ZRO Delta Zulu 2 Review — Budget Perfection?

It was a scorcher at the ranch — heat index right about 105, sweating like a pig — but we got into the ZRO Delta Zulu 2 anyway. Full transparency: we have a relationship with ZRO Delta, and I already own a bunch of their lowers that you've seen on the channel. This is the first full rifle we've had from them, and the only thing I did to it was throw on a Tacticon Apex Predator V3 red dot that was sitting in the range bag.

The spec sheet for the money is impressive. You get a 15-inch free-float LVOA-inspired handguard with M-LOK on both sides, an A2 flash hider, and a barrel chambered in 223 Wylde with a 1:8 twist, so it'll accurately shoot both .223 and 5.56. The receiver group is forged aluminum, the furniture is all MFT — that distinct adjustable Battlelink stock and an MFT pistol-style grip — the trigger is ZRO Delta's enhanced unit with a removable trigger guard, and the castle nut comes staked from the factory.

The headline feature at this price point is the ambidextrous controls: mag release, bolt release, and safety selector. And ZRO Delta did the safety right — they indented and trimmed down the right-side lever, so it doesn't jam into your index finger the way full-size ambi selectors do when you're riding the safety with your thumb. Radian figured that out with their little stubby levers, and ZRO Delta followed the same logic. It never interfered with my trigger finger once.

Range time came with an asterisk: on the first outing, a round jammed in the chamber on the fifth shot — an ammo problem, not a gun problem — and I didn't have my tools, so thank you to Mitchell down at Puckett's Weaponry for clearing it. Round two with XM green tip 62 grain ran clean. The rifle shoots smooth, and I ran both a PMAG and a Strike Industries mag through it with zero issues from the gun itself. It does get hot fast in 105-degree sun, but so does everything.

Now the honest gripes. The trigger is not fantastic — pretty far from fantastic, honestly. It's essentially a milspec trigger: fine for plinking, but this gun is capable of more, and it deserves better. My fix would be something simple like an RA-140 from Rise Armament — usually under a hundred bucks and a drastic increase in performance. The charging handle is one-sided milspec, so if you ever want to suppress this thing you'll need to swap it. I'm not a fan of the MFT Battlelink stock — I just think it looks kind of weird — and I'd prefer a full-length top pic rail instead of the front-and-rear sections it has. Those last two are personal preferences.

Who's it for? If you're shopping above the radicals, Andersons, and I'd even say the M&P15s of the world, but you're not spending Sugar Weasel or MCX money, this nails the mark. It comes in black, this OD green, an FDE-style tan, and I believe burnt bronze. And if you just want the foundation, their full-ambi stripped lowers run around $130 — I've built on them for my truck gun and a 300 Blackout. In its price class, the Zulu 2 earns a solid 4 out of 5.