The Valiant Zephyr is not a cheap airgun scope but, with the 4-16x50 SF SIR model coming in with a £355 RRP, it is not an expensive one either. Solidly constructed and equipped with some very handy features, it promises to deliver excellent value for money at the all-important mid-market price point.
The Czech company’s current range, distributed in the UK by Range Right, comprises 17 scopes across five lines. The Zephyr series is the largest, and the 4-16x50 SF SIR model has a lot to offer airgunners.
Made from aircraft grade aluminium, this scope measures 343mm (13.5 inches) and weighs 780g (27.7 ounces). Whilst that’s quite chunky, the payoff is that the Zephyr 4-16x50 SF SIR is extremely well-made and will withstand springer use as well as high calibre centrefire recoil.
You get plenty in the box too, including a set of push on covers, a sunshade, oversize parallax wheel, screw in throw lever, allen keys and a lens cloth. You also get a plastic tool to help remove the caps for the windage and elevation turrets so you can reset the dials once zeroed to aid dial in adjustment.
Below: The Valiant Optics Zephyr comes with a plastic tool for resetting the turret caps (top) and push on lens covers (bottom).
The turrets themselves move in ¼ MOA clicks with just over three full rotations for elevation and five and a half for windage. Although they rotate with crisp clicks, there is no ability to lock them down - remember to reset the caps after zeroing and a quick visual check will confirm that they haven’t drifted.
You’ll need to buy a set of mounts to fit the 30mm tube which combines with coated lenses to transmit plenty of light, making the scope usable in dawn and dusk conditions. And when it gets too murky, rotating the outer dial on the left side turret illuminates the reticle with 11 levels of brightness in red – perfect for twilight pest control. The inner dial adjusts parallax from 10 yards to infinity.
Valiant offers the Zephyr in two choices of glass etched reticles set in the second focal plane. The FBR option has multiple aimpoints set out in a Christmas tree design, whilst the ½ Mildot reticle offers plenty of half and full mildot aimpoints.
Although it will vary slightly for each shooter, the Zephyr 4-16x is stated as requiring a fairly standard 105mm (4.1 inches) of eye relief. As this scope has more than sufficient shock resistance to withstand serious recoil, I mounted it on my Weihrauch HW77K fr initial field testing. The Zephyr was just short enough to not impede access to the loading port and deliver comfortable eye relief at the same time.
The -2.8/+2.8 dioptre adjustment collar rotates smoothly to bring the reticle into sharp relief, and the side wheel parallax adjustment focuses the target image with minimal fuss.
The magnification collar too is smooth and at 1,000m, Range Right says you can expect a field of view range of between 2.3m (7.5 feet) and 9.1m (30 feet) on 16x and 4x magnification respectively. More important still is the fact that the image is crystal clear with strong colour transmission throughout the zoom.
Below: The Valiant Zephyr is a smartly design riflescope with clean, modern lines.
By way of field test, I subjected the Zephyr 4-16x to a basic ‘shoot the box test’. With the scope zeroed at 25 metres, I reset the turrets to ‘0’ and then shot five-shot groups, adjusting the elevation and windage turrets 30 clicks left, up, right and down for each one.
Gratifyingly, the groups moved equidistantly in the right directions, and when I returned the turrets to the ‘0’ position, a final group of five shots dropped back on the zero mark once again.
There are plenty of scope manufacturers vying for our attention at this price point, but only a handful dominate the market. Thanks to Range Right, airgun shooters now have another solid option in the shape of Valiant Optics - and if the Zephyr is anything to go by, they won’t be disappointed.
MAKER: Valiant Optics
MODEL: Zephyr 4-16x50 SF SIR
UK DISTRIBUTOR: Range Right
PRICE: £335
LENGTH: 343mm (13.5 inches)
WEIGHT: 780g (27.7 ounces)
FIELD OF VIEW: 9.1m (30 feet) at 1000m at 4x
FEATURES: Illuminated reticle, side parallax,
SUPPLIED WITH: Push-on lens covers, sunshade, oversize parallax wheel, screw in throw lever, Allen keys, lens cloth and turret cap removal tool.
First published 7th May 2025
