Steyr Zephyr II on the bench today.

[Kisssofdeath]

I shot a couple hundred rounds today with my Steyr Zephyr II. I have had this rifle for about 1.5 years. I shot 50 rounds of Fed GM Ultra Match, Eley Edge, Eley Club and 25 rounds of Eley Tenex Pistol and Eley Match. All were shot with the Sparrow suppressor. Tenex Pistol and Match was shot last and it was getting dark and I wanted to get both rounds in so I only shot 25 each, normally I shoot 50 at a plate. The rifle as shown weighs no more than 8 lbs, it's not an easy one to shoot from the bench especially with its narrow forearm. Trigger is about 2 lb.

I see some people questioning themselves about cleaning their rifles and getting bad accuracy results afterwards. Well the groups below were shot with a dirty barrel, I have no idea how many rounds has been through it since the last cleaning. Tomorrow I will take borescope photos before and after cleaning and then shoot the same ammo in the same order as I did today. No fouling shots, straight from clean to shoot. We will see what difference the cleaning made on this Zephyr II. Of course, the only thing this will prove is how cleaning affected this rifle. It will still be good knowledge for myself and everyone else. Of course some of you may not give a shit LOL, and that's alright too.

BTW, that rail is my spare just for times like this. I'm doing some scope swapping.

 

[littlepod]

T1X outshoots your Zephyr? Seems like all that ammo and none of them particularly was a lot tighter than the other. Expected more from the Tenex!

 

[Kisssofdeath]

LOL, always expect the unexpected, that way you won't be disappointed. Also, ammo price doesn't always guarantee accuracy. Some of those shots could have been me just making a bad pull or something. Unless I make a notation on the target, such as "wind", "pulled" or whatever, I consider all shots good on my end. Honestly I just don't like making excuses. I will reiterate that this rifle is not bench friendly, even with bipods it's so easy to move when squeezing the trigger. This type of rifle is much more off hand shooting friendly.

The main purpose of this exercise is to show the difference between these groups shot with a fouled barrel vs. groups shot with the same Lot# ammo from a clean barrel.

 

[Kisssofdeath]

Ok, here is the follow up. The follow up is...there is no follow up. LOL, reason being is the barrel was fairly clean to start with, barely had a carbon ring started (for example). So, I thought it would be a waste of ammo to clean and reshoot. I am no the verge of letting this Zephyr II go anyway for various reasons, accuracy NOT being one. However, I did shoot it with some of the RWS R50 sc ammo I got from the SWFA sale. Below are those results. Not really bad considering the type of rifle and design it is.

 

[Kevin1]

KOD, I like the wood on that Steyr.... It sure is a pretty rifle. What are your thoughts on the action and the trigger of the Steyr? How does it compare to your Tikka or your Anschutz? It's priced somewhere in between, so it would be interesting to get your thoughts.

 

[Kisssofdeath]

Hello Kevin,

This Zephyr II is the prettiest rifle I own considering the wood, stock design, metal work and finish.

The trigger is great. Right now it's at 1.5 lbs but at that weight the safety will not engage. That's not an issue with me and my shooting characteristics. Just guessing, it would be in the 2 lb range for the safety to work. The trigger is single stage with zero creep. I consider this fine for what the rifle was intended for and that's a light weight, walk around small game rifle.

The receiver and bolt are really beefy. When I first got the Zephyr I noticed this and did some bolt comparisons, see photo. The bolt has a very short lift, just like the Tikka and less than the Anschutz. The bolt has always been smooth back and forth, in the beginning the opening and closing "more closing" was a PITA. After a few thousand rounds it is much better now.

Operation is the issue. In the beginning the rifle would feed everything fine but had a 90% failure rate on ejecting. Also when the bolt was closed, the next round in the mag had lead shaved from it, see photos. I sent the rifle back to Steyr and a guy named Herbert or Hoover or something like that worked on it. He fixed the ejection and it works great now. He helped, not cured the bullet scraping but in the process hurt feeding. I have many CZ mags from 5 rounders, 10 rounders. plastic and metal and it doesn't matter what I use the bolt will ride over the 5th round every time if I'm not "careful" how I work the bolt. Essentially, to keep from getting so mad, I now have a single shot Zephyr II. On a good note, extraction has never been an issue.

And another thing, when I got the rifle back someone had made a scribly scratch "not a straight line" inside the chamber area. Probably doesn't affect anything but WTH anyway. Seemed like it never shot as good either after getting it back. I am the only one I know of that has had issues with feeding, bullet scraping and ejection. Lucky me.

Million dollar question...would I buy another? Yes but I'd want to see the wood first. It can be a hit or miss from what I have seen and read. I have actually bidded on a few on GB but not willing to pay what they have been selling for. I paid $860 shipped over a year ago.

When you buy a rifle like the Tikka T1x and it cost say $480 +/- $25 and the operation is smoother, the trigger as good or better, accuracy as good or better, it kinda leaves a sore spot when that $900 Zephyr II is not as good. Even after saying all that, I'd still buy another for the right price and wood.

Bolts from left to right are: Ans 1710, Zephyr, CZ 452, BRNO 1, Savage MK II, Keystone PT 722 and Ruger PR.

Borescope photos when new.

Bullet damage.

If you have anymore questions just ask.