Building the Little Thumper .500 Jeffries

CZ? Easy!

It was fall and I had a hankering for fried perch, spicy chili and a cold lager beer. The best I’ve experienced is 8 hours away in a little bar in Michigan called the Adair Inn. Master gunsmith and friend Ken Kelly of Mag-na-port introduced me to this hole-in-the-wall hangout in Michigan’s big woods. The walls are adorned with deer heads, perch, bass and walleye, a true outdoorsman’s place to refuel, tell tales and warm up from a day’s hunt or fishing trip.

Of course I brought the CZ 550 with me for Ken is one of only a few men I’d trust to do the work my gun needed. In factory form, CZ seemed to think 25″ barrels were necessary for their Magnum rifles. Sure, the long tom barrel ramps up velocity but it also makes the gun cumbersome and unwieldy, especially in tight quarters.
I wanted the barrel cut-down to 21″. A simple job, but I wanted to keep the nifty and traditional barrel-banded front sight the rifle came with. Ken would work his magic to make this possible.

First things first, Ken performed a severe circumcision of sorts, cutting off the last 4″ of barrel. Ouch! I cringed as the band saw blade quickly cut through the barrel. No turning back now! He then applied heat from a torch to loosen the soldered front sight and its barrel band. Thankfully, the whole slid off without a hitch. Ken then went to the Bridgeport milling machine to administer a perfect barrel crown for the newly made carbine.

Next, Ken honed out the barrel band so it would slip snugly in place onto the thicker portion of the tapered barrel. Once this was accomplished, he skillfully centered the front sight, marking where he would drill and tap a hole so the barrel band could be screwed onto the barrel.

The hole was hidden under the front sight. Combined with JB Weld and the barrel band design, the front sight is now locked solid and the barrel didn’t need to be re-blued, saving time and money.