My .22 “Sniper” Rifle

(I wrote this piece some years ago but I thought you might get a kick out of it. I have since picked up another CZ 452. This time I got the Varmint model. I mounted a Tasco 2.5-10X varmint scope with Millet 11mm medium rings. The scope has target style adjustments and a mil-dot reticle. I intended to paint the stock camouflage but the wood was just too pretty. I also added a 1” wide leather 1907 style sling. Since I got my newest .22 “sniper” I have removed the scope on my Lux model and use it strictly with the iron sights.)

My .22 “Sniper” Rifle

My working .22 rifle for many years has been a Marlin model 39M with the 18 inch barrel. I added a Williams Foolproof aperture rear sight and replaced the factory rear blade with a dovetail filler. The Marlin is light, handy and plenty accurate for potting squirrels out of trees. Plinking with it was fun, but I was reluctant to increase its bulk by mounting a scope for longer range plinking and decided to get another .22.

I was starting to get more and more customers who were heading for the Dakotas to do a little prairie dog hunting. Most of them wanted .22-250s or .220 swifts with the biggest scopes they could get. One of my regulars was getting tired of borrowing other people’s rifles and came in looking to get one of his own. He didn’t want to spend a bunch of money and mentioned that his party was seldom shooting over 200 yards with most of their shooting under 100. I showed him a Ruger 77/22 I had in stock. It was the blued model with the synthetic stock and no open sights. I slapped on a Simmons Whitetail Classic 2 1/2-8X scope and sold him a variety of .22 long rifle ammunition to test. He came back a week or so later and was more than pleased with the accuracy. The most accurate ammunition turned out to be a less expensive brand, and he bought two cases of it for his trip to the Dakotas.

When my customer returned he was ecstatic. For the short range shooting his party had been doing, the .22 was perfect. His rifle was lighter to carry and much cheaper to shoot than any of the centerfires. He got in more shooting with at least as many hits as anyone else in the group. When mirage was forcing the guys with the 24X scopes to pack it in, his little 2 1/2 to 8 was still going strong. The final day he spent in a field within walking distance of the motel he was using. He had me set up identical rigs for his daughters so they’d be ready to go the next year.

I decided something similar would be ideal for me. I couldn’t locate any more of those blued synthetic-stocked Rugers so I put in an order for a Remington 541T and a Brno ZKM452 Lux. The Brno arrived first so that’s what I went with.

The Brno firearms are manufactured in Czechoslovakia. One of the original manufacturing sites was in the city of Brno. Although the manufacturer is now usually referred to as CZ (Ceska Zbrojovka), my ZKM452 arrived in a box that was still marked Brno. Several companies have imported the CZ rifles in recent years including Action Arms, Magnum Research and Bohemia Arms. Bohemia Arms specializes in older surplus firearms. The new manufactured CZ arms are currently being imported by CZ USA. Smaller importers bring in some of the older surplus models on occasion.

The Brno ZKM452 has a European style stock. Stock and rifle are full sized and designed for adults. There is considerable drop to the stock and a bit of cast off. It’s ideal for offhand shooting with the iron sights. A left-hander would probably find it uncomfortable. The Lux model stock is a nice piece of straight grained walnut. Some linseed oil brought up a pleasant grain. The forearm is slim and ends in a schnobble tip. There is a bit of pressed checkering on the grip of the Lux model. Sling swivels are attached and of an interesting design. Integral stops prevent the swivels from swinging far enough to touch the wood, preventing scratches. A black plastic buttplate is standard.

The barrel is 25 inches long and of light-medium sporter weight. The long barrel hangs beautifully for offhand shots and it burns almost all of the powder making it quieter even than most other .22s. The front sight is a hooded target blade that is adjustable for elevation zero. The rear sight is a square notch blade; it’s a tangent style adjustable for elevation from 25 meters to 200 meters in 25 meter increments. The wide serrated rear blade is windage adjustable by turning two opposing screws. The sights were dead-on for me right out of the box. The receiver is dovetailed for 11mm rings but will take some standard 3/8 inch .22 rings.

The action itself is all steel with dual rear locking lugs. It’s as solid a .22 action as I’ve ever seen. The lock time is very fast and the bolt is easy to strip for cleaning. The bolt is removed by pulling the trigger all the way to the rear and disassembles to only nine parts. The bolt has dual extractors and the ejector is fixed. Opening the bolt slowly will leave the spent casing in the action to be picked or dumped out. Opening it briskly will eject the cases some distance. The trigger is not adjustable but is easily accessed and a gunsmith should have no trouble stoning it to whatever reasonable pull is desired. My trigger ran just over four pounds which is fine for me. The safety is a side-swing type mounted on the rear of the cocking piece. The safety is two position- forward locks the bolt and the striker, rearward reveals a red dot and takes the rifle off safe. The safety is a bit loud to take off and takes some force to operate. The loud safety is not a concern for me on a plinker. With a bit of practice the safety can be released quietly by grasping it between thumb and forefinger and moving it carefully off safe.

The trigger guard is heavy gauge stamped steel. The five round magazine is removable and fits flush with the stock. Ten round magazines are available but stick out a bit. The magazine floor plate is easy to remove, allowing complete disassembly for cleaning. I had no trouble single loading my rifle. When bullets feed up from the magazine, my rifle tends to tip them. By feeding the rounds directly into the chamber I was able to cut my group sizes in half.

Metal work was good rather than fine as was the finish. The blueing was even and complete. Inletting was about what you’d expect on a mass production piece. Overall it’s a good solid rifle with, to me, pleasing lines.

The Brno came with what has to be the most complete instruction manual I have ever seen. If you had never seen a rifle before, this manual could walk you through every step of operation and maintenance. The manual contains an exploded diagram and complete parts list as well. A printout from an electronic test target was included with the rifle. The printout showed a full-sized representation of the aiming point, the six impact points, and the computer’s calculated mean point-of-impact. Using Sellier Bellot ammunition at 50 meters the factory technician was able to put his shots in 4.4 centimeters (1.7 inches).

I mounted a Simmons Whitetail 4X scope on the Brno. The Whitetail has a full one inch tube. The smaller 3/4 inch tube scopes are just too dim for me. I had to use see-through rings to get the objective bell clear of the rear sight. This setup puts the scope up rather high in relation to the stock but I can live with it. It reminds me of many of the centerfire sporters with see-through mounts used in Africa in the early part of this century; particularly the Rigbys. A scope with a smaller objective could probably be mounted lower. I have no interest in removing the rear sight.

I grabbed a brick of the cheapest .22s I had on hand. They happened to be Remington Cyclone hollowpoints. With the scope, I was able to put five shots into just over a half an inch at 50 yards when single loading. Shooting at spent shotgun shells I was able to make consistent hits out to 75 yards. By holding halfway between the crosshair and the top of the lower leg on the duplex reticle I was able to hit a fair number of shotgun shells at 100 yards.

Sometime later, an Anschutz silhouette .22 with a Redfield 3200 target scope came into the shop. That Anschutz would shoot under minute-of-angle at 100 yards with Winchester T-22s. I played with the Anschutz awhile and reduced the local gopher population. I decided to get something similar for myself. I couldn’t justify the cost of a new Anschutz for a plinking rifle so I started thumbing through GunList magazine. I ran across some ads for Brno model 4 target rifles and decided to give one a try as my first Brno had worked out so well.

The ads stated the condition was “new” but I automatically downgrade any surplus or used arms at least one notch from the ad description so I wasn’t disappointed when the rifle arrived. While the metal was in near perfect condition and the bore was immaculate, the stock left something to be desired. The wood was very soft and oil soaked and there were several dings and scratches in it. I immediately considered replacing it with a synthetic but, since this was an exercise in thrift, decided to live with the original stock. I pulled out all the metal and sealed the stock with spar varnish to stabilize it a bit. I found some minor rust on a few of the metal fittings but none on the barrel or action.

The barrel is a full 27 inches long and a medium weight straight taper- about a number 6 contour- with a recessed target crown. The front sight was a hooded target aperture while the rear was a square notch blade. The rear sight was click adjustable for windage and elevation without tools. This somewhat odd combination of sights was easily removable and I removed them. The action has the older style 16mm Brno dovetail for scope mounting. This dovetail is larger than 3/8 inch but smaller than a Weaver rail and requires Brno style rings. I located some Warne quick detachable rings as well as original Brno rings and both ran close to $100 a set. I eventually went ahead and drilled and tapped the receiver for a Weaver one piece base.

There is a forward barrel tie down on this rifle. The tie down itself is attached to the barrel by a slip-fit dovetail that runs parallel to the bore. This allows the barrel to expand as it heats up. There is a steel escutcheon in the forearm that prevents the wood from compressing. A coil spring goes between the hold down screw and the escutcheon and maintains a consistent tension. The tension is adjustable but I find the initial setting to be satisfactory. The rear action screws run up through steel pillars in the stock, again, preventing the soft wood from compressing.

The action is an older model than my ZKM452. The finish is nicer and the bolt works just as slick as glass. There is a spring-loaded ball detent on the underside of the bolt that helps lock it in the closed position. Operation is the same as the ZKM452. The rifle arrived with considerable preservative grease in the bolt and I had to clean that all out and re-lubricate it. The trigger pull is just over two pounds. There is some take up but it breaks crisply. The metal is finished with a soft rust blue.

The stock itself is reminiscent of the pre-64 model 70 target stock. So much so that I decided a Unertl target scope would complete the period look. Unertl scopes are fine pieces of equipment and were surprisingly affordable. Unfortunately the wait for a new scope was too long for me and I couldn’t locate a used one with the specifications I wanted. I settled for a Tasco 6-24X target model and put on the long sunshade to look somewhat like the Unertl. I bought the Tasco on a closeout at half price.

I took the rifle out and test fired several different brands of .22s. Most would group under a half inch at 50 yards but the Federal American Eagle hollow points would put three shots into a quarter inch. The generics are accurate but I do get an occasional flyer that would eliminate them as a choice for serious competition. Fortunately, I’m neither serious nor competitive so I stuck with the inexpensive brand (I am thrifty). How a .22 rimfire bullet fits the individual chamber of a rifle will usually determine how accurate it will be. Apparently my model 4 likes the profile of the Federals. The ZKM452 prefers the Remingtons.

There’s no point in using a scope with target adjustments if you’re just going to hold off for wind or elevation. I had sufficient adjustment to put me dead-on at 100 yards but I had to shim the rear of the base to get 200 yards of adjustment. Past 200 yards a .22 drops too much to worry about. Shepperd makes a scope with a reticle that allows for shooting rimfires out to 500 yards, but I’ve got centerfires for shooting at those ranges.
The stock is designed for iron sights and, even with a low mount, the scope was still a bit high for me. I ordered a 3/4 inch high lace-on leather cheekpiece from Cabela’s. The cheek piece looks appropriate on the old style stock and brings my eye up where it belongs. More importantly, I still haven’t had to spring for a new stock.

Since this rifle is to be used for plinking and close range varminting I needed a stable base to shoot from. For a front rest I bought Midway’s lightweight portable rifle rest. The Midway rest is fully height adjustable and made out of a sturdy plastic that keeps weight to a minimum. I ordered the rest with a small Past suede bag that I filled with dried beans instead of sand to keep things light. I could have used tumbling media instead of the beans. This setup is plenty stable for my purposes. Instead of a rear bag I use several pairs of old GI socks stuffed into another old sock. It’s not competition benchrest standard but it’s light.

I needed a portable bench for those times when I wouldn’t be moving around much. I found a nice one in the July 1989 issue of the American Rifleman magazine (A Bench for the Mobile Rifleman by Ludwig Olson). The resultant bench is reasonably light and steady, and folds up for transport. I built one bench that worked out quite nicely. I then bought a larger, sturdier bench from Armor Metal Products. The Armor bench is solid as a rock and assembles in just a minute or two, but it is twice as heavy and half again as large as the homemade bench. I treat the Armor bench as semi-permanent and save the homemade bench for travel.

I’ve got trajectory tables provided by Federal to give me a rough idea about what to expect from the .22 long rifle at longer ranges. I did some range work and determined what my rifle actually does at various ranges under varying conditions. Eventually I’ll have a complete set of range and windage tables for my rifle all the way out to 200 yards. I may obtain a short-range stereoscopic range finder; read the range, check the tables for the sight setting, and dial it into the scope. Neat.

Besides the standard targets of opportunity such as pop cans, gophers, and spent shotgun shells there are several other targets that ought to be useful (i.e. fun). Tenth scale copies of military silhouette targets give me the equivalent of 1,000 yards in 100 yards of range. I will cut several out of steel and make swinging targets of them. Small bore silhouettas targets are great fun. Pictures of antelope or prairie dogs reduced on a photocopy machine are a possibility. If I run out of real pop cans I can print pictures of cans from the computer. I can reduce the printed targets as well. I wonder if I can hit a pop can at a scale 750 yards instead of 100? Paper pop cans make clean up easier as they take up much less space than crushed aluminum cans. Charcoal briquettes are tough to see and completely biodegradable. When hit, briquettes give off a puff of black smoke.

I hope the CZ .22s catch on in this country as they are a good solid action that’s been proven all over the world for many years now. The Brno action is perfectly suitable for all manner of custom rifles. My Brnos are both accurate and fun and have a sense of nostalgia about them. The model 4 looks vaguely like the Winchester target rifles used by the military snipers in Korea and Vietnam. The ZKM452 looks like the sporters available just after the turn of the century. The rifles are real full sized rifles of walnut and steel that harken back to an earlier day. Since I purchased my rifles, CZ has also added several rimfire models with more Americanized lines that should appeal to a wider market here in the States. Ammunition is inexpensive which means more shooting and that’s what plinking is all about anyway.