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I'm looking to buy a CZ .22LR gun, for casual target shooting, and the one I really like the look of is the 455 FS.

I was chatting to an RFD re. getting me one, and his opinion was this:

'The barrel isn't 'floating', and the English climate will cause the wood to move the barrel, resulting in very inconsistent accuracy'.

In his opinion this applied to all 'Full Stock' rifles, and was a real issue.

What do you reckon..?

UK weather can play havoc with wooden stocks that re in poor condition however the modern CZ stocks are lacquered so they should be resistant to the majority of stuff you will expose it to and as long as you take care to dry sensibly I doubt you would see any real problems.

There are many full stocked sporting rifles in use right through Europe that are being exposed to far harsher conditions that a rainy day at the range so I would say crack on and get it in the cabinet

Ovenpaa wrote: There are many full stocked sporting rifles in use right through Europe that are being exposed to far harsher conditions that a rainy day at the range...

That's what I was thinking

However... re. the 'floating vs. non floating' barrel issue:

Any thoughts..?

It won't be possible to fully float the barrel because the full stock makes contact with the barrel at the fore-end of the handguard. This is not too dissimilar to the Lee Enfield, where the handguard(s) are floating with some contact at the fore-end of the handguard. Ask your friend on the inherent inaccuracy of the Lee Enfield I don't think there is really an issue with contacting the barrel, the trick is to ensure the same force is exerted every time you shoot. This is a problem with non-floating polymer stocks which flex when you mount them on a bipod.

As above really, it's about consistency and I've always found that floating barrels are consistently more accurate than non-floating barrels. for the reason posted by welshshooter, any additional force on the forend of the stock, where it is contacting the barrel is applying a force to the barrel which can not only move the point of impact, but also change the barrel harmonics and make shooting erratic, whereas this is an issue that doesn't need thinking about on a fully floated barrel.

I had this with a Rem 700 SPS in the standard Hogue stock.. it was fine on a bag, but when you mounted a bipod on the front sling swivel, the stock flexed and touched the barrel.

This is the rifle I have in mind:

http://shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com ... Stock.aspx

Nice rifle but it will never hold its' value - there is too little demand for them

dodgyrog wrote:Nice rifle but it will never hold its' value - there is too little demand for them

I'd guess the 'Varmint' type rifles are better at holding their value..?

Call me superficial, but I reckon the FS design is an absolute classic!

I really do like the full stock versions and was considering getting one around 4 years ago. Instead, I found a CZ 452 ZKM Lux made in the early 90's which had never been used. £180 out the door, what a bargain.