Semi-recoilless air rifle: what Norica’s Omnia ZRS Pro offers keepers

A break-barrel air rifle that shoots almost like a pre-charged pneumatic (PCP), with no bottle, pump or gauge to go with it, has had a full test in Airgun World, and the verdict is one for anyone who keeps an airgun by the back door for the rats round the pens and the pigeons in the barn. Writing in Airgun World, Mark Camoccio said the Norica Omnia ZRS Pro “just feels very civilised to shoot” and called it “a whole lot of airgun hardware for the money”.

The appeal is plain for a keeper or a farmer who shoots. Camoccio is no PCP evangelist: “I tolerate PCPs and use one under duress for that reason, since they are so much easier to shoot,” he wrote, the reason being “the necessity for all that external charging paraphernalia – bottles, pump, gauges and the like”. The Norica promises much of that ease of shooting in a self-contained gun that is cocked by breaking the barrel.

How does a semi-recoilless air rifle work?

ZRS stands for Zero Recoil System. Inside the Omnia’s oversized anodised aluminium casing sits Norica’s own gas-ram power plant, and the whole action rides on a slide. Camoccio compared it to the discontinued Air Arms TX200 SR, “whereby the main action (barrel and compression cylinder) sits on a sliding sledge mechanism, and moves back as the gun fires”. On the Norica the action travels about 7mm against rubber bushes, and because the scope rails are on the outer casing rather than the moving action, the optic is largely spared the jolt.

Does it work? “In truth, yes, it still recoils, but the action is a slick snap, with just a modest nudge backwards, rather than the usual kick from a springer,” Camoccio wrote. He tried Norica’s party piece of balancing a pellet on top of the action: “while the action does move, sure enough, the pellet stayed put, which says an awful lot.” Being a gas-ram, there is no spring twang, and the muzzle is screw-cut ½in UNF (Unified National Fine) beneath a blanking collar, so a sound moderator fits for work close to a pheasant pen or a neighbour’s garden.

What did the test find on power and accuracy?

The test gun was a .22, with .177 also available. Over ten shots with Webley Mosquito pellets it averaged 603fps for 11.5ft/lb, a total spread of 11fps, comfortably inside the 12ft/lb limit above which an air rifle needs a firearm certificate in England and Wales. In Scotland any air rifle needs an air weapon certificate under the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, whatever its power.

Accuracy depended on the pellet. “Webley Mosquitos posted ¾in groups at 30 yards, and a total velocity spread of just 11fps,” Camoccio wrote. BSA Blackstar pellets grouped tighter still but shifted the zero by several inches and dropped the power to 9ft/lb, while Air Arms Diabolo Field and Rangemaster Sovereign did not suit the gun at all. “Proof that research and pellet trials will pay dividends,” he said. He also found most pellets “fairly tight in the breech on my test gun, so take care” when loading.

The handling verdict matters most to a working shot who takes rats kneeling off a feed bin or pigeons from a rafter rather than from a bench. Zeroed from a rest and then shot kneeling at knockdown discs over 30 yards, the Norica appeared to hold its point of impact, a check he called unscientific but encouraging. “This rifle is more forgiving than a conventional recoiling spring-piston or gas-ram design, and three cheers to that,” Camoccio wrote, adding that the system’s long-term reliability is “an unknown quantity” because a review is a snapshot in time.

What is the Norica Omnia ZRS Pro like to handle?

At 8.8lb (4kg) and 47.25in (1,200mm) long, with a 19.7in (500mm) barrel, it is a full-sized adult airgun rather than a knockabout. The Pro has a matt-lacquered beech thumbhole stock with an adjustable cheekpiece, set with an Allen key, and no open sights, on the assumption that a scope will go on the 11mm dovetail rails that run the length of the action. A standard Omnia ZRS with a synthetic stock, a drop-down grip and open sights is also made. The two-stage trigger is adjustable, with an automatic safety, and Camoccio called it “a delight to use on my test gun, and excellent bearing in mind this is a gas-ram-powered action”. The long barrel gives leverage, so the cocking stroke is easy.

Norica is a Spanish maker that traces its history to 1917. The one obvious rival for a recoil-reduced self-contained airgun, Camoccio noted, is Diana’s 54 Airking, which sits at a much higher price. “No external pump or diver’s bottle is needed, yet greatly reduced recoil is on the cards with this model, and that for many will be a breath of fresh air,” he wrote.

What happens next?

The Omnia ZRS Pro has a recommended retail price of about £529 at Airgun World’s publication on 17 October 2026, through Just Airguns, the UK contact named in the review. A scope and mounts, and a pellet trial across several brands, need adding to that before the gun earns its keep round the yard. Mark Camoccio’s full review, with his pictures of the sliding action and the squared-off grip, is in Airgun World and linked first below.