CZ 550 American Safari Magnum .458 Lott - Blue/Black, Wood Stock

Absolutely the best in Old World craftsmanship!! Purchased specifically for a Cape Buffalo hunt and it was the ticket. I like the 458 Lott much more than the standard 458 Winchester. Rifle was graced with a Vortex scope and a muzzle brake. The brake made it a sweet shooter that anyone could handle. Would I buy it again - ABSOLUTELY!

Received not properly seated in stock but repaired it. No worries

Received this rifle around early March. Loaded up some hornady 500 grain DGS loads. I am just mesmerized by this gun. Fit and finish as well as the wood was much better than I thought. I was wondering if I was accidentally upgraded to the premium stock.
Noticing the action was a bit stiff, I cycled it several hundred times in front of the tv and it is butter smooth. All rounds shot to point of aim so far, out to 50 yards. Been experimenting with some 730 grain hard cast bullets as well. So far I'm really excited with the results. I have a savage in 375 ruger that is much shorter and handier than this 550, but I will take the extra velocity of the 25" barrel with the 458 Lott round. It's not ungainly and balanced very well. Recoil lets you know that an event has occurred. It is substantial but not excessive in my opinion.
This is a fantastic buy for the price.

Our second 550 fit finish and is great accurate as well I find the 550s a good value

I absolutely love this rifle. CZ really made the best of all worlds with this one. The stock is beautiful and the sights are awesome (although shoots about a foot high at 100 yards, windage is good). The barrel and action are perfect, mauser style bolt action makes chambering 5+1 of these monster rounds reliable and smooth. I am a handloader so the versatility of the straight walled 458 Lott cartridge allows to load and shoot a variety of loads at different velocities for any large game. Giving 5 stars because that's as high as the rating system goes :)

All of my dealings with Bud's have been nothing short of pleasant, so I do not fault them for the unfortunate experience I had with this rifle, but I do NOT recommend this firearm to anyone serious about hunting large/dangerous game. The touted 'Turkish Walnut' stock feels relatively light and almost hollow. The barrel is quite thin for supporting a cartridge as powerful as the 458 Lott. Accuracy was a 6 of 10 in the limited shot I took. The gun wasn't either properly assembled or the screws weren't properly tightened because upon recoil, a chuck of the stock literally busted out at the back of the bolt! While I confess, the recoil is substantial, (far more so than his gun is designed for IMHO) it is not unbearable. The Mauser 98 action is strong, but was very loose and feeding from the magazine was tricky at times. CZ repaired the gun by replacing the stock under warranty, but having had the failure that I did, I sold the rifle. Bottom line; (and I am far from wealthy), but if you're going to buy a buffalo gun, don't settle for this $1,200 rig. Shop around and buy something nicer. It may be more costly, but you get what you pay for.

First rounds through this beast are going to be "breaking in" quality, as the bolt may be a tad bit sticky because it is brand new. The best solution I have found is to send a couple dozen 500 grain bonded solids through it at around 2k fps. The bolt then becomes solid and fluid to the point that it is very fun to work and behold. Accurate as an elephant gun can be, the groups through fast follow-up shots were tight and concise, which is well-needed from a rifle of this caliber. There is no doubt in my mind that you will need or want for another rifle after purchasing this one, because it can be downloaded through handloads to deer hunt, or loaded full blast to take care of any rogue elephants nearby. Offering that impressive of a range of game able to be taken by this monstrous beats of a rifle, I suggest getting it, you will not be disappointed at all. Ever.

I have had this rifle for a little over 8 months now (i purchased it along with one in 375 h&h) and the rifle has been superb. As mentioned before, it is not for the faint of heart, the recoil definitely takes some getting used to and proper technique when shooting it. It can be very intimidating at first, but give it time and practice a bit with it and you will love it. Once you learn how to roll with the recoil and get comfortable it is not a problem at all to shoot. I don't especially care for the factory iron sights but they can be upgraded easily enough. As i said in my 375 h&h version review, the barrel is a touch long for me personally, a 23 or 24 inch barrel would be much more handy. Never the less i love the rifle and can't wait to take it on safari. I also like the added bonus of being able to shoot 458 win mag out of it as well, adds more versatility to the rifle. 458 lott is not the cheapest caliber to shoot but it is wonderfully effective. Also, at first it was a little difficult chambering solids but just work several magazines full through the action and it will smooth out, i think the feed ramp could use a little polishing but just chambering several rounds repeatedly will smooth it out just fine. Don't hesitate to buy one of these rifles, they are awesome!

This superb rifle was the first of three CZ 550 rifles I now own. The field grade Turkish walnut (densest wood and what these big guns need) stock looks fine by me. After my first outing to shoot hand loads I found the recoil to be ok but the rifle would still rotate upwards enough that the scope eyepiece (a Weaver Super Slam Dangerous Game 1-5x, also superb on this gun) would just contact my eyebrow. No injuries and I know how to roll with the kick on big magnums, so I looked into ways to reduce the amount of rotation upwards. The top two rifles in the ASM line (.505 Gibbs and .505 Jeffrey) come with mercury recoil reducers in the stock. When I removed my recoil pad, I found a pre-drilled 7/8" hole, three and a half inches deep but empty...not for long! I got a KickEez 500-series magnum recoil pad and a Graco Breako mercury recoil reducer, which was 4" in length. I used a 7/8" hole boring drill bit to go another half inch into my stock. Following instructions, I wrapped tape around the ends of the Graco and wedged it in. You want it solid and not able to move. I put a little bit of tape on the end to flush it up perfectly with the pad going back on the butt. Results: added a pound of weight, reduced the felt recoil and reduced the rotation angle when fired. All good in my book. I shot several full load Barnes Triple-X 500 gr bullets to confirm. Yes indeed, ready for anything out in the woods! Seriously, much like the .458 WinMag, you can reload these cases with lighter bullets more appropriate for the thin-skinned game we have around here. They work fine and you get to find a use for an elephant/dangerous game rifle! My rifle had the .458 Lott barrel put on by the folks at Triple River, who do all the custom work for CZ USA out of Kansas City. They did my Badlands as well. Seeing that they are still in stock here at Bud's, I say buy one of these superb controlled round feed (CRF, or "claw" extractor) action rifles before they run out of barrels or the inclination to keep offering these fine rifles with their ultra-long Safari actions. They have already dropped the 550 American in favor of a push feed 557....so look hard for them as well, I own one in .270 Winchester.

This is a fantastic rifle. The single set trigger is smoothe and crisp. The 458 Lott is not for the light shouldered. Fair warning. My only complaint is due to the 458 Lott, and not the rifle. The COAL is such that the bullets don't feed very smoothly out of the magazine. They will feed, but it takes more effort than it should.