CZ 452 Considerations.

[BurningBarn]

Hey there.
Just got back from a honky-tonk concert at the local whiskey bar, so please bear with me...
I'm expecting my North Carolina state tax refund any day now, and so am paying extra attention to my list of must-have firearms. The list is long, as I'm sure you all understand, and since I'm not expecting that much money, I have some questions for you knowledgeable folks.
So, brass tax. I've had my eye on a CZ 452 for quite some time. I'm partial to open sights these days, and want a bolt-action, and have thus been looking into a 452 Lux. They seem to be regarded as one of the best price-to-performance ratio .22's on the market. Reading a recent post on the Lux, I was reminded of the Ultra Lux, and some questions came up. I know that the Ultra has four more inches of barrel, but what does that mean exactly? I have read a few posts that mention,
1) Noise reduction
2) Increased sight radius
3) Slightly reduced bullet velocity
My question is this: which of these factors, if any, will make a serious contribution to the performance of a Lux versus Ultra Lux? It seems the Ultra is beechwood and the Lux is walnut, but this is less important to me than performance. If I buy one, it will be something of a homesteading rifle, and so I will not be so concerned with looks. I am not so concerned with noise reduction either, to be honest. Will the increased sight radius make much of a difference with accuracy? If it is a squirrel/varmint rifle, will the slight "scrubbing" of bullet velocity caused by a longer barrel make much of difference at twenty/fifty/seventy yards? Is there anything else to consider with a four-inch barrel difference?
And what is all this talk about a 455? Will I really be unable to get my hands on a 452 in the near future? If so, I'll scrounge up whatever cash I have to.
Thanks in advance for the advice.

[Lycanthrope]

You have a good handle on it. There isn't going to be a significant performance edge with the ultra, but increased sight radius does matter with irons.

If you prefer a rear peep sight, www.cz452.com has those as well as kits for adjusting the trigger (money well spent).

You should be able to find one. This place usually has them in stock for good prices:

http://www.whittakerguns.com/

Lycangoodchoicethrope

[Mush]

I have a CZ 452 Trainer/special. I use the open sights and love the rifle. The quality of the CZ is very good and they have very good barrels IMHO. I like the longer barrel for the sight picture but in the woods it can be a pain because it is a couple inches longer and gets caught on the brush more than a shorter barrel. For the distances you will be shooting the 22lr I am not sure the extra length will give you that much accuracy. As a kid I hunted with a single shot leaver action (open sight) Ithica 22lr with a short barrel and that rifle was deadly accurate.

I would go for the walnut stock though. The CZ will be in your family for a long time and a walnut stock can take more of a beating than the beech stock (and maybe crack less). There are several mod kits out there for the 452 trigger for a little cash. I have the YoDave kit on mine and it improved the pull; and creap.

The above web site did not work. Try this site and look for the CZ fourm half way down the page:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php

[Willie D]

The regular 452 24" barrel is plenty long. The Ultra Lux must feel huge.

If the sight radius is too small on the regular one then maybe a peep would do the trick. Tech Sights makes one now although it looks like it sits pretty far forward.

[PA Rifleman]

Similar discussion here:

http://forum.pafoa.org/rifles-42/890...ultra-lux.html

Short attention span version:

CZ452 lux has shorter barrel & Turkish walnut stock.

CZ452 ultra-lux has longer barrel and beechwood stock.

>Manual<