USFA ZiP 22 LR Pistol -- Range Test & Review

03/18/2013 UPDATE e-mail from ZiP Factory: "ZiP™ Upgrade Ver 1.0.1 Kits Have Now Shipped We are pleased to inform all Registered Warranty users that the ZiP Upgrade Ver 1.0.1 Kits have now been shipped out." 02/27/2013 UPDATE: Upgrade kit from ZiP, sent free to registered owners in a certain serial number range (mine is AAA17x so I'm in it). See website: http://www.zipfactory.com/pages/ZiPUpgradeKit.aspx ...I will be installing that kit as soon as it arrives, and testing my ZiP again. This time, I will be using a factory 10-round magazine, plus 3 of the top ammo brands recommended by ZiP Factory: CCI Blazer 40 grn bulk, CCI Stingers, and Aguila Supermax. I will also test the American Eagle and Winchester bulk again to see if they will run with the 1.0.1 upgrade kit from ZiP... Edit: after watching a range video from GunWebsites (xobwsQtNEmE), some of the problems I experienced are due to the BX-25 magazines. I would likely have had better luck with a factory 10-round rotary mag. I'll try that this coming week along with a couple other brands/power levels of ammo. BUT, if you watch Gun eTools' video from SHOT Show (Vs2IYX0YQFM) you see a ZiP in the background failing pretty dramatically, and it's being handled by a factory rep (the inventor of the ZiP is the one talking in the video). It is failing because it isn't ejecting empty cases. Even with the ejection issues resolved, I believe this gun is going to be picky about ammo. I believe this is due to the extremely light-weight bolt (the charging rods count towards the bolt mass, since they reciprocate, but it's still lighter than other .22 bolts I have weighed). Due to the lack of inertia, the onus is entirely on the recoil springs to control bolt speed and travel against the power of the ammunition being used. There is less bolt mass to act as a buffer to spring speed. Essentially, the spring rate becomes very important and it must be matched quite precisely to the ammo power level. Additionally, there is no "over travel" for the bolt like there is on most guns. This makes it even trickier to engineer perfectly, where the bolt is travelling fully rearwards but not slamming against the back. Much less margin for error compared to a rifle like the 10/22, where the bolt can travel significantly farther back than the minimum amount necessary to strip the next round from the mag. The ZiP does not have that luxury. In this video, I believe that the bolt was not traveling back fully most of the time. The springs are too stiff for the ammunition I brought with me. They should not be, as they're the lighter springs that are supposed to work with 'target' ammo, but they did not. Just in case, I DID test it with the stiffer springs and it was even worse. SOOOO... I would like to point out that I think this gun is going to be a blast to shoot if it will run reliably with at least one or two affordable types of ammo. I found the Blazer bulk, which is ZiP's #1 recommended load, and it is affordable. If it runs reliably with that and the 1.0.1 upgrade kit, I'll be quite pleased.