CZ 527 Carbine

For some time now my favorite light rifle has been my “Black Marlin”. It remains one of my absolute favorite rifles of all time. However, now there is a challenger for the #1 slot.

The USA doesn't have much in the terms of Light Rifles. Here, a light rifle is the M1 Carbine or an old Lever Action or a Rim Fire. Most of the small caliber centerfire rifles are actually big heavy bull barreled varminters. If you want something different, the options are thin.

CZ has been making a nice little light rifle since the 1930's but they have not been available in the USA. Now they are, and now they are and we even have it in a real .30 caliber cartridge capable of taking medium sized game. These guns have been nicknamed “Mini-Mausers” because that is exactly what it is. CZ simply scaled the classic Mauser action down and now we have a slick little carbine that weighs a scant 5.9 pounds.

You can get different versions of the 527 in different squirrel rifle calibers, barrel types, lengths and what not. And they are all brilliant, but the one I am especially smitten with is the Carbine version chambered for 7.62X39MM.

The carbine has an 18.5 inch barrel that feels shorter than it is. The gun feels like it is lighter than it is. And the gun handles far better than it has any right to. It handles so well, the thing is like the centerfire equivalent of a sports car. I know a large majority of my readers have not seen the film “The Graduate”. But those that have, know what I'm talking about here... the Alpha Romeo Spyder was “The Sportscar” for a whole generate of people around the world. While the Alpha is no hot rod and makes no records in terms of performance, but for those who have driven one... that's it. You don't need any more... it is just right. Top down cruising on a warm sunny day with a pretty girl in the passenger seat... does it get any better than that?

Well, this 527 Carbine is the same thing. It has the classic lines... it reminds me of the SMLE rifles, with the stubby little 5 round magazine sticking out. While some guys look sideways at it, I really dig it. This is a European gun, and I like that European look to it. This isn't an American gun, so it doesn't bother me that it doesn't look typical American. It also reminds me of a small African Safari type rifle. I just wish it had the European style stock... that would have been perfect.

It also has great handling just like those little Alphas. In 7.62X39MM, the little gun is potent enough for serious work. It can put meat on the table. It can keep the Huns at bay. It can be a pleasure to shoot just for fun. For smaller framed folks, it remain easy to shoot. My 11 year olds had no problem with it. They could shoulder it, and fire it, and by the grins generated, they enjoyed it.

One of the things that good handling help in, is making hits come naturally. My 14 year old son, the first time he fired it, was able to nail a hub cap at a solid 500 yards. I told him the hold over, he pulled it up and fired. Dead bang on. Easy. That's what it is all about.

Accuracy with the 7.62X39MM is not spectacular. The cartridge its self is just not inherently accurate... but it isn't inaccurate. It isn't random. It consistently shoots 2 inch groups at 100 yards with most ammunition. Using the single set trigger (more on that in a bit) and some commercial grade rounds one can bring the group down to an inch and a half. A lot of guys that read too many gun magazines and refer to them as “Gun Porn”... they focus too much on published group sizes. Gun writers are doing the shooting public no favors by concentrating the article around tables of loads and the group sizes. When it comes to practical accuracy, most shooters when they are not on a bench, are shooting between 2 and 3 inches anyway. Let me put it this way, when shooting off hand, I'm just as accurate with the 527 Carbine as I am with any of my other rifles. It keeps up.

I will be doing some performance testing on the 7.62X39MM and the .30-30 Winchester... and that information will be linked here.

The gun is not without warts. Mounting a scope is a challenge. The bases are a part of the receiver, and much like Ruger rifles, require specialized rings. Do to the short action and limited mounting options, fitting a scope to it can be a pain the butt. You can mount any 1” scope you want, but eye relief will be a problem. You can't push the scope forward enough, and you don't want it back too far... so you have to find one with a balance. I don't have any specific recommendations for it, but let's put it this way... I put a Bushnell on it and it only lasted 29 shots before the reticle broke. So right now I'm using a Leupold fixed 4 power and it is working great. Looks handsome, has the right eye relief, but I wish it was a 6X. I'll try other scopes on it in the future, and I'll report on those here. To improve the scope mounting issues, I would really like to see CZ ditch the odd sized rail and go with standard Weaver. I'd also like to see the option for a longer 1 piece rail and the option for a forward scout position.

The other wart is the magazine. Not that it sticks out, I like that... but that you can not top load the magazine through the action like traditional hunting bolt actions and Mausers. You have to drop the magazine and load the cartridges from the front. I would also like to see an option for a higher capacity double stacked mag that does not add much or any length.

I would also like to see more chambering options. There is a company out there that is offering to rechamber these Carbines for 6.5 Grendel. A CZ factory Grendel Carbine would be fantastic, with my other suggestions to go along with it... it would be a hand down winner.

Other cartridges that would do well here:

.357 Magnum

.45 ACP

9MM

10MM

.45 Colt

.40 S&W

.357 SIG

.44 Magnum

.41 Magnum

See the pattern there? Whoa, imagine one of these, in .45ACP, with an integral suppressor? You have the rebirth of the DeLisle Carbine. How sweet would that be?