance effect of the 16" over the 20" is very different. The 16" feels much better balanced and centred even with a scope mounted. If i had the choice over i'd probably go for the 16".

As for performance. Feck all difference, if any. They are 1:9 twist so the difference in stability between the 16" and 20" i would guess is negligible. However i've never seen a side by side test. Would be interesting to do one.

Longranger

Mine is twenty inch and my mate's is sixteen inch. Both side by side we found NO difference at all. I'm taking a couple of inches off mine soon just for the sake of convenience. Strangely enough shorter seems to be better. On the off chance that any lonely ladies are reading, ...yes we are talking about what you think we are!!!!! ;-)

Cass

Longranger wrote: »

I'm taking a couple of inches off mine soon just for the sake of convenience.

Been said a thousand times, but once more for funsies:

• Buying a factory made rifle with a barrel shorter than 20" - Grey area
• Getting a barrel shortened to below 20" yourself - Illegal

Longranger

Cass wrote: »

Been said a thousand times, but once more for funsies:

• Buying a factory made rifle with a barrel shorter than 20" - Grey area
• Getting a barrel shortened to below 20" yourself - Illegal

Oops! I thought you could take down to sixteen yourself. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to get used to reminding my mate that mine is four inches longer than his!

eoin.d

i was in a gun sore today he only had the cz 455 with the 16 inch barrel, i really liked the feel of it. i think i will go with this one. thanks for all the info lads

clivej

Cass wrote: »

Been said a thousand times, but once more for funsies:

• Buying a factory made rifle with a barrel shorter than 20" - Grey area
• Getting a barrel shortened to below 20" yourself - Illegal

If that's a grey area then what is the view on changing, not cutting down, a barrel from say a 20" TO A 16"?

The barrels on the new CZ 455 can be taken off by removing a couple of screws.

Cass

The grey area only relates to buying a factory rifle with a barrel shorter than 50cm. Replacing and cutting an existing barrel is the same thing.

The law says to have a barrel shorter than 50cm (19.58") is illegal without proper authorisation. As your gun license stands as authorisation this makes it legal, but the law still says you cannot own a rifle with a barrel shorter than this. A factory made gun with a barrel shorter than 50cm is a manufacuring issue and as the normal customer has no control over this and to impose a limit to certain models may cause a monopoly (which is against EU regulations) it has not been addressed thus far.

The law is very specific on cutting a barrel to below 50cm. It can only be done if the barrel is "built back up", and to repair a fault, to the 50cm minimum limit. Not for aesthetics. A gunsmith will not build back up a barrel. I wouldn't even know how they would. Generally if a barrel needs repairing in the first place it's usually a new one that is used, or one end or the other is cut. However a gun smith is legally obligated to make sure than if cut below 50cm that the barrel is repaired in such a way as to make it 50cm or more when finished.

Replacing the barrel falls into this category as it's an "After manufacturing" alteration. So if you remove the manufacturers barrel and replace it with one that did not come from the manufacturer then it too must be over 50cm. IOW you have changed the barrel from legal to illegal.


As said above the law needs addressing on this matter. However it would require a person to take a court case/or to have to defend themselves in court for a decision to be made and as (IIRC) the DC is not a court of record it would be a high court issue which costs more than most people's houses.


The Gardaí seem "content" to let thing be once the person has a license but like so many things in Irish law the "sure you'll be grand" attitude is not a defence and the onus is on the licensee to make sure they know what the law demands and to abide by that. IOW if you went to court and said the FO, Super, etc. said it'll be grand well it won't hold up as they cannot change or effect legislation only uphold it as it is. Much like the NPWS saying you can use a .223 for deer stalking. It's meaningless as the law says you cannot.