CZ 457 models are amazing rifles proudly made in Czech republic. They come in many different versions and it can be tricky to make your mind for which to decide. In this article we help with that considering barrel length.
Barrel length of CZ 457 rifles
CZ makes its famous rimfires in 4 different barrel lenghts:
- 16″ / 412.5 mm
- 20 ” / 525 mm
- 24 ” / 630 mm
- 28 ” / 726 mm
| 16″ Barrel | CZ 457 VARMINT SYNTHETIC, CZ 457 SYNTHETIC, CZ 457 THUMBHOLE, CZ 457 MTR, CZ 457 ROYAL |
| 20 ” Barrel | CZ 457 AT-ONE, CZ 457 STAINLESS, CZ 457 MDT, CZ 457 LRP BLACK, CZ 457 VARMINT |
| 24 ” Barrel | CZ 457 PREMIUM, CZ 457 AMERICAN, CZ 457 LUX, CZ 457 TRAINING RIFLE |
| 28 ” Barrel | CZ 457 JAGUAR XII |
CZ also offers its models with two different barrel types: light American and heavy Varmint.
You will see the difference when shooting faster. While light barrels generally tend to open up in the target after few shots – as the barrel sligthly heats up, the heavier barrels are more consistent regardless of the amount of shots.
On the other hand, as the name suggests heavy barrels are heavier and for shooting from stand it will be more comfortable to have the light one.
Also CZ makes the heavy barrels only in the short versions: Longest Varmint barrel is available in 20 ” size for models CZ 457 AT-ONE, CZ 457 MDT and CZ 457 LRP BLACK).
On the other hand, all the longer barrels come with light American type barrels – including the longest of them all, CZ 457 Jaguar.
Why longer barrel
The idea behind longer barrel is not better accuracy. Longer barrels give further distance between rear sight and front sight (if the rifle is equipped with sights), and that gives you larger sight radius. But other than that, you will not shoot more precisely with longer barrels.
For this reason it is also that short barrel rimfires are not equipped with sights from factory and it is expected for you to mount a scope. On the other hand, most of the longer barrel CZ rimfires are equipped with iron sights from factory so that yo ucan benefit from the larger sight radius.
What longer barrel does though is it increases velocity. What does that mean? It means that the distance at which you can consistently hit the target is extended.
