CZ Model 600 Trail: 300Blk Review

Czech firearms manufacturer CZ has hit quite a few out of the park lately. Today I bring you a review of another one of CZ’s more recent ventures; the CZ Model 600 Trail chambered in 300 Blackout. The compact Trail model promises to bring compact performance, something I enjoy myself. Let’s get into this review!

Background

The 600 series of rifles is a more recent product line from CZ. Some of the company’s other impressive rifles like the Model 550 and model 457 are extremely popular with shooters. But the 600 series appears to be broad enough to cover most purposes. 

Shooters will be happy to see that the model 600 is available in a micro action (tested today) as well as a standard short-action, and long-action. This spectrum of options means there is surely a Model 600 for you. 

As far as I can tell, the 600 series of rifles was designed to be a modern replacement to aging designs based on Mauser’s. Something to compete in the same market as Tikka T3’s and the Ruger American. I love the classy quality of the Model 550’s, but I can understand why CZ would move towards something more efficient to manufacture.

Sometimes, modern manufacturing designs also mean cheap. For example, the Ruger American is very popular today, but I don’t think it’s as robust or well-built as the old Ruger M77. It may function just as well, and even eclipse the capabilities, but it doesn’t feel as stout as my old M77.

I’m optimistic that CZ hasn’t short-changed the model 600 by incorporating cheap imported parts and technologies. But that’s what we are here to find out. Perhaps someday there will be a collector grade Model 600 Safari hung over my hearth.  

Model 600 Features

Model 600 Features

1 Collapsible PDW stock

Reduces the size of the rifle for storage or transport

2 Picatinny Sight rail

For mounting sights or rifle scopes

3 Threaded Barrel

⅝-24 Thread pattern to fit your favorite suppressor

4 M-Lok Handguard

Allows easy mounting of accessories

5 Detachable Box Magazine

CZ Bren pattern stanag magazines for quick reloads

6 Adjustable trigger

Easily adjusted for best feel

7 AR style safety

Familiar feel is easily operated

Other Models

In addition to the model we tested today, the Model 600 Trail is also available in both 223 Remington and 7.62×39 Soviet. These three micro-action options give you plenty of performance choices. 

CZ Model 600 Trail Review

Picking up the Trail for the first time, I wasn’t exactly sure what it was for. By that I mean its purpose. At a glance it almost looks like some kind of AR type rifle, until you notice the bolt. Once I picked it up though, and gave it a quick look it became quite apparent what this rifle is for. 

With a short sixteen-inch barrel and a collapsible stock, this rifle was meant to go places. And with a name like Trail I assume CZ means for us to take it into the mountains. But to be honest, I think it would also make a good covert rifle. Something to tuck under the seat of your truck.

Using the 300 Blackout cartridge also suggests some civilian spook purposes, such as dispatching pests around the house. Or just hunting animals quietly, as the subsonic ammunition available for the Blackout is movie quiet. 

Range Prep

Before heading out with the rifle, I first mounted up a riflescope. The Maven RS 3 is a 5-30 power scope, probably a little more scope than this rifle needs. But it would help test the rifles capabilities.

Instead of the typical bipod I would mount on a rifle, I put a tripod adapter for my little Precision Rifle Solutions tripod. This would give added stability, and additional shooting positions. I grabbed a few boxes of 300Blk ammunition from Hornady and HSM, both supersonic and subsonic varieties.

I also threw a suppressor in my bag, a Yankee Hill Machine Nitro. Shooting a 300Blk without a suppressor in my opinion is silly, I wanted to experience it proper.

Shootability

Once I was on the shooting mat with the 600 Trail, I quite enjoyed shooting it. There was a few things that I noticed immediately as I did my typical process. The bolt feels great in this short little action, it took me a minute to find the bolt release because it’s on the opposite side of the rifle from where typically found. 

The trigger felt great, and despite being able to adjust it I just left it where it was. Cycling cartridges through the gun felt very nice, and spent cases ejected nicely. The firm ejector spring sent cases further than I expected. 

The hushed report of shots were spectacular, I could hear the bullets striking the target downrange. I loaded magazines and ran all my different types of ammo through the rifle.

It didn’t take long to find something I would change about the rifle. The collapsible buttstock is fantastic for storing the rifle, but it caused me an issue while shooting. First of all, the PDW style stock has three or four locking positions. But it only locks in one direction, meaning you can still pull it out further. This caused me a little trouble because I found the third position to be ideal for my shooting needs. But while running the bolt quickly, I found as I pushed the bolt forward it would extend the stock to the fourth position. Not a huge deal, I suppose you could dremel it out to stay in each position.

Also, the cheek rest on the stock turned out to be a little low for the scope mounting configuration. Obviously this is something I could have changed, but I would have loved if the cheek rest had been adjustable. 

The rifle is very light, and easy to maneuver with its short sixteen-inch barrel. With a sling in place, it was very pleasant to haul around these mountains. 

Reliability

Other than the issue I mentioned with the stock, I found nothing unreliable about the Trail. The rifle is designed to use Bren magazines which are Stanag pattern I believe. I had 10 and 30 round P-mags for testing and they worked flawlessly. They did fit a little wobbly, but that didn’t seem to affect the function, and since they aren’t Bren mags, I won’t hold it against the rifle. 

Accuracy

I shot an assortment of ammunition through the rifle, the best performing ammo seemed to be the Hornady. The 110 grain supersonic produced groups around 1-1.5 MOA, very similar to the 208 grain subsonic loads. These results were done at 100 yards.

Ergonomics

The fit of the 600 Trail was better than I expected. Other than wishing I had mounted the scope lower, the rifle fit me quite well. The grip angle feels nice, and the AR style safety is exactly where you’d expect it to be. And it has a very nice little click to it. 

The Trail has a magazine release on both sides of the rifle, which gives you more options. As I mentioned the bolt release is right in front of the bolt handle. And while it did work flawlessly, it felt a touch janky. It was the only thing on the rifle that made me think; “oh no CZ, don’t do that”.

The M-Lok handguard was great, and shooting the rifle supported or unsupported was fantastic. It was nice to be able to attach things to the handguard for shooting support.

Value

Searching for a CZ 600 Trail to purchase, it seems the street price isn’t far off of the MSRP. So you can expect to pay right around a thousand dollars at the time of this printing. That seemed a bit steep for me when I first saw the price. The Ruger American offers many of the same features and can be had for as little as five hundred bucks in some places. And the Howa Mini can be found for under five hundred if you can find one. It too offers most of the same features, lacking only the collapsible stock and M-Lok handguard. 

Typically I give CZ a leg up over other brands, and in this comparison I probably still would choose the CZ over the other two options. 

Pros and Cons

Preferred Ammo 

Shooting Hornady ammo certainly seemed to produce better results than others. For both supersonic and subsonic the Hornady Black ammunition provided the best accuracy and performance.

The 110 grain Black would be great for hunting deer or any other supersonic purpose. The 208 subsonic was far better for covert purposes like dispatching raccoons off the porch.

Upgrade and Accessory Options

Magpul Industries MS1 QDM Sling		A good sling is also very handy, I used a Magpul MS1 sling which worked well.	Check It Out
EOTech Vudu 1-10x28mm Rifle Scope		A rifle scope is the best sighting option, while the Maven I used for testing might be a bit much, I would strongly recommend something like the Eotech Vudu 1-10	Check It Out
Yankee Hill Machine Co Inc. Nitro N20 9mm		This rifle absolutely needs a suppressor, it is made for it. I used the Yankee Hill Machine Nitro N2.0, but any good 30 caliber suppressor would work well here.	Check It Out

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed the CZ Model 600 Trail, though it isn’t really my kind of thing I can still appreciate what it does. It would be a great little rifle for a rancher to keep on his ATV or in the truck. It gives great compact maneuverability and still shoots well enough to quietly get rid of coyotes, groundhogs or whatever else you might need to blackout.