Just a quick ammo test in between rain squalls up on the farm. My Steyr Zephyr 2 seems to like these two subsonic rounds with an obvious preference for the RWS R50… with the price difference you’d expect it too. At $380 AUD for a brick (500 rounds) it ain’t cheap. I also had Lapua Center X but weather conditions on the day cut my testing short. Cheers !
I recently procured one of these Zephyrs. I tested 22 different ammo types through it. I also tested side by side with two different Savage Mark IIs (TRR-SR & Minimalist). With same front and rear rest at same distance. The obvious or more apparent observation was the Zephyr was consistently a better shooter. The bolt action on the Savages were smoother, just better to operate. Remembering the Zephyr is a true hunting rifle, it loved all match ammo, and shot HV and Hyper-V rounds surprisingly much better than the other 2 rifles. Though the TRR-SR turned in the smallest groups occasionally, the Zephyr beat it on averages hands down. Ammo Zephyr Shoots Best Groups at 60 yards: 1. Fiocchi 320 2. Eley Match & Lapua Center X 3. Eley Club 4. SK anything, Match/Long Range/Standard Plus Inexpensive Ammo Zephyr Shoots Best, US Currency 1. Sellier Bellot Club $4.5 box (sometimes less than .400) 2. CCI Standard $4.8 box 3. CCI MiniMag 36gr HP 100 rds. $11.00 box 4. Eley HV $8.00 box 5. CCI Velocitors $10.00 box I will run SB Club since cost vs performance can't be beat for target. Depending on distance Fiocchi, MiniMag/Velocitor, I had .175 groups with Fiocchi 320. The CCI ammo may change as I test more ammo in the future. I am curious to test the performance of CCI Velocitor at longer range 125-150 yards. Have good day!
@ Billy Bob, thanks for the detailed response ! Re your Zephyr II and ammo testing. I’ve got more testing to do this weekend hopefully weather permitting and with a new scope,NF SHV 5-20x56, checking of my zero @ 50mtrs and dialing for metallic silhouettes. I’ll try and source some of the ammo you listed. It definitely likes the R50 and would want to at the price ! Lapua centre x seems to go all over the place… I’ll try again with a few fouling shots first. The SK LR match is next after R50… I have some SK Rifle and Eley Match to test as well. Regards for the festive season and stay safe ! Cheers !
@@waynemcintosh5035 Wayne, I go 2 times a week and temporarily replaced my hunting scope with an Arken 6-24x50 Sh 4 Gen 2 from my Creedmoor. The added weight (30oz) helped on the bench (not for hunting I like light weight), I know my groups are tighter with the addition of the better reticle/weight. I want to test past 100 yards on Saturday. At 75 - 100 yards SK Standard Plus/Match, Center X, Eley Match and Fiocchi 320 all shot MOA. All my ammo is fresh, my Zephyr really doesn't discriminate between those 5 @ 100 yards. So I will use the 300 yard range next trip and start all over again 125 - 200 yards, and call it a wrap. I ordered 1 box ea. of 5 different RWS ammo > 50/100/Match/Special Match & Target, never seen anyone use it and all were in stock & arrive today, so what the heck I'm game, it's just money:) That NF scope is awesome Wayne (Leopold quality), my buddy has it on his 6.5 PRC. I love the glass and MOAR reticle. Do you like the illuminated reticles? Good luck with it! Have a good weekend sir!
@@BillyBob-il8ot Hi Billy, yes the NF is a big step up from the Hawke which had no parallax adjustment down to 25 mts. ( set at 50-100) I bought the illuminated SHV. The glass is awesome and I love the reticle. I’d be very interested to hear how you go with your ammo testing, I’ve only tried the R50 in the RWS line. I’m really interested to see how I go giving center x another go plus the eley match and SK Rifle. I intend to buy a brick of one of them. Let me know how the ammo goes out to 300 Got my fingers crossed for decent weather ! Take care and happy shooting mate !👍
Wayne, I finally finished the testing out to 300 yards and the RWS ammo. My buddy helped and we tested my left overs and my buddy's through the Savage TRR-SR, CZ MTR and CZ at One. It took 4 days but we had fun. We both used Arken 6-24x50 sh4 Gen 2s, three of them and 30 MOA rails. I had the distinct honor of wind calls, he sucks at it:) 1st RWS: RWS 50 and 100 shot as good as any match ammo we tested at 50 yards. At 75 & 100 yards 50 started to show better results compared to 100 and was equal to other match grade in all rifles. RWS 50 was not the smallest groups in any rifle. We are talking 10-100ths of inches. So we agreed 15ths of an " was the distinguishing point, we had to come up with something. Ranking subsonic Match ammo at 50 yards through the Zephyr Top 5: 1. Fiocchi 320 2. Eley Match, Lapua Center X & RWS 50 3. SK Long range (we had no SK match ammo) Ranking HV through ammo at 50 yards through the Zephyr Top 4: 1. Blazer 40gr & SK HV 40gr 2. CCI Minimag HP 36gr & Eley HV HP 38gr At 200 and 300 yards: 200 yards Top 5 subs all were MOA 300 yards SK long range hands down. What surprised us at 300 yards was CCI Velocitors, they shot better the further we went, at 200 yards we were shocked considering previous short distance performance, we did sort and inspect these rounds by weight, rim thickness deformities and removed the wax coating. All CCI rounds recieved the same treatment, too many failures to eject in all rifles. The CZs liked all the same ammo, the TRR-SR was the pickiest of the bunch, CZ at One had the shortest barrel at 16", CZ MTR & Zephyr 19 - 20" and the TRR-SR 22". At long range the TRR-SR shot the best with CCI Velocitors and SK Long Range. Runner up was CZ MTR with Eley Match and Zepher with everything else, the Zephyr just didn't change much at all, we discussed it over and over again. We cleaned it, still same results. So we put it into a sled instead of bag rests, We zeroed every rifle with SK Standard Plus always. Loaded a 10 round mag with with top 5 subs & SK S+ as 1st out of the barrel. HV was interesting, we new are dope and shot them after subs. The results were not mixed at all, the + rounds had 3 hits, all top five hit a 16" plate nearly MOA. To our amazement, every HV round as a group was better group than the match grade. We scratched heads and we did it again with the CZ MTR, nearly same results the Velocitor screwed the group up. We didn't go any further we had enough. Since then we figured the reason why, the lube from the match grade ammo and SK S+. We cleaned all Blazer rounds (best for our rifles), sorted them, took a brick of SK S+ and placed into a plastic bag sat it in the sun for 2 hrs and placed 100 rounds of blazer sorted ammo (3 groups) in the bag and made sure every round best we could got a coating. Then we shot them by sorted groups after shooting SK S+ through clean barrels, until groups tightened up. We got our answer, the Blazers groups (all) were our best HV groups we shot consistently ever! Differing impacts and few fliers but much better, smallest group was .318 at 50 yards by CZ MTR. I got the idea from mixing my rubber fishing baits in Yamamota lure bags for the scent he uses. We still argue who has the best rifles:) See ya!
@BillyBob Hi Billy, wow,thanks for the detailed info Re your testing. You went to a lot of trouble and I’ll be reading and re reading your results and methodology. I had a session on Sunday in less than ideal conditions with gusty winds but managed to double check my turret dialling at 25-40-50-60-77 & 100 mtrs. I only shot SK long range match and didn’t get to test other ammo. Next time I’ll be better organised. Thanks again for your update great to hear you’re getting out an having some serious sessions ! I’ve now gotta try and source some Fiocchi 320 ! Stay safe. Regards 👍
Yes, it’s a beautiful rifle and accurate especially since I knocked up a cheap pine shooting rest. I’d imagine a bipod and rear bag would be just as good. Next time I’ll add the Lapua Centre X into the line up. The RWS R50 is the best so far ! Enjoy ! 👍
That sure is a pretty rifle. I saw somewhere that when you change from one ammo to another brand that you should put a dozen rounds of the new ammo to acclimate the barrel for that ammo before testing groups. Have you ever heard this? I don't know if it is true or not.
Yes, that’s probably because different ammo can use different lubricants. I’ve always put at least half a dozen rounds of a new brand through first before testing. 👍
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Just a quick ammo test in between rain squalls up on the farm. My Steyr Zephyr 2 seems to like these two subsonic rounds with an obvious preference for the RWS R50… with the price difference you’d expect it too. At $380 AUD for a brick (500 rounds) it ain’t cheap. I also had Lapua Center X but weather conditions on the day cut my testing short. Cheers !
I recently procured one of these Zephyrs. I tested 22 different ammo types through it. I also tested side by side with two different Savage Mark IIs (TRR-SR & Minimalist). With same front and rear rest at same distance. The obvious or more apparent observation was the Zephyr was consistently a better shooter. The bolt action on the Savages were smoother, just better to operate. Remembering the Zephyr is a true hunting rifle, it loved all match ammo, and shot HV and Hyper-V rounds surprisingly much better than the other 2 rifles. Though the TRR-SR turned in the smallest groups occasionally, the Zephyr beat it on averages hands down.
Ammo Zephyr Shoots Best Groups at 60 yards:
1. Fiocchi 320
2. Eley Match & Lapua Center X
3. Eley Club
4. SK anything, Match/Long Range/Standard Plus
Inexpensive Ammo Zephyr Shoots Best, US Currency
1. Sellier Bellot Club $4.5 box (sometimes less than .400)
2. CCI Standard $4.8 box
3. CCI MiniMag 36gr HP 100 rds. $11.00 box
4. Eley HV $8.00 box
5. CCI Velocitors $10.00 box
I will run SB Club since cost vs performance can't be beat for target. Depending on distance Fiocchi, MiniMag/Velocitor, I had .175 groups with Fiocchi 320. The CCI ammo may change as I test more ammo in the future. I am curious to test the performance of CCI Velocitor at longer range 125-150 yards.
Have good day!
@ Billy Bob, thanks for the detailed response ! Re your Zephyr II and ammo testing. I’ve got more testing to do this weekend hopefully weather permitting and with a new scope,NF SHV 5-20x56, checking of my zero @ 50mtrs and dialing for metallic silhouettes. I’ll try and source some of the ammo you listed. It definitely likes the R50 and would want to at the price ! Lapua centre x seems to go all over the place… I’ll try again with a few fouling shots first. The SK LR match is next after R50… I have some SK Rifle and Eley Match to test as well. Regards for the festive season and stay safe ! Cheers !
@@waynemcintosh5035 Wayne, I go 2 times a week and temporarily replaced my hunting scope with an Arken 6-24x50 Sh 4 Gen 2 from my Creedmoor. The added weight (30oz) helped on the bench (not for hunting I like light weight), I know my groups are tighter with the addition of the better reticle/weight. I want to test past 100 yards on Saturday. At 75 - 100 yards SK Standard Plus/Match, Center X, Eley Match and Fiocchi 320 all shot MOA. All my ammo is fresh, my Zephyr really doesn't discriminate between those 5 @ 100 yards. So I will use the 300 yard range next trip and start all over again 125 - 200 yards, and call it a wrap. I ordered 1 box ea. of 5 different RWS ammo > 50/100/Match/Special Match & Target, never seen anyone use it and all were in stock & arrive today, so what the heck I'm game, it's just money:)
That NF scope is awesome Wayne (Leopold quality), my buddy has it on his 6.5 PRC. I love the glass and MOAR reticle. Do you like the illuminated reticles? Good luck with it!
Have a good weekend sir!
@@BillyBob-il8ot Hi Billy, yes the NF is a big step up from the Hawke which had no parallax adjustment down to 25 mts. ( set at 50-100) I bought the illuminated SHV. The glass is awesome and I love the reticle. I’d be very interested to hear how you go with your ammo testing, I’ve only tried the R50 in the RWS line.
I’m really interested to see how I go giving center x another go plus the eley match and SK Rifle. I intend to buy a brick of one of them. Let me know how the ammo goes out to 300
Got my fingers crossed for decent weather ! Take care and happy shooting mate !👍
Wayne, I finally finished the testing out to 300 yards and the RWS ammo. My buddy helped and we tested my left overs and my buddy's through the Savage TRR-SR, CZ MTR and CZ at One. It took 4 days but we had fun. We both used Arken 6-24x50 sh4 Gen 2s, three of them and 30 MOA rails. I had the distinct honor of wind calls, he sucks at it:)
1st RWS:
RWS 50 and 100 shot as good as any match ammo we tested at 50 yards. At 75 & 100 yards 50 started to show better results compared to 100 and was equal to other match grade in all rifles. RWS 50 was not the smallest groups in any rifle. We are talking 10-100ths of inches. So we agreed 15ths of an " was the distinguishing point, we had to come up with something.
Ranking subsonic Match ammo at 50 yards through the Zephyr Top 5:
1. Fiocchi 320
2. Eley Match, Lapua Center X & RWS 50
3. SK Long range (we had no SK match ammo)
Ranking HV through ammo at 50 yards through the Zephyr Top 4:
1. Blazer 40gr & SK HV 40gr
2. CCI Minimag HP 36gr & Eley HV HP 38gr
At 200 and 300 yards:
200 yards Top 5 subs all were MOA
300 yards SK long range hands down.
What surprised us at 300 yards was CCI Velocitors, they shot better the further we went, at 200 yards we were shocked considering previous short distance performance, we did sort and inspect these rounds by weight, rim thickness deformities and removed the wax coating. All CCI rounds recieved the same treatment, too many failures to eject in all rifles.
The CZs liked all the same ammo, the TRR-SR was the pickiest of the bunch, CZ at One had the shortest barrel at 16", CZ MTR & Zephyr 19 - 20" and the TRR-SR 22". At long range the TRR-SR shot the best with CCI Velocitors and SK Long Range. Runner up was CZ MTR with Eley Match and Zepher with everything else, the Zephyr just didn't change much at all, we discussed it over and over again. We cleaned it, still same results. So we put it into a sled instead of bag rests, We zeroed every rifle with SK Standard Plus always. Loaded a 10 round mag with with top 5 subs & SK S+ as 1st out of the barrel. HV was interesting, we new are dope and shot them after subs.
The results were not mixed at all, the + rounds had 3 hits, all top five hit a 16" plate nearly MOA. To our amazement, every HV round as a group was better group than the match grade.
We scratched heads and we did it again with the CZ MTR, nearly same results the Velocitor screwed the group up. We didn't go any further we had enough.
Since then we figured the reason why, the lube from the match grade ammo and SK S+. We cleaned all Blazer rounds (best for our rifles), sorted them, took a brick of SK S+ and placed into a plastic bag sat it in the sun for 2 hrs and placed 100 rounds of blazer sorted ammo (3 groups) in the bag and made sure every round best we could got a coating. Then we shot them by sorted groups after shooting SK S+ through clean barrels, until groups tightened up. We got our answer, the Blazers groups (all) were our best HV groups we shot consistently ever! Differing impacts and few fliers but much better, smallest group was .318 at 50 yards by CZ MTR.
I got the idea from mixing my rubber fishing baits in Yamamota lure bags for the scent he uses. We still argue who has the best rifles:)
See ya!
@BillyBob Hi Billy, wow,thanks for the detailed info Re your testing. You went to a lot of trouble and I’ll be reading and re reading your results and methodology. I had a session on Sunday in less than ideal conditions with gusty winds but managed to double check my turret dialling at 25-40-50-60-77 & 100 mtrs. I only shot SK long range match and didn’t get to test other ammo. Next time I’ll be better organised. Thanks again for your update great to hear you’re getting out an having some serious sessions ! I’ve now gotta try and source some Fiocchi 320 ! Stay safe. Regards 👍
Great tune and playing!
Pretty good shootin’ too!
@Paul Simmons Cheers Paul ! Regards.
Excellent , I have got some nice groups with my zephyr II with cheap ammo. Looking forward to seeing what it will do with some higher end ammo.
Yes, it’s a beautiful rifle and accurate especially since I knocked up a cheap pine shooting rest. I’d imagine a bipod and rear bag would be just as good. Next time I’ll add the Lapua Centre X into the line up. The RWS R50 is the best so far ! Enjoy ! 👍
Wowzers, beautiful accurate rifle-gun and great tune. Thought you was Brian Setzer. :)
William Koppos Ha ! I’d be happy with his hair ! Cheers !
That sure is a pretty rifle. I saw somewhere that when you change from one ammo to another brand that you should put a dozen rounds of the new ammo to acclimate the barrel for that ammo before testing groups. Have you ever heard this? I don't know if it is true or not.
Yes, that’s probably because different ammo can use different lubricants. I’ve always put at least half a dozen rounds of a new brand through first before testing. 👍