The CZ 457 Scout - The Perfect Little Plinker

For those of you who don't know, I love .22 rimfire firearms. They provide a low recoil, relatively low noise, low cost option that anyone can use to enjoy the rifle and pistol shooting sports. When you combine a quality suppressor and a quality .22 firearm, you end up with a wonderful combination of pure enjoyment and practical firearm capabilities for recreational shooting, teaching and hunting small game. I will always recommend a .22 Long Rifle based rifle or handgun for anyone looking for something fun to shoot. To name a few, from the Henry H001 lever action rifle, to the Marlin Model 60, to the Ruger 10/22 and American Rimfire, the Walther P22 and Ruger MKIV series, S&W Victory and Browning Buckmark. There a numerous .22 LR rifles and handguns at various prices to adopt and enjoy over your lifetime.

Until recently, my favorite way to enjoy .22 rimfire has been through the Henry H001 lever action rifle using the Aquila Super Colibri ammunition good quiet backyard/farm yard fun. I have a Stevens 62, Ruger 10/22 and American Rimfire and Marlin 60 that I enjoy shooting but with the exceedingly wide variety of .22 LR ammunition, the Henry can eat it all without too much worry in regards to cycling. This is the benefit of manually operated firearms over most auto-loaders. For the last few years, I had been looking for a manually operated rifle with iron sights that would host a suppressor without significant, or any, modification. I have been willing to go so far as to modify a classic Remington Model 4 rifle for my purposes. I even had a lineup on one but couldn't pick it up. Henry does offer a model with a threaded barrel called the Frontier Threaded Barrel but it's 24 inches long and feeds from a reduced length 10 round magazine. Savage does have a few threaded options but nothing with iron sights.

I was started on this path a few years ago when I had developed an interest a .22 mag rifle that turned into looking for a rifle with iron sights and a wood stock but hadn't gotten around to buying one. After purchasing the Dead Air Wolf-9SD suppressor, I started looking for threaded barrel/good suppressor host options because I want that spectacular, quiet shooting fun you get with a suppressed .22. I also started looking for something in .22 LR for teaching purposes. I didn't want a semi auto since I very much like shooting the weaker CB short and Super Colibri type rounds with no gun powder; only primer. Those rounds don't cycle the action of semi-auto firearms.

I had been aware of the CZ's offerings and settled on the 455. I felt the 455 had a better looking action and receiver compared to the Savage lineup. While doing research, I learned that CZ had decided to replace the 455 series with the 457. I had done a bunch of digging through their models only to find that CZ doesn't make exactly what I want; a bolt-action, .22 mag, wood stock, iron sights, with a threaded, 24 inch barrel. Actually, no one does but I did find the Scout.

The Scout is a .22 LR youth rifle. It's setup with iron sights, a 16 inch threaded barrel and a short stock with a 12 inch length of pull. While this is significantly shorter than what I would use, it fits well enough. One odd thing, is that the Scout comes from the factory with the single shot sled in stead of an actual magazine. It's not an issue but is annoying but it is very nice to have. I would have liked at least one 5 round magazine. I ordered a pair of 10 rounders and a 5 rounder. I highly recommend the 5 round magazine as they fit nearly plush with the bottom of the stock.

The sled really highlights the intent of this rifle. It's a teaching tool. It's meant for children to learn on and I love it. The sled forced me to single load each round but what I came to appreciate about the action was the wide open top. It allowed for easy visual inspection of the chamber (good for teaching) but also allows for easier loading of special cartridges for fun.

What I am looking forward to is the opportunity to take this out to a private outdoor range and really put it into action. So far, I have been able to run standard velocity rounds from Gemtech and CCI with the Wolf-9SD at an indoor range but I want to take it back home to WV and shoot Super Colibris and standard velocity rounds without ear pro on the farm.

This rifle has become one of my favorites despite the shorter length of pull (12 inches). The sights are great though they're chunky. The action is smooth, the trigger is great and weapon is light. Add a good suppressor, sling studs and a good sling and you'll have a spectacular woods gun for yourself or your kid. The pricing can be found around the $350 mark and lower if you look around. While priced higher than a typical Ruger 10/22, it's well worth the money.

I highly recommend the CZ 457 Scout for anyone looking for a suppressor host, teaching tool or fun plinker.