It is true that I had high expectations for the Zelos when I saw the first prototype some time back. I really, really hoped that this future rifle would be all that and a bag of chips.Only time would tell.  We all should be familiar with patiently waiting for things that we really want.  We begin conditioning for this early in life, first with Christmas, then with spring break, summer vacation, our birthday, and so on and so forth. By the time we reach adulthood, we are used to waiting. In some cases, we learn to dread the arrival of some mile markers. 

“How old am I, again?” is a question that I often ask myself as I get closer to the big 50. 

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

With this in mind my usual easygoing attitude toward new products actually started to wane in the months leading up to the expected delivery of the Zelos.  Especially after we took a quality sample to use as a demonstration gun at the Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge.  We weren’t using it for competition, just to show off to anyone who wanted to shoot it. This meant that Team Umarex did their fair share of plinking with it in the down time. 

Abby Casey dragging around yet another gun case at the Pyramyd Cup in September, 2024.

This experience sealed the deal for me. The Zelos shot very well. Moreover, my interface with the rifle was super smooth.  The thought occurred to me that if I was having such a good time shooting it, surely lots of other folks would, too. 

Pyramyd Cup, Marengo, Ohio

Fast forward to the weeks leading up to the Pyramyd Cup and I take ownership of my very own Zelos. I picked .22 caliber due to some caliber restrictions at the Pyramyd Cup.  I also wanted to tune the rifle to work well with some heavier .22 caliber pellets and maybe even try out some slugs. Finally I was able to send some lead downrange with an off-the-shelf Zelos.  And as luck would have it, I was not able to set my scope on it and fill the tank until about two weeks before we had to leave for Ohio. And then I was only able to put a rough zero on it. Nevertheless, I loved shooting it.  

Abby with the “community” Zelos shooting the RX Targets at the Pyramyd AIr Cup.

Once we got to Ohio I fine tuned the zero as much as I could and myself, Ckye Thomas, and Abby Casey shared my rifle as we competed in the Steel Silhouette challenge.  You read that right– three shooters, one rifle. Not only that, but we all won our first round with it. Then I went on to face fellow Umarex Teammate, Eydin Hansen, to whom I suffered a loss.  Eydin was shooting his own Zelos.  Unfortunately, we only had 4 magazines total for the event. This meant we had to make every shot count.  

Eydin lost in his second round of silhouette, but Abby and Ckye both won and advanced to the semi final round. As you might expect making it down the bracket this far means more and more eyes are able to watch the event. It was here where many people were able to see us pass around a rifle and have modest success with it.  In the PCP class, the Zelos was certainly in the bottom 1/3rd, cost wise of all the rifles represented there.  People noticed. Certain buyers from various airgun sellers represented at the event also noticed.  

Ckye Thomas shooting in the Speed Silhouette against tough competition.

Are You Sold on the Zelos?

There’s a whole lot more to the story, but you’ll need to read my article in Airgun Hobbyist this January for the full monty.  Or you can look up some video footage from the Pyramyd Air event to see it for yourself. 

Teammate Jerimiah Alexander with a modified Zelos taking shots in the desert earlier in the year. 

How do I feel about the Zelos now?  I’m more excited to both own and shoot this rifle now than I was when scores of the best airgun shooters in America were watching the Zelos perform well in the silhouette competition. Of course if you don’t want to wait you might prefer to see for yourself by picking up your own Zelos.  They are available at your favorite airgun retailers nationwide– that is if they don’t sell out. Don’t wait too long.