Copyright 2026 – Stephen Redgwell – email me

CZ 457 ready to shoot (top) and an MDT Field Stock waiting for its turn

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Last year, I fell into a deal. I bought a 22LR CZ 457 with a 24 inch barrel, new in the box, for $600 CDN. They are regularly $850. Many people build their rifles gradually, adding better triggers or scopes over time. It’s a great way to watch your groups improve! In the picture, you can see the CZ in a plastic OEM stock with a few extras. Below that, an MDT Field Stock. It will be added after shooting the original rifle. Will the new stock make an improvement?

The first part of the build is an MDT 20MOA rail, Warne 30mm rings, a Mueller 8-32 scope, MDT Oryx bipod, Yo Dave trigger spring and a new, larger bolt knob.

The 2025 Black Friday sales saved me $100s.

After five weeks of cold weather, I went to the range to fire the CZ. Prior to this, I had fired 100 rounds through it, to season the barrel, if you believe in such a thing. It was more to try it out after sitting in my gun locker for a while.

February 2026

This year has been cold and snowy. In fact, I expect we will set a record for the most snow ever. We also experienced temperatures of -12 to -27 Celsius (+10 to -17 F), but finally got a break in mid February. It was an almost cloudless, sunny day, and only a few degrees below freezing. Winds were pretty light – 10 to 12 mph.

The First Part of the Test

To start the project, I replaced the trigger spring, and that’s it. The pull is now less than one pound. Multiple tests place it at approximately 12 ounces. I shot 20 rounds each of five different cartridges at 50 yards with the OEM stock. That’s 100 rounds total. I will repeat this with the MDT stock.

The Contestants – Gen 1 – OEM
1. SK Pistol Match – 1.13″
2. SK Standard Plus – 1.40″
3. SK Long Range Match – 1.60″
4. SK Rifle Match – 1.25″
5. Eley Biathlon – 1.23″

The CZ weighs 7 lb. 11 oz. I used a bipod.

Here’s how it went with the OEM stock. The targets were shot at 50 yards.

My choice of an MDT Field Stock was to avoid overspending on accessories. There was a small price increase with the Field Stock and others at the beginning of the year. They are $300 USD or $400 CDN now. This is my third Field Stock. I genuinely like how they function. They are not as expensive as the higher end competition stocks, but do well in the field and at club level shoots.

Unless you are a competitive shooter or are financially well off, buying an aftermarket trigger, for me anyway, wasn’t on the list, hence, the Yo Dave. I have expensive aftermarket triggers on some CF rifles, but that was because they were used in competition. I will not be doing this with my rimfire rifles. I can tell you that at the club level, most shooters are average Joes. They aren’t able to take full advantage of a high end trigger. I think the money is better spent on great glass or good ammunition instead.

I might buy a tuner down the road. I have a couple and they do help. Getting tighter groups is a combination of practice, technique and the right accessories, but everyone should decide on how much money they are willing to spend. Those of you who have shot in competition know that gains, as you approach the winner’s circle, are measured in thousandths of an inch. I don’t want to go there.

Tuners, barrels, triggers, rests, etc. can give you those 1000ths of an inch, but I used to say it was like committing to the priesthood. Are you dedicated?

A snowy, peaceful winter day at the range

Those Groups Don’t Seem Too Good…

They’re fine. Here’s why.

The rifle is new, and has a CZ, non-match, factory barrel. The chamber isn’t tight like the MTR version. I suppose having only shot 100 rounds through it before this test might make the argument that the barrel should have been broken in. Maybe, but with other 22s, I don’t believe this affected things. I think the “larger” group size is simply because I fired 20 shots at each target, not three or five as most people do. That low number keeps the group size small. As well, it reduces the chance of a flyer, a pulled shot, or a wind gust.

The second was the weather. Wind speed is rarely constant, so that might have been a factor.

The third thing is the ammunition. None of the above is top drawer. I can see flyers that weren’t me. But that’s easy for me to say, right? 

Other contributing factors might be the light weight and the thinner hunting barrel, and the overall lighter weight of the whole rifle. To a point, heavier is better at reducing group size. The rifle doesn’t move around and is less sensitive to recoil – even with a 22LR.

Regardless, I don’t expect that much will change the next time I am out. I am hoping for a 10 to 20 percent reduction in group size, but I also hope for a lottery win every week too. 

I will have to wait until next week to see if changing the stock makes a difference. Stay tuned.

Update! March 2026

CZ 457 Gen 2

After several hundred rounds more, some new rifle upgrades and a month of so-so weather later, things are looking up! The 2nd generation rifle was upgraded to a Discovery 5-40x56mm scope and an MDT Field Stock.

The Gen 3 rifle will be upgraded with a new barrel. Probably near the beginning of May.

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So, did the MDT stock make a difference? Yes!

Here are the five ammunition types. The bottom line is a 27% reduction in group size.

The target on the left was shot with the upgraded stock

The Contestants – Gen 2 – MDT Field Stock
1. SK Pistol Match – 0.810″ – 0.320 inches better
2. SK Standard Plus – 1.10″ – 0.330″ better
3. SK Long Range Match – 1.07″ – 0.53 ” better
4. SK Rifle Match – 0.70″ – 0.55″ better
5. Eley Biathlon – 1.14″ – 0.09″ better.

The 100 shot average improved by 27%.

And Gen 3? I have a new barrel on the way. Hopefully, it will be here by April.

I have high hopes for the new barrel, but I do not believe the improvement will be as radical as from Gen 1 to Gen 2.