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Gateway To Product Reviews => Air Gun Reviews => : PeakChick February 02, 2008, 01:15:01 AM
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I have been following with interest all the reviews and info I have seen on the CZ634 for some time now. I am very fond of this formula rifle, mid powered (600-800fps), short rifle-carbine size, moderate weight. My HW30 and RWS 92 fit in this niche and are two of my favorite rifles to shoot. The CZ fits in this catagory very well, 41" in length, 6.6 lbs. unscoped, 700+ FPS rated velocity.
I had considered buying one from the Georgia shop listing them on Gun Broker, but always seemed to have something else going on and passed on ordering one from that source. I had read Gene's review on this rifle and was very impressed with the results he got from the rifle, pre and post tune. I saw that Gene had bought a second CZ from Kirby here on the forum and knew that I had to find a way to talk him out of one of them..... :) Well, several months of not so subtle pleading, cajoling and wheedling paid off. Gene PM'd me one day and made me an offer on this CZ that I could not refuse.... 8)
I received this rifle from Gene of Air Gun Toys about two weeks ago, very securely double boxed and sent USPS Priority mail. Gene and the Post Office really came through and I received this gem in 3 days. Pretty impressive considering the first day of the trip is by pack mule from Gene's cabin...... :D
I got her out of the box and gave her an inspection. I had some idea what to expect as far as build quality as I own a CZ ZKM 452 .22 rimfire rifle. The Czechs have been known for building well engineered, solidly built rifles for about 100 years and this rifle is no exception. The CZ 634 is the company's higher powered air rifle offering, the CZ 630-631 being their lowered powered guns. This is not a "Lux" finish CZ, just solid, good quality build and finish that was designed to last. The metal finish is all business with a satin, even dark bluing, good finish to the metal, but not high polish, The rifle is all metal with the exception being the plastic trigger guard. The trigger is a nicely machined, thin metal blade with fine, vertical serations. (more on the rigger in a bit). The wood is a field grade European beach with a nice, open grain. The stain is an even, medium walnut color. I must comment that although the wood is no fancy grain, it is a very nice stick of good density beech, definitely a cut above cheaper Spanish beech or certainly Chinese "mystery wood." The barrel uses a deeply recessed crown. The breech pivot bolt has a secondary set screw for lock up, my RWS 92 uses this too, nice feature. The breech uses a chisel lock up and has a lock slide forward of the breech that must be disengaged to break the action to cock the rifle. This is a very easy to use, very positive system. The safety auto engages on cocking, and is a nicely knurled metal cylinder that is located on the back of the receiver, very easy to disengage with your thumb.
This rifle received a full Super Tune and trigger job by Gene of Air Gun Toys. Gene was very good about communicating what was done in the tune and provided me with spread sheets on the rifle's performance pre and post tune. As a disclaimer, this review is of a very professionally tuned CZ 634 and is not a portrayal of out of the box performance. I was very impressed with the post tune velocity figures on this gun, 772 avg. fps with Gamo Hunters, 3 fps SD. These figures are up a bit from the stock velocity and the SD is very impressive compared to an SD of about 15 fbs stock. I was very enthused about the tuned velocity with an 8.3 gr pellet as this is the weight pellet I normally use and is better than I expected, was expecting more in the low 700s.
I mounted a Leapers 3-9 x 32 AO scope in Accushot 2pc, four screw mounts. This rifle has very short, 13mm rails machined into the receiver and does not have a traditional stop pin hole This rifle is challenging to mount a scope on. The Accushots have reversible side clamp plates and worked well on this rifle. I used a Gamo scope stop behind the front mount.
I began to sight in the rifle and was amazed at the very smooth quiet cocking cycle, just a soft, virtually silent mechanical whirr. The firing cycle is very quiet, with a quick, sharp snap. It has very moderate recoil and no torque. The rifle was easy to sight in, it does have a bit of barrel droop, but did not require an excessive amount of positive elevation adjustment in the scope. I tried out Gamo Hunters, BSA Wolverine FTs, RWS Super Domes and CPHPs in the rifle and was delighted with the lack of pellet sensitivity. All those pellets grouped well in the rifle, with the BSAs and Gamo Hunters taking the edge. The BSAs and Hunters shoot virtually to the same POI. I was getting ragged, one hole groups at 10 yds in very short order.
The trigger work that Gene did on this rifle deserves special mention. He sent me data on the trigger that shows avg. pull weight just under 2 lbs. Based on my perception, I believe it is much lighter in weight, it feels sub 1lb. The trigger funtions as a one stage unit, with absolutely zero creep and is very, very crisp. This trigger honestly rivals the massaged trigger on my Remington 700 BDL varminter in .308, and that is saying a lot.
I am geniunely delighted with this rifle and wish to thank Gene for a very professional job on the tune and trigger work he did for me.
Pics below of the rifle and a comparison shot next to my .177 B26 for size. Targets 5, 10 , 10 shot, 10 yd. groups with BSAs:
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Excellent review Peak. Excellent job by the apprentice tuner. I may have to look at adding one of these to my list. Good luck with her. :)
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Yes GREAT REVIEW! Peak and I can't get over how good that shooter look's, very nice line's. :) This shooter is on my list but need to get the Panther first lol, really I don't have a problem hehehe. Ed
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Great Review Stephanie,
It looks like you have another fine addition to your collection. :)
Gene is becoming quite a tuner with Bob and Fritz teaching him all there magic spells. 8) It is sure lucky that you were able toware him down, you ladies are lucky that way. :emoticon:
Bill
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Interesting and informative review.
I myself recently purchased a 630 and with a little tuning was able to nullify spring rattle and achieve a very smooth cocking effort.
Gun is very accurate with 1/2 inch groups at 10m(11 yds)-Open sights.
This gun is very similar to the first pellet gun I ever owned(slavia) so long ago and brings back fond memories.