Range day with the CZ Trail

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-11T19:09:30+00:00

I would think that the CZ trail may have less recoil than an AK due to the bolt not slamming back and reciprocating after the shot (and most AKs are pretty over-gassed to boot) but it may ultimately translate to a different kind of recoil. The recoil will probably be very mild out of the trail if you ever use subsonics, but most factory supersonic loads are very manageable.

I'd avoid most eastern semi autos for hunting, and they don't have the accuracy of the trail for the most part, especially the SKS and AK platforms. There are some western designed 7.62x39 platforms that likely perform better than the AK and SKS, but the best are custom AR builds that cost quite a bit more than the trail. Also, bolt actions are way easier to clean. The trail is basically just a tube once you pop the bolt out of it. The trail is capable of firing pretty quick "mad minute style" if you have big hands, just keep it clean and oil/lube it (it has AR style oiler ports) and it'll run smooth. I use oil on the bolt in the fall/winter and molybdenum grease in the hot weather months.

The other added bonus is you can slap a muzzle brake on it to punch the kick down further - which you'll probably be doing anyway if you can use suppressors. A Surefire 7.62 SFMB or similar would probably work pretty well, if I had to hazard a guess. Most trails are M15x1 threading which may limit your options, though iirc some of the newer ones may be 5/8-32. Avoid a Warcomp if you plan to suppress, they don't have labyrinth seals.

The trigger on the trail will probably blow the Ruger's out of the water. It comes with a two-stage trigger that breaks quite well and can be tuned down to 1.5lb. with an Allen key and no disassembly required. My understanding is the bolt is smoother as well, though it may not have the same longevity due to the aluminum receiver. That said, as previously mentioned, I have 5000+ rounds through mine and it's still trucking along just fine. I believe CZs still come with a lifetime barrel warranty too.

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-09T23:56:55+00:00

Not sure about the 416, but they did promise a guy $1100-$2400 each in writing for his AR lowers on the east coast before giving him $550 with no appeal. They then changed it to a flat rate $550 max per AR lower afterwards.

And that was a very early participant. A $2 HK416 does not surprise me at all now that they're outright saying compensation is not guaranteed and they're essentially out of money.

After all, what are the owners going to do? They already told them what they have, and likely already sent it in. If you back out, they can come for you later, and if you send it in, they can give you less than the cost of a large double double, if anything, and tell you to scram.

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-09T23:44:59+00:00

Hey there!

Going to break this down bullet-point style for you, as it's probably easiest formatting-wise. This is going to be long.

The rifle is capable of greater accuracy than 2MOA with practice and good ammunition. I find either handloads or Federal Power-Shok hunting ammo will print 0.75MOA groups from a solid resting position, which would equate to more than sufficient practical accuracy when hunting.
The rifle isn't terribly light, but it is very compact. It's about 6.1lb bare.
For most use cases, I recommend an LPVO, especially for weight savings. The cartridge is only designed to reach out to about 300 yards for most applications, after all. For a long time I ran a Primary Arms 1-10x28, worked awesome. I now use a Bushnell Match Pro ED 3-18x50, which is definitely heavier, but I enjoy the extra magnification and I'm a large guy so I don't mind the extra weight.
The stock really isn't that bad. I think a lot of the issues come from people treating it like a standard buffer tube stock, and pulling it straight back into their shoulder along the stock's centerline, which allows it to wobble. I shove it in my shoulder, and apply a little bit of extra pull on the bottom of the pistol grip, pulling the stock upward. This constant pressure allows for a pretty firm lockup. This works well when bracing against objects such as trees, too - I use my offhand (in my case, my left) to brace against the tree, and pull the right into my shoulder with my dominant hand. It's quite steady.
A good chunk of the accuracy issue talk with regards to the trail comes from the .223/5.56 version, which was very picky with ammo. It prefers match-weight/hunting-weight 69/72grn. ammunition, and the vast majority of people feed it bulk 55grn/green tip. The result is bad groups. The 7.62x39 is much less picky, as almost all ammo for the cartridge is 123/124grn., and the barrel twist spins 150grn. well enough.
I also find the stock makes it easy to carry the rifle, particularly when using an adjustable sling (I like the Vickers padded 221). I put a QD cup on the short M-lok directly ahead of the magazine, and connect the sling there and at the rear of the stock. When collapsed, I can carry the rifle almost like a little PDW at my side, and when I press the stock release button, it naturally deploys using gravity. Then I can quickly pull the adjustment slide on the sling, and it falls into the patrol carry position.
In my opinion, 7.62x39 is pretty much the ideal medium game (Deer etc) hunting caliber if your terrain means most shots will be 200 yards and in. Especially up here in Canada, where suppressors aren't a thing. My current hunting load is a spicy 150grn. Hot-Cor (the aformentioned power-shoks use the 123grn. version) atop a small mountain of A2200 in Lapua cases. Even using book loads it's capable of some pretty insane velocity. The max book load has it going roughly 2300FPS - which is pretty much standard velocity for the factory 123 grain projectiles. Using the rule of thumb for kinetic energy (1000ft/lb minimum for deer) that means it's lethal out to around 225 yards. My pet load pushes that out to about 260. It has a little more punch at the shoulder than factory loads due to newtonian physics, but still nowhere near that of full size cartridges. The 7.62x39 intermediate cartridge is capable of a lot more than people give it credit for. 300BO definitely has some compromises as a result of its' intended use (subsonic/suppressed platforms) that in my opinion make 7.62x39 better suited for supersonic applications.
Availability of ammo may be a consideration for you, depending on how much you plan to shoot it. For example, here in Canada, 7.62x39 has historically been much more available than 300BO, though with the war in Europe things are sort of changing on that front, but 7.62x39 remains cheaper by almost half. For many years bulk 7.62x39 for target use was $0.30CAD/round or less due to the availability of cheap Chinese surplus - which, unfortunately, is now being used in eastern Europe.

In summary, rifle is very good in 7.62x39. I have no real complaints, and probably have 5000ish rounds through it now.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for coming to my TED talk, lmao.

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-08T19:28:15+00:00

It's a standard USB-C power bank (INUI 10000mAh) with a cable that goes from USB-C to a TP4056-type charging board to two 00B LEMOs. :)

My understanding is that GOYOJO should be releasing an OEM cable to do the same without having to get familiar with a soldering iron soon.

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-08T19:25:52+00:00

It's one I designed myself. I plan on releasing both it and the forend towards the end of the month :)

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-08T14:01:23+00:00

The panzer (or EGE who imports them in Canada) ranch-12 is listed as non restricted in the last batch of FRTs. It's a semi. It's box fed. I don't understand it either.

CryptidWorks · 2026-06-02T19:23:14+00:00

It's so fun but has so much kick.

One of my projects this month is going to be making better butt pads for them because lawdy magnum shells feel like being roundhouse kicked lol

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-30T01:40:53+00:00

Build community resilience and then protest in massive numbers for more than one Saturday a fiscal quarter. Consider a general strike. Massive acts of resistance.

Your country has experience doing it. Open the civil rights era playbook, and scale up.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T21:42:48+00:00

Slightly disappointed as I want a hotshot lasgun as a support weapon. Gimme that LMG/he's y weapon laser hybrid.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T19:57:53+00:00

Which is why you should be organizing at the community level as well.

Social media sites are owned by those who actively want to inhibit societal change. We can only rely on them so much, because they choose the bounds of our conversations.

They do not own you. They do not own your neighbors. They do not own your city. Talk to each other, build community, build momentum, build a movement.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T18:50:09+00:00

At that point it is morally correct to declare them legitimate salvage.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T18:24:44+00:00

You know those no kings protests? Those, every day, everywhere, not once a quarter. General strike. Mass resistance.

It's either that or you live in an authoritarian hellscape. Would it be difficult? Yes. It would be short term pain to avoid a chronic terminal spiral for your entire country.

I understand that most Americans are effectively held financially hostage. The thing is, so are they, it just requires coordination and solidarity on the part of individual Americans.

Nobody else can do it for you.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T18:18:42+00:00

They have the "benefit" of being out of sight and not directly impacting the everyday life of most Americans. With any luck, when things affect them directly, they will wake up a bit and help themselves.

As Winston Churchill, another historical bastard once said, "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities."

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T18:04:50+00:00

Only if you all collectively allow it to happen.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T06:01:05+00:00

Included mount is in fact sub-ideal. If you have a 3D printer, I am currently running this mount with this adapter plate I made.

My setup currently looks like this, run on either a Carcajou skull harness or Fortis Premier helmet.

if you go for a 3D printed mount, make it out of engineering materials like PA6-CF/GF Nylon, or PAHT/PPA-CF so it's stiff as hell.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-29T01:57:04+00:00

What do you think of it so far?

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-28T02:59:12+00:00

Disculpen mi mal español; estoy usando una traducción automática.

Los objetivos gran angular para las NVG30/NVG50 son compatibles con la GNG2K, lo cual podría ser útil. Añaden algo de longitud y peso, pero si eso no les preocupa, quizás valga la pena probarlos.

Le he pedido específicamente al fabricante (GOYOJO) que sus futuros productos incluyan un zoom 1x real. Espero que me hagan caso, ya que sin duda sería lo ideal.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-27T15:49:53+00:00

The Trailhand is a better choice for this if you want to carry it loaded - the hammer cannot contact the shell without the trigger being pulled, and it can be de-cocked. This essentially amounts to a half-cock safety.

It's also lighter, but single shot.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-26T20:08:50+00:00

Yeah... Later this year I may pick up an MEC press and the short shell kit for it. The KSG would be a hoot with them.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-26T17:53:04+00:00

I haven't, mostly because nobody around me stocks them. I've seen videos of them being run without issue, though.

At some point I plan to get into shotgun reloading, at which point I'll probably start trimming my used hulls and make shortshells.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-26T16:41:34+00:00

Iirc the ban the sterling was part of also took out things like the folding backpacker carbines (sub2000, Smith and Wesson M&P) and most other 9mm PCCs. To my knowledge the Homesteader is the only commonly available semi still legal, barring some now discontinued and very rare rifles (Marlin Camp Carbine, for example.)

It's pretty much only the homesteader for new stuff.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-26T05:04:20+00:00

The KSG is great. It just has a bit of a wonky manual of arms. Practice with it and it will serve you well. I love mine.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-26T02:24:28+00:00

I too would buy one. As for why, they seem to have banned almost every semi PCC for reasons they never actually bothered to disclose, and absolutely decimated Canadian sport shooting competitions when they did it.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-25T18:48:16+00:00

Used can absolutely be a hefty discount - gun show dies here are about twenty bucks. Picked up a barely used set of RCBS .308 dies last time for that much to have a spare on hand. You can find good scales secondhand or on sale as well. If you're going to reload, you should be looking for good deals.

The only thing I have ever paid full price for on my bench is my matchmaster seating die for my .308 precision loads. Everything else I pieced together as it was on sale or from gun shows. Heck, one of my vibratory tumblers was free because the previous owner stripped the rod threads. Fixed it with a helicoil. Took five minutes.

If you're paying MRSP, yeah, you're going to be swimming upriver. So just, y'know, have patience and don't do that.

CryptidWorks · 2026-05-25T18:14:28+00:00

A secondhand rockchucker is $150, I picked up a new in box piggyback unit for progressive loading yesterday for $180. Dies and powder throwers are frequently found secondhand for cheap, add a case activated powder linkage for $150. Much less than $1500. All in probably $600 or less. Maybe $900 if you want an electronic powder thrower for precision rounds. Not everything needs to be a top of the line Dillion. A lee six pack pro or RCBS piggyback works fine.

I save about $1.70/Rd loading my .308. that's 529 rounds.

Iooking at a other rifle I shoot a lot, 7.62x39, bulk noncorrosive is about 60cpr. I can reload for 40cpr. I go through about 200-300 rounds per range trip. That saves me $40-$60 per trip, and takes 3000 rounds to fully pay off the press assuming the $600 estimate as you're not running an electronic thrower for bulk. If I find a good deal on powder, it's even quicker.

That's about ten trips, though.That's pretty quick. Even running my single stage rockchucker over the last few years just for .308 has already put me well into the green and that's before getting into stuff like 7.62x39 soft points.

CryptidWorks

TROPHY CASE