CZ 457 Thumbhole Laminate 17 HMR By Chris Parkin
It wasn’t so long ago that the laminate stock upgrade was a popular route in customising any action for which the correct inlet was available. CZ have set out with their rimfire to offer variants to suit the needs, stature and aesthetic preferences of most shooters and although fundamentally no more or less accurate than any of it’s stable siblings, it brings ergonomic interaction into prime focus.
Starting out with Steel, CZ’s cold hammer forged barrels are available in 22 RF, 22 WMR and 17 HMR in this format and like other 455/457 actions, the system benefits from refined mechanics, materials, and ease of barrel change capability. Yes, you need to release the action from the stock with twin T25 Torx action screws spanning the magazine well, but this alone reveals why CZ are leading the field with bedding pillars and a precise inlet supporting the facetted bottom action. It speaks volumes that when I remove and replace an action into a factory gunstock that when torquing the screws down, gives a defined tactile feel, a `stop` point at which the screw ceases to spin freely and the torque rises until you get that `click` to say tension reached, no squishy stock deformation as the action is forced into the stock. To swap the barrel, unscrew the two impinging Allen screws aside the barrel tenon and all slips free if that’s your desire, reverse, add the spacer/correct magazine (included in barrel mini sets) and hey presto, different calibre, same ergonomics. This heavy 17HMR barrel is 20”/510mm long and parallel in profile at 0.861”/21.8mm diameter. It’s screwcut ½”x20 for a sound moderator under the supplied threadcap and shows perfectly machined crown face and threads below the matt blued surface finish.
Drifting rearward shows the barrel fully free floating spaciously above the forend which is 40mm wide adjacent to the front sling/bipod stud. This offers plenty of space for a hand hold without thumb or fingers touching the barrel affecting harmonics, yet not overly cumbersome. If shot from a bipod or rest bag, it is realistically inflexible unless ridiculous force is applied. Further rear, the magazine well sits underneath, recessed quite deeply with familiar CZ frontal release catch that allows it to drop into your waiting palm when depleted. It’s standard CZ polymer format and holds 5 rounds of 17 HMR in a single column, loaded from the front when removed from the rifle. It’s interestingly characteristic to see the trigger guard itself is formed in the laminate structure for a spacious yet refined profile, plenty of space for gloved fingertip in the cold around the curved polished blade. This trigger is a single stage unit and as supplied, broke with around 95% crisp feel (miniscule perception of creep) at 32oz./897grams. This unit is common to all 457’s and removed from the stock, show no paranoid restrictions from American plastered thread locking compounds. CZ allow you to adjust the triggers and this not only makes them how you want but allows for the factual wear and tear of the small steel sears throughout the life of the rifle when it comes to matters like sear engagement which is what affects tactile creep, or lack of it, throughout the life of the gun. I’m not saying it is a job for a complete amateur, but simple Allen keys will get this set to perfection for you, as I have with my own 457 LRP and did on other variants supplied for reviewing where required. A big TICK for CZ here, they are gunmakers, not just grasping at marketing buzzword. Further thoughts on the stock are that the creative use of size and shape reflects upon the size of the stock blank used. It’s also good to note the inlet is well sealed from atmospherics, not just the external stock surfaces and this again is a nod towards CZ attending to smaller, less easily noticed details that benefit the rifle long term.
Topside of the steel action shows an 11mm dovetail for scope mounting with plenty of space available to enable the use of large optics if desired, not just compact units. Although the CZ family offer spacious length of pull on the latest guns, many rimfires are far too compact to make efficient, comfortable use of parge modern scopes and often problematic `magnum` eye relief that sounds cool but is regularly detrimental on physically small rifles. CZ offer 107mm of dovetail real estate, spanning 70mm to the rear and 37mm in front of the ejection port. Looking more into the mechanics, the bolt shows extractor claws either side of the controlled feed face with intelligent chisel tip firing pin that also offers a flat upper face to meet the breech face, preventing long term damage to the firing pin itself contacting steel if dry fired, rather than the slight cushioning effect of a brass rimmed case. Bolt stroke is 1.7”/42.3mm for loading with ultimate ejection ferocity controlled by your preferred bolt speed, it uses a manual ejector that is exposed on the lower edge of the bolt face as the bolt is itself drawn over it when cycling the action. This is all standard rimfire stuff (the firing pin is rather special CZ cherry on the icing) but done with refinement on this superb action design. The bolt shows a 20mm spherical tip on its curved handle with short lift avoiding any likely scope interaction. I have yet to suffer any failures with this or any other 457 action feeding smoothly from the magazine or ejecting. 20gr XTP’s in 17 HMR with a flatter hollow point meplat are a little more problematic in some rifles, not so this CZ. There is a left side bolt release catch and it’s impossible to jam or stutter the smoothly flowing bolt stroke, even with deliberate brutality.
Returning to the ergonomics of the stock is where the Laminate shows its most distinctive features. The thumbhole pistol grip offers spacious ambidextrous hold and additional stippling for grip on the otherwise silky-smooth grey/brown laminate. Reach to the trigger blade from the throat of the grip is 83mm and like the 14.25”/363mm length of pull, certainly won’t disappoint taller shooters with longer fingers. A Hog’s Back profile defines the stock’s comb, and this offers curving versatile vertical alignment, depending on scope height and the length of your neck for good cheek weld, but it is quite broad, and I would say suits those with smaller cheeks better. Maximum width is 59mm so promotes a more rolled over head position that the slimmer, stock lodged under the cheekbone enabling horizontal eye position I prefer.
With a grippy stippled recoil pad that locks into your shoulder, stiff forend and stable bipod support, this gun is surefooted from prone or the bench where it’s heavier build seems most suited, perhaps as a varminter or precision rimfire. The underside of the butt offers another stud for a sling and positional support with a soft rear bag as well as a spacious curved profile allowing easy non-shooting hand access to manipulate that bag. On the range, I was greeted by typical winter windy weather and I’m not going to say the 17HMR paper punching delighted me, due to these conditions, but was perfectly representative of real-world conditions and allowed me to trust the CZ even on the bad days. I used 17 and 20gr Hornady ammunition as well as 15.5gr Winchester non-toxic but the latter was very inconsistent and discarded on safety grounds. Hornady Variants showed the barrel to be quite `fast`, offering muzzle velocities over the chronograph above those printed on the box. Either was capable of 5 shot M.O.A. groups on target at 100 metres. More ammunition and windless range time may well have shown one of the fated `half inch groups` so favourably shot once and stored in a shooter’s wallet, but I don’t hold much time for that from the 17 HMR, I don’t worry about it either, it’s a superb performer for hunting with superb terminal ballistics and for specific target usage, I would choose a 22rf, regardless of range.
Ammo
Average Muzzle Velocity/fps 5x5 shot 100m average group size (mm)
Hornady 17gr V-Max 2599 24
Hornady 20gr XTP 2363 21
Conclusion CZ’s Thumbhole Laminate version of the superb 457 action foundation is one to appeal for those wanting longer range capabilities and the sleek, refined looks of coloured, laminated Birch. The stock may be a little to chunky for some but that’s the joy of the 457, a little research and they already make the right gun for you, no need to modify anything. I have now used the 457 in 6 variants (Royal, Synthetic, LRP, AT-ONE, MDT and this laminate) finding all to pair the mechanical perfection of the action to modern ergonomics more befitting the precision target as well as hunting uses at low cost per shot, that rimfires are becoming more drawn towards. Frankly, CZ changed my perception of the rimfire rifle with the 457 from day one, I now shoot them in preference to centrefires for pure enjoyment and technical challenges, experimentation offered.
Specification
Model CZ 457 Thumbhole Laminate
Calibre 17 HMR, 22RF (16”), 22 WMR also available)
Magazine Capacity 5 round supplied but 10 and 25 round available
Barrel 510mm/20” Carbon wrapped Stainless Steel screwcut ½” UNF
Length 987mm/38.5”
Weight 3.6kg/7.96lbs
Length of pull 363mm/14.25”
Also Used: Element Optics also from Sportsman Gun Centre
Photo Captions
1. CZ 457 Thumbhole Laminate 17 HMR
2. Screwcut ½”x20 for moderator
3. Fully free-floating barrel
4. T25 Torx action screws and integral trigger guard
5. Attention to detail in the stock inlet and pillars is impressive
6. Front action pillar with cutout for action interface
7. 20gr Hornady XTP ammo feeds perfectly, even with flatter meplats that cause problems in some 17’s
8. Two position safety catch
9. Left side bolt release catch with tactile cocked action indicator on the shroud
10. Recessed mag well
11. Curved trigger blade detail
12. The comb is significantly taller and broader than other 457 Variants
13. Supplied test targets always get bettered with longer term run in and ammunition selection
14. Cover photo 15. Flat firing pin upper prevents long term damage to the chisel tip if dry fired extensively
