Born out of a small living room, ZEV Technologies has grown to be a premier manufacturer of performance components for pistol, rifle, and AR platforms. Incorporated in 2005 by Alec Wolf, the company originally offered drop-in replacement Glock triggers primarily targeting professional and competitive shooters. ZEV didn’t stop with triggers, though. Over the next few years, the company expanded its product line to include different Glock replacement parts and even AR-15 components, including slides, AR uppers, and its own brand of barrels. So, too, the company’s consumer base expanded.
ZEV may have started as a Glock boutique, offering replacement pieces and some custom work. But ow ZEV is a heavy hitter in the high-end pistol and rifle realm. [Photo credit: ZEV]In 2015, ZEV Technologies expanded into offering match-grade Glock barrels, ensuring the new product line would be to the same high standards as the other products. Constructed from prehardened chromium stainless steel, the barrels had a high tensile strength and a proprietary twist rate. When released, the company stated the barrels would be held to the tightest tolerances to ensure accuracy and precision in their manufacturing. ZEV wasn’t lying, with the external dimension of the barrels measuring +/- 0.0002”.
ZEV has continued to offer its core products, like replacement triggers, with the quality and precision that consumers have come to expect. [Photo credit: ZEV]The match-grade barrels were a hit with consumers and soon the company would need help with outsourcing. Enter Mega Arms. ZEV started working with Mega Arms in 2016 to produce the barrels and AR components ZEV was selling. The combination of these two companies was a success and in 2017, the two companies merged into one under the ZEV name. Kyle Markstrom, then Director of Operations and Quality for ZEV, said, “… we were able to merge these two great companies together and now we have this large company that is doing some pretty cool, innovative things. That’s the story of both of the companies – innovating and making the best in class products.”
ZEV provides a full line-up of replacement barrels, including the DLC-coated Glock 17 threaded barrel seen above. The barrels are part of a staggering catalog of replacement parts for Glocks and Sig pistols. [Photo credit: ZEV]Mega Arms made a name for itself with machined AR products and precision rifles. With Mega’s manufacturing know-how and a drive for innovation that matched ZEV’s, the combined company soon hit its stride. While ZEV had been doing custom work for years creating one-of-a-kind pistols for customers, the company realized they could develop a modular Glock platform to build complete pistols. These first modular pistols were built around the popular Dragonfly slide. But after the merger, in 2017, ZEV took the combined knowledge and worked with Ed Brown Products to develop the idea for the ZEV 1911 pistol.
Released at SHOT Show 2018, the ZEV 1911 pistol was an aggressive reimagining of the 1911 platform with a polymer frame based on the ZEV Dragonfly. The ZEV 1911 employed ZEV’s Commander slide and the double stack Government frame with integrated light rail. It had a 4.25” 9mm threaded barrel so it was suppressor-ready out of the box. The pistol weighed around 40 ounces, unloaded, and featured a Trijicon RMR and tall night sights.
The ZEV 1911 pistol was a collaboration with Ed Brown Products. This 1911-style pistol had a polymer frame based on the ZEV Dragonfly. This one project would help catapult ZEV into the complete pistol market with a large splash. [Photo credit: Ed Brown Products]Following the launch of the ZEV 1911, ZEV turned its attention to a new project with the OZ9 pistol. This 9mm pistol was a ZEV original, and not a custom Glock, employing the pieces and parts ZEV already had, including its own chassis system. Originally released in 2019, the pistol was on par with the Glock 17 in size and weight, with variants available in different slide lengths. The pistol had a machined steel frame with polymer grips, reducing felt recoil. The upper portion had obvious ZEV touches like the heavy serrations on the slide, a Picatinny rail milled into the frame, and the ZEV V2 match barrel. The winning touch was the PRO Flat Faced trigger, which was completed in the factory with a trigger bar and lighter spring, all with a smooth pull with little overtravel.
Speaking of the Pro Flat Face trigger, that was also new to the company line-up around the same time as the OZ9. The company re-engineered all its triggers, updating the designs as necessary to keep them the best on the market. But the company didn’t stop with just the triggers, it addressed all of its products. The company had produced a line of ZEV Sig pistols, in collaboration with Sig Sauer, but sadly those products are not currently available.
With the Mega Arms acquisition in 2016, ZEV brought rifles under its roof. As a testament to its quality, the AR15 Core Elite 5.56 rifle was named the Best High-End AR15 Semi-Auto rifle in 2022. [Photo credit: ZEV]The pistols weren’t the only firearms under the ZEV canopy, the rifles and rifle parts kicked into high gear as well. ZEV would soon count military and law enforcement, as well as civilians, as customers for their pistols and rifles. Many of the firearms earned awards across the industry, including the ZEV AR15 Core Elite Rifle, which earned the Ballistics Best High-End Semi-Auto Rifle in 2022. The rifle has forged upper and lower receivers with black type III class 2 hard coating for durability, a low profile fixed gas block, and a ZEV 16” fluted match barrel.
ZEV continues to produce the popular OZ9 pistols, with five different models to choose from. There is a full-size as well as compact version of the OZ9, both in black, and tan, and even a few models with a two-toned appearance. ZEV also supports a full line-up of OZ9 accessories in addition to the Glock and Sig replacement parts, not just for the 9mm sizing. Not to be outdone, ZEV also offers Rifles and AR Pistols with state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and best-in-class pieces. The company produces many accessories for the modular rifle platforms, too, all designed and manufactured in the US.
ZEV has built a strong brand that includes several OZ9 variants, including the Hypercomp compact 9mm pistol. The company continues to provide custom work upgrades to customer’s pistols as well. [Photo credit: ZEV]ZEV continues to push its capabilities, from the initial replacement triggers to a full line of modular pistols and rifles, as well as providing custom Glock work. The company continues to deliver high-end products that consumers have come to know with the ZEV name, matching the products with quality and function. Whether it is replacement pistol parts for Sigs or Glocks, full rifles or just parts, or other items, ZEV products meet the user’s needs that they might not even have known they had.
Patti Miller is one of the most awesome females in the tactical/firearm (or any) industry. Imagine a tall, hawt, dangerous Laura Ingalls Wilder type with cool hair and a suppressed blaster and you'll be getting the idea. What's interesting is that in addition to being a willing brawler and intrepid adventuress, she's also an Ent/Ogier level gardener and a truly badass baker.
