Terminus Zeus any good?
- Thread starter Richard35
- Start date
I have no personal hands on experience with the Zeus, but most feedback I've come across is very positive. There is a giant thread on snipers hide about the terminus offerings. If I was in the market for a true 3 lug 60* action, it would be my top pick. The quick change feature looks pretty useful. Gobig seems to be preparing to offer the Terminus line as he has quite a few prefit PVA barrels in stock.
I don't have a ton of experience, just a short 2020 season with a Savage 110 Elite Precision and a regular 2021 season with a Zeus in 6BRA as my PRS gun. I only put about 1100 rounds through it.
My thoughts are that it is pretty good. It has some really nice features: built-in recoil lug, built-in pic rail, threaded trigger pings, 60deg bolt lift, nice bolt handle, roller on striker, tiny tolerances for pre-fit barrels and quick-change barrels, nice and smooth even with no lube.
Some of the things I'm not thrilled with: it leaves marks on my case heads even at low pressure, and bolt lift is HEAVY.
My thoughts are that it is pretty good. It has some really nice features: built-in recoil lug, built-in pic rail, threaded trigger pings, 60deg bolt lift, nice bolt handle, roller on striker, tiny tolerances for pre-fit barrels and quick-change barrels, nice and smooth even with no lube.
Some of the things I'm not thrilled with: it leaves marks on my case heads even at low pressure, and bolt lift is HEAVY.
I don't have a ton of experience, just a short 2020 season with a Savage 110 Elite Precision and a regular 2021 season with a Zeus in 6BRA as my PRS gun. I only put about 1100 rounds through it.
My thoughts are that it is pretty good. It has some really nice features: built-in recoil lug, built-in pic rail, threaded trigger pings, 60deg bolt lift, nice bolt handle, roller on striker, tiny tolerances for pre-fit barrels and quick-change barrels, nice and smooth even with no lube.
Some of the things I'm not thrilled with: it leaves marks on my case heads even at low pressure, and bolt lift is HEAVY.
Do you think a Defiance or Bighorn would be smoother?
I haven't shot any other actions of this class to be able to comment on that.
All things being equal, a 60 degree action will always have a heavier bolt lift than a 90 degree one. As far as the action being smooth, I didn't see that Adam said it wasn't a smooth action? I don't have any experience with the Zeus but relative "smoothness" on a custom action is often times determined by the surface treatment on the action.
Have you decided what feature set you're looking for? Do you prefer 3 lug actions? Do you want control round feed? Mechanical ejector?
I have the arc nucleus, bighorn origin, and the bighorn tl3. Nucleus and origin have similar bolt lifts with the origin being slightly lighter. Bolt close is equal on the origin and nucleus being it is effortless with no #### on close. The TL3 is the lightest lift by far. The close has a bit of a hitch due to some #### on close. When running the action at normal speed I don't notice it. When going slow it bothers me.
I like the 60 degree, I hunt with a Sauer 202 and enjoy the shorter bolt lift. I also like controlled fed but I am not stuck on it. Just looking to get a accurate and smooth action and it seems they all qualify on that. I like the fact the Zeus can have a quick detach barrel: i could buy a second bolt in magnum and go from 6.5 for target to 300WSM with a carbon fibre barrel for long range hunting.
LongBomber
CGN Regular
- Location
- Fernie, bc
I have a zeus with a TT diamond in a JAE chassis and a couple IBI barrels a 6.5cm and a dasher. Its a pretty nice action, its smooth and functions 100%. The dasher feeds better from an AW mag and the 6.5 from an aics mag. Poi shift seems to be within .1mil when swapping the barrel on/off. The different barrels are about .5 mil apart vertically and .1moa horizontal.
LongBomber
CGN Regular
- Location
- Fernie, bc
I don't have a ton of experience, just a short 2020 season with a Savage 110 Elite Precision and a regular 2021 season with a Zeus in 6BRA as my PRS gun. I only put about 1100 rounds through it.
My thoughts are that it is pretty good. It has some really nice features: built-in recoil lug, built-in pic rail, threaded trigger pings, 60deg bolt lift, nice bolt handle, roller on striker, tiny tolerances for pre-fit barrels and quick-change barrels, nice and smooth even with no lube.
Some of the things I'm not thrilled with: it leaves marks on my case heads even at low pressure, and bolt lift is HEAVY.
I didn’t notice mine showing pressure early with either of my barrels, maybe I have just been lucky. What barrel are you running?
I havent had any any issues with either of my 2 zues's showing pressure early either. I wonder if its a chamber/ sizing die issue. Both of mine have ran flawlessly. The only down fall is probably the slightly heavy bolt lift. But its to be expected that its going to be a bit heavier with a 3 lug.
LongBomber
CGN Regular
- Location
- Fernie, bc
Ah yup, I have an HS action that is like that. I get a bit of a bolt smear on the case head no matter what load or how far I size down the case.
The terminus actions are really nice and Joel (the owner) is fantastic to deal with. I’ve been running a Zeus for 2-3 years now and love it. They are very smooth actions but like mentioned earlier they do have a heavy bolt lift (like most 3 lugs). It’s not unbearable or anything just heavier then a 2 lug which is natural. Some features on it like threaded trigger pins should be made for every action!!
Another 3 lug to consider is the KS arms. To start Canadian, secondly they produce barrels and will chamber for you and there barrels are awesome. The ks sar (3 lug action) is super nice. I now have 7 different custom actions and it doesn’t lose anything to any of them. It’s lighter bolt lift to the terminus, super smooth as well. I’m extremely pleased with it!
As far as the bighorn or defiance go, there all good actions. If you want a 2 lug both are good. If you want a 3 lug I think you’d be
Hard pressed to do better then a terminus or KS.
Another 3 lug to consider is the KS arms. To start Canadian, secondly they produce barrels and will chamber for you and there barrels are awesome. The ks sar (3 lug action) is super nice. I now have 7 different custom actions and it doesn’t lose anything to any of them. It’s lighter bolt lift to the terminus, super smooth as well. I’m extremely pleased with it!
As far as the bighorn or defiance go, there all good actions. If you want a 2 lug both are good. If you want a 3 lug I think you’d be
Hard pressed to do better then a terminus or KS.
I have an Apollo lite. It’s a slick action. As smooth as anything out there really. It’s a heavier lift than the 90s no doubt. It is heavier than the Ks 3 lug as well.
Either way though. It’s super smooth and there’s more to an action than bolt lift weight alone. I’d buy another
Either way though. It’s super smooth and there’s more to an action than bolt lift weight alone. I’d buy another
What are your guys thoughts on the Terminus with the quick change held by the set screws? Or any quick change by the way, say with a vise/action wrench. I'd like to build a SA quick change in .223AI and 6.5CM and simply swap bolt heads or bolts. Spoken to a few people who don't really like them and hesitant but no exact reasons why and feel like its more of a "new" unfamiliar territory to them. Also can I just use a couple pre-fit barrels or do I still send pre-fits to a smith to fit up to the gun properly?
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LongBomber
CGN Regular
- Location
- Fernie, bc
I run mine hand tight / set screws, and have a couple barrels. Quick and easy to swap, there is a zero shift between barrels. Mine are all withing .5mil but it is there. Each barrel comes back within a click of where it was before it came off.
I sent my action off for the smith to measure up, now I just order a barrel setup for the action.
I sent my action off for the smith to measure up, now I just order a barrel setup for the action.
