The new USFA Zip pistol (yes, it’s a zip gun) will apparently be introduced on December 1, judging from the countdown clock at zipfactory.com. The rudimentary web site welcomes operators right off the bat, though just how many actual operators are looking for a rectangular plastic .22 to hang under their SCAR16 isn’t really clear. There must be plenty of them, though, as the video says that “Zip Evolves the Battlefield.” You can’t get much more influential than that, right? The BattleZip survival rifle configuration shown looks intriguing even if the market for a .22 SBR may be, well, limited. And we’re entertaining guesses as to what those ear-like thingies are over the barrel. Anyway, to get pricing and add-on info, you have to enter your particulars on their ‘request more info’ page, so we took that bullet for you. With an MSRP of only $199 ($219 with a Ruger 10/22 rotary mag), at least you won’t be out much if it turns out the Zip makes a better paperweight than a shooter. A few screen grabs after the jump . . .
Umm, tell me again just what purpose this serves? I mean, cool toys are great and all, but even the coolest toys are still toys.
To what purpose?
Dumb product with an even worse ad campaign
speaking of ugly video game guns, what the hell is the purpose of this thing?
Wait guys!! Can’t you see the purpose?? This is a spotter rifle for the SCAR 16!! You fire a couple of rounds at the target and then cut loose with the Scar. After all why waste a lot of high priced 5.56Nato when you can waste a few .22lr an then use less 5.56!!!
Oh wait… Yea pretty stupid idea!!!
You have a telescope don’t you? 😉
Nah, just access to the Hubble!! (sarc off)!!
Except these days 22lr is almost as expensive as 5.56!
I am all about buying oddball guns for the novelty of it. Not so much for this one.
“The Fail is strong with this one…”
I don’t get it.
For those of you who may play World of Warcraft, or games with similar mechanics, the short clip at the firing range at 3:08 reminded me of that. Big spell with a cooldown, small spell with no cooldown. Bang, bang, bang, BLAM!, bang, bang, bang, BLAM!
Huh!!! Hadn’t realized that but now that you mention it….yea it is!! What a way to piss off an Orc!!
Wow. Just what we need: more useless crap for mall ninjas to hang off their rifles.
I knew USFA had lost their collective minds when they brought out their .45 Colt/.410 single action. I just had no idea how far their madness had progressed…
So why is it considered a SBR rather than a pistol? Is it the fact that it is designed to be rail mounted or some other arcane regulation?
I think this ATF ruling letter answers the question:
http://www.atf.gov/regulations-rulings/rulings/atf-rulings/atf-ruling-2011-4.pdf
They need to make an underbarrel mountable AR-15. Then you could have a pistol bayonet on your .22 under your AR-15 under your AR-10.
‘We put a gun on your gun, so you can gun while you gun….& then poke people.’
I know that I’m supposed to hate this as a gimmick, but I actually think this could be very cool. If grenade launchers have been successfully incorporated into the M4 / M16 for years, than this ‘system’ could potentially be useful. If it is reliable and reasonably accurate, I might actually buy one.
I might get a hard time at the range for such a unique accessory, but that wouldn’t bother me a whole lot. I am envisioning some safety issues with this, and wondering if it would even be legal in CA. Heck, it’s a .22 LR that bolts onto a 1913 rail. I’d give that a shot.
Wow did they overestimate MY attention span with that video! Way too much build up, long intro and painfully slow product pans for a gun I don’t care about.
Cut that nearly 6 minute video down to about 45 seconds… It’s a tacticool ad for a .22 pistol not a retrospective on the 1911!
Actually not a bad idea; I believe it takes the 10/22 Ruger 25 rnd. Mags, carry a thousand .22l. With some preloaded mags with minimal weight deficit, if a soldier ended up in another Black Hawk down scenario or an extended survival situation for the rest of us, it would be a good option; if it’s reliable.
Seems as useful as tits on a boar, as dad used to say.
You mean “tit’s on a bull.”
You mean “tits on a bull.”
Fail to see any use other than to get attention at the range.
I think those “ear-like things” are charging handles… purely speculation.
It appears that there are iron sites on the top of this .22lr handgun from the photos, so it could be used both on and off the rifle. Despite the SBR problem, I always get confused about the pistol to rifle and back or rifle and pistol and back problem. The memo on this I believe came from the ATF head honcho who was involved in Fast & Furious and is hidden away somewhere now.
I would rather have a rail adapter for my Ruger Mark III 22/45 to be able to mount it on and off; or just a Ruger 22 takedown model in my back pack. This thing looks to be like someone was overthinking something or other.
$199? For less than that I could get a Marlin Model 60 and have a gun that will actually put holes in whatever I shoot it at. A bit harder to hide, though…and it can’t hang off the bottom of an Evil Black Rifle, so of course it’s not as cool.
I bet it could be done, though; where there’s a will there’s a way. But I don’t own any EBRs, so one of you is going to have to prove it for me.
It actually could be done. I have an older Marlin Glenfield model 60 that I take all the way apart once a month to give it a really good cleaning.
Just take the receiver/barrel assembly out of the stock, find two mounts that fit the barrel(like the universal barrel mounts to put a light on a shotgun barrel)with 1913 mounts and bolt it on. Cut down and recrown the .22 barrel to maybe bring back a slight bit of accuracy and Ta Da you have a sbr Scar and an sbr .22 survival rifle in one neat package!!
(no brain cells were harmed in the writing of this idea, and the writer will not be held responsible for any liability for anyone who tries this out!!!) 🙂
+1 for the Marlin Model 60! My favorite semiauto .22 of all time. Mine should be back from the ‘smith next week. I found a 1988 18 shot, last shot 1/2 open bolt, on a local facebook page for $50, ‘not working’. I knew it had the classic no/double feed/ejector issues. Talked to my guy. $40 and it’s good he says. I’m a happy camper indeed. Less than a c-note for the one with ‘all the bells & whistles’. I am seriously wanting to drop it in this lil beastie.
http://www.bullpupgunstocks.com/
I’ll be in it for just over $200 total. That price is ok w/ me, but I don’t know anything about how this set up performs. Any suggestions/comments?
tacticool the hell out of it or stay old school smoove & classy?
Sorry for the derail. LOl I wonder if you could mount the Bullpup on a rail like this sad little joke of a gun.
Accually the Zip is selling for about $400. now days. And most people don’t have any 22LR to use it. (I do.) The window for $200 is gone now.
Lets see…. Muzzle velocity of a .22lr out of a 1 inch barrel is probably around the same as a Red Rider BB gun, so the purpose of this gun would be to… Kill flies? Mildly harm kittens? Ring doorbells from 15 feet away?
They should at least tell you why the gun is useful, instead of just ripping off the music from the Bourne Legacy movie and having some black and white action scenes to entice buyers (read: COD playing 18 year olds who want to be tacticool). Watch for this to fade into obscurity like the No-stock-needed (NSN) and the Heizer (potentially).
Speaking of Heizer, I was watching last season’s finale of Person of Interest last night, and was amused to see the villain carrying (and using) a DoubleTap.
The barrel is 5.25 inches according to the specs; which would give a fair amount of velocity to a .22 round.
So how would it be useful? A weapon of last resort in a scenario where a person has to travel on foot over long distances, weight restrictions make carrying alot of .223 or especially .308 prohibitive and the chances of resupply minimal and carrying another full sized rifle is not practical because of weight restrictions.
This can act as an emergency pistol but when attached to ones primary weapon one can use the optics or physical sights to give greater accuracy over greater distances with the option of using high capacity 10/22 mags along with carrying easily 500 to a 1000 rounds with minimal weight addition.
For a military person this could help in a last stand scenario like in Black Hawk down, instead of having to go to using ones knife in a hand to hand fight or to resort to throwing rocks after running out ones primary ammo.
In a non-military scenario, I read how a man walked cross country to get out of N.O. after Katrina; if the big one hits in CA. People might have to walk for days to get to an area where the devastation was not so bad and help might be available,
I could imagine any number of scenarios where having this kind of tool would be
good to have.
The little doodads sticking out over the barrel are part of the bolt, you push on them from the front to retract the bolt for loading and unloading. Someone is going to lose a few fingers loading one of these at some point, and it’s not going to be me!
And this is better than a sidearm–of ANY caliber,HOW?
I could see SOCOM playing with it, if it had a longer barrel
and integrated suppressor. Then after an hour, they’d all get
sent back with a thanks-but-no-thanks.
To me it looks too much like some cheap Sci-Fi airsoft pistol.
If it really ends up selling for ~$200, is accurate, and at least somewhat comfortable to hold, I see no problem with it.
Its a .22LR pistol plinker that can take a scope/sight and a high capacity magazine, not alot of those on the market for the proposed price range.
As far as I can tell it only suffers from odd aesthetics and a horrible marketing campaign.
Is Xzibit here from Pimp my Gun? “Yo, Dog… I heard you like guns so we mounted a gun on your gun!”
Scooters comment FTW.
+1000
As Charlie Sheen would say, “Winning!”
Give these guys a break at least they are trying something new. How many new AR’s or 1911’s can the gun companies regurgitate every year. It is nice to see someone has an original imagination. If it works I iwsh them the best of luck.
Seems like they could make this thing work if they had more on the modular system, sell it with various forms of stocks/grips and such. A major “to each his own” kinda thing. Most ‘customizable’ 22 in the world sort of thing.
I saw one at Staples today… Office Depot expects shipment first of the year…
seems about the same as a Beretta bobcat. a 22 carry gun is a 22 carry gun and this is the smallest and most ammo packing small 22 carry i have ever seen, and I agree with a previous poster, its nice to see some imagination and new idea in the market, AS LONG AS IT IS ACCURATE AND WORKS!
Aside from the unbelievably pointless idea of mounting a .22 under your rifle, the terribly cheesy movie preview style video shots of some random 1 hour day at the range with this piece of crap gives me second hand embarrassment for the makers of this thing. The videos and “operator” hype ad campaign the website uses are trying so hard to be the cool, it’s pathetic.
Buy new issue funky firearms. Put is safe. Dont fire. Sell for mucho dinero when your kids need to go to college. Even the worst guns get collectable at some point.
Nailed it. Collectors value is high.
It doesn’t even have a grip. It may be the least ergonomic firearm made since matchlock muskets.
The only real-world purpose I can imagine for this thing is for spies/undercover Air Marshals/etc.
They’ll be going through the airport security lineup, or being frisked outside the hostile country’s embassy.
“what’s this?”
“it’s certainly not a gun. Can’t you see that it looks nothing like a gun?”
“Yes, it looks very un-gun-like. But what is it?”
“uh, it’s a, uh, stapler.”
“Well, that’s perfectly reasonable, carrying a stapler in your pocket. I know I often feel the need for a stapler when I am walking down the street. Just this morning I saw a handbill posted on a telephone pole that was about to blow away. If only I’d had a stapler.”
“May I board the airplane?”
“Certainly.”
If you “need” to design a .22 to be rail mounted below a rifle barrel, why go with that awkward and cumbersome design? wouldn’t it be easier to take a slim pistol, like ther kel tec pmr 30, and swap the handle for a ruger box holder? The final piece would be maneuverable, fit closer to the aimpoint, more serviceable and much much more
convenient to carry as an accessory or shoot when detached. I really don’t get the design and the motivations about the zip. Lame gun.
I just got a ZIP sr #AAA8XX . As a owner it is really a neat little pistol. It is comfortable to hold suprisingly. Right now as with all new intruduced firearms there are beta issues… I don’t mid working with them or working on guns myself.
It remids me more of a AR15 M4 stock if it is just lying around. It is a colletable toy to me. I like the hell out of it myself. Even better when I get it going properly. Doug at USFA is great with communications.
Certainly not practical on the bottom of the ar of some super tough 10 tour deep Middle East operator in the field slaughtering scary terrorists living in mud huts and herding goats. But a fun .22 none the less.
I’ve been watching all the videos lately of this weapon and have noticed so far that everyone who has them has feeding problems even with the Ruger 10 round 10/22 magazines. Until they even get that working reliably, I would say that these are novelty paper weights. Now IF they get them working reliably, then I think that they should NOT market them for sticking on M4’s, but, rather instead market them for rail mounting on pump shotguns with limited ammo capacity. Something like that would be ideal because for home defense, you often don’t have time to grab a secondary weapon. This would make for a very good backup while reloading the shotgun… but ONLY if this little thing is made to be reliable. Plus it would be fun at the range as well after blasting the shotgun. So overall I like the modular concept, but if it’s not reliable, then well… it’s fairly useless and I’d rather just stick to my trusty Ruger Mk3 pistol which is reliable, sexy looking, and precision accurate. Now if only they just made extended magazines for the Ruger pistols. (sigh)
I have one. Remember the issues KelTec had with their pistols? I even had one of thoes when they first cme out. Many Rugers got recalled at first intro too. I don’t mind being a beta tester,
USFA is working with us owners. Doug has an upgrade kit due in next week. See what it does. Mine was only $225 and i had 12/22 mags so it isn’t going to break me.
I still think it is a revolutionary little pistol. I will let youall know when it is working with the up grades too….
I’d use this to put the meat goats down… A utility tool.
Mine like the ones out there has a lot of growing pains. An upgrade came from USFA however still isses. Like a lot of upstart new guns.
Bought one and it will NOT fire more than one round at a time without a mis- feed or failing to eject THIS GUN IS JUNK! DO NOT BUY IT!
SGTDAV/PRMUSA
I have yet to see a video (not from USFA) were this add on to a Ruger 10/22 magazine doesn’t jam every second or third round.
Get a breach jam in a hectic enviroment with no time to clear it and this back up could prove extremely pragmatic. No imaginations or never been in a situation where a nanosecond means your dead. Never knock back modular adaptive fire power.
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