What are the Best CZ 455 Scope Rings?

The CZ 455 is a bolt action rimfire platform that was introduced by CZ in 2008. Designed as a successor to the popular CZ 452 series of rimfire models, the 455 featured an interchangeable barrel system, supposedly a better trigger system, and was machined to closer tolerances than the 452 series.

The interchangeable barrel system offered the end-user an easy way to change the barrel contour, and more importantly, the caliber. The 455 was chambered in 22LR, 22WMR, and 17HMR, and CZ also offered different stocks and barrel configurations for the platform.

Personally, I very much like the CZ 455 platform and own several in different configurations. The barrel interchangeability also meant that the 455 could accept aftermarket barrels, which really opened up the platform in terms of available modifications. Some of my best shooting .22 bolt rifles are built on the CZ 455 platform.

When CZ introduced the 457 platform in 2018, they decided to phase out the production of the 455 platform. That being said, there are still a number of new 455 configurations still available on the market, and in the pre-owned market.

Given the popularity of the CZ 455 rifle platform and how many were sold, I am routinely asked what are the best CZ 455 scope rings, so here’s a more in-depth look at that question.

All the CZ 455 models and variants are built with an integrated 11mm dovetail rail on the top of the frame. Now most modern U.S. made rimfire rifles have 3/8” Weaver rail integrated into the frame. I bring this up to point out that 11mm converts to .43 inches which is larger than the .375 inch weaver rail. This means that a scope mount made to fit a weaver rail is typically too small to fit on a CZ 455.

Just about every time I had a customer bring a CZ 455 into the firearms counter complaining that it wouldn’t shoot or hold zero, some investigating determined that about half the time,  the customer had mounted a 3/8” set of rings to the 11mm CZ 455 rail, and the rings were shifting on the rail as they were too small to properly fit.

When you are shopping for scope rings for a CZ 455, the first thing to do is make sure they are made to fit an 11mm rail. Otherwise, you may have an issue. If you try to mount rings made for a 3/8” Weaver rail on an 11mm rail, there’s a very good chance that you won’t be able to securely mount them to the rail.

The easiest way to avoid this issue is to make sure that you buy rings specially made for the CZ 455, and I’ll make some suggestions below.

The other two factors to take into consideration on 455 rings are the following:

• Scope tube diameter
• Ring Height

Let’s dive a little deeper into those topics:

Scope Tube Diameter

Riflescopes are built on tubes that come in different sizes. The two most popular sizes are 1 inch and 30mm. For years, 1 inch was really the only game in town, but, in the last 10 years or so, rifle scope manufacturers have begun to offer more and more scope models built on the larger 30mm tube.

Although it may sound confusing, the tube diameter situation as it relates to scope rings is fairly easy to understand: if you buy a scope built on a 1-inch tube, then you’ll need 1-inch scope rings. If you buy a rifle scope built on a 30mm tube, then you’ll need 30mm scope rings.

Ring Height

Most all scope rings (including those made for the CZ 455) are available in different “heights”, with the height referring to how high the scope will ride over the bore of the 455. The minimum ring height that you can use for your individual situation will depend on two things:

• Mounting the scope high enough so the bolt on the 455 can cycle without making contact
• Mounting the scope high enough the ocular bell on the scope doesn’t come into contact with the bore.

Now the size of the rifle scope ocular bell is measured in millimeters, and the most common sizes are 40mm, 42mm, 44mm, and 50mm. The larger the size of the ocular bell on your rifle scope, the higher the rings you’ll need.

Scope rings are identified and labeled by their height with names like:

• Low
• Medium
• High
• Extra high

Or they may be identified by their actual size:

• ¾” – This means the scope with ride ¾” over the barrel.
• 1” – This means the scope will ride 1 inch over the barrel.

Etc.

So, what are the best CZ 455 scope rings in my humble opinion? I have two favorites and I’ll go over both:

Talley Rings

One of my favorite sets of rings for the 455 comes from a company called Talley Manufacturing out of Santee, SC. Now Talley offers two types of ring set styles, but only one style is designed for the 455.

That set is the Talley steel rings, and they are specifically made for use with the 11mm dovetail rail on the 455 series. Unlike some scope ring models, these particular Talley models have a horizontal split and feature a left and right side, with the scope riding in the middle.

Talley rings are not cheap (as far as rings go), but they are very, very well made, and basically lock the scope to the rifle.

Talley offers scope rings for the CZ 455 rifles in both a 1-inch configuration and a 30mm configuration. From a ring height perspective, Talley offers rings in the following heights:

BKL Rings

BKL rings are manufactured by a company called BKL Technologies based in Fort Worth Texas. The BKL brand is not near as well known as some of the larger scope ring brands like Leupold or Weaver, but don’t let that concern you as BKL makes some outstanding scope rings for the money.

Unlike the Talley ring models, the BKL models for the CZ 455 feature a vertical split so there are a top and bottom portion of the ring with the scope riding in the middle.

One note of caution about purchasing BKL rings: BKL offers its rings in a set (with two) and as singles. Make sure you are buying the set and not the single versions.

BKL offers their rings for the 455 in a 1-inch version and a 30mm version, and offers the following ring heights:

If you are shopping strictly on budget, then the BKL rings are a great choice. If budget is not an issue, the Talley models are worth looking at.

Here are some commonly asked questions that I’ve heard or read regarding scope rings for a CZ 455:

What height scope rings for best for a CZ 455?

The answer really depends on the specs of the rifle scope that you are planning to mount on it. The tube size, ocular bell size, and ring brand will play a role in that decision so I really can’t provide a specific answer without having more details.

Does the CZ 455 come with scope rings?

New CZ 455 models DO NOT come with a set of scope rings. Now, if you purchased a pre-owned CZ 455 on the used market, it could possibly come with a set of scope rings mounted on it.

Will a CZ 455 only accept rings made for an 11mm dovetail?

A factory stock CZ will only accept scope rings that are made to fit an 11mm dovetail rail. In theory, you could try to mount rings built for a 3/8″ weaver rail on a 455, but you most likely won’t be able to tighten the rings down to the rail enough to have them secure.

Now, there are adapter rails that you can buy which increase the MOA adjustment and some will accept rings made for a ¾” rail.

But, you’re far better off to just buy rings made to fit the 11mm rail versus trying to use an adapter rail.

What are the recommended CZ 455 scope ring torque specs?

Each scope ring manufacturer will provide specific recommended torque settings for mounting the scope in the rings.

Using the Talley rings from above as an example, for their steel fixed rings, they recommend a torque setting of 30 in/lb for the bottom screw and 20 in/lb for the top screw on the rings.

What about the Leupold CZ 455 scope rings?

I own a few sets of Leupold scope rings and think they are good rings. While Leupold does offer scope ring sets made for the CZ 455, I honestly prefer the Talley and BKL models I mentioned above. However, if you like the Leupold rings for the 455, I don’t think they are a bad choice either.

What about scope rings for a CZ 457?

The CZ 457 also uses an 11mm rail so the scope rings I recommended above will also work with any of the CZ 457 models.

Can you recommend any scope rings for a CZ 452?

Now the CZ 452 is a little bit of a different beast than the CZ 455 and 457 series. The 452 featured a 452 American series that was designed to target the US market, so it was supposed to come equipped with a ¾” weaver rail (which is kind of standard on US-made guns). The remaining rifles within the CZ 452 family (outside of the American model) came with an 11mm rail.

However, not all the 452 American ended up coming with a ¾” weaver rail as some ended up with an 11mm rail. I actually have a CZ 452 American that was made in 2002 with a factory 11mm rail.

So, to answer your original question, Talley offers a set of rings made for the CZ 452 with a ¾” rail and those can be seen here. Those are what I run on every CZ 452 that I own.