Zouave, good and bad.

[skeeterfogger]

Well finally found a Zouave. Got them under 400 on it. Agreed and will get it when back in town. Good
Bad? Freezer went out same day. Been cooking meat all day while new freezer gets cold.
Makes me wonder if I had paid 700-1000 for Zouave if the freezer would still be working.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Nr.skeeter...thats a great score if its in good condition. Very happy for you. I too always feel tested by some outside force whenever i purchase or want to purchase a gun...for example one time i saved enough for a gun the water heater went out. What did i do? ...i took cold showers for a week.

 

[1KPerDay]

Shoot your old freezer with the Zouave

 

[skeeterfogger]

Wish my club would let me take it out there. LOL.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Nr.skeeter...thats a great score if its in good condition. Very happy for you. I too always feel tested by some outside force whenever i purchase or want to purchase a gun...for example one time i saved enough for a gun the water heater went out. What did i do? ...i took cold showers for a week.

It has the usual stuff. A vey small bit of rust that looks like steel wool will take care of. A small chip on a corner of the stock by barrel breach that can easily rounded. What I could see of the bore pix it looks real good and appears barely shot maybe even unfired. Crown is excellent. Anxious to get it and mic it for round and bang away.

 

[PapaG]

What maker? There have been umpteen Zouaves made since the BP renaissance in the sixties. I've had Navy, Zoli, Centennial and Hy Hunter. Quality all over the map. Best was a Centennial Arms by Zoli with a Numrich 7 groove barrel I used to set a record at the NMLRA Nationals around 1970. Stupid me sold it to pay a kids tuition. Nah, he turned out fine. Tied me tonight in trap league.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Ranson Remington by Gardone.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Someone on CWT was selling a Korean Zouave for $350. Not bad, but I don't need another muzzle loader right now.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Someone on CWT was selling a Korean Zouave for $350. Not bad, but I don't need another muzzle loader right now.

Me too but it looked like a good deal for its condition.

 

[AlexanderA]

What maker? There have been umpteen Zouaves made since the BP renaissance in the sixties. I've had Navy, Zoli, Centennial and Hy Hunter. Quality all over the map. Best was a Centennial Arms by Zoli

Antonio Zoli has the reputation of having made the best Zouave reproductions.

The Zouave is a strange beast. Although Remington made them during the Civil War, there's no evidence that any were ever issued . That meant that many of the originals persisted into the 20th century in excellent condition. When the reproduction craze started (during the CW Centennial in the 1960's), it was easy to find near-new originals to send to Italy for use as models. Today, no self-respecting reenactor would use a Zouave. It is considered hopelessly "farby."

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

I bought my Antonio Zoli Zouave, imported by Hy Hunter, back in 1962 when I had enlisted in the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry for the Civil War Centennial. Paid $65.00, including the Italian-made Zouave bayonet and scabbard. The only other choice for us back then, were those original "surplus" '63 Springfields with original bayonets for a $100.00 bill. It was hard to see the better bargain, the '63 rifle-musket, when you're 16 and captivated by the shiny brass furniture.

Oh well, I made up for it a week ago, when I was in a local pawn shop, looking at what was tagged a replica Springfield Model 1861. Looked "new", but the faint inspector stamps on the left side of the stock told me I was looking at an original, which likely never saw service. So, I paid him the $750 price tag and took it to my friend, Terry Kirkpatrick, who is a sutler at Fort Shenandoah, at the N-SSA Matches. He said, "don't take less than $2,500 for a mint, unissued, Model 1861 Springfield.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Ching Ching $$$$$. Hard to come across things like that now a days.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Nr.skeeter...thats a great score if its in good condition. Very happy for you. I too always feel tested by some outside force whenever i purchase or want to purchase a gun...for example one time i saved enough for a gun the water heater went out. What did i do? ...i took cold showers for a week.

Tell you what. Taking cold shower for a while sounds better then 2 days of cooking meat to refreeze plus hauling freezer out and in.
Figure this was calling to me. It's dated 1975. Year I graduated high school.

 

[Missionary]

Good morning
Shot our first corn crunchers with our used Zouave Navy Arms we bought in 1982. Well over 30 bean eaters fed us nicely.
Found it shot patched round ball nicely with 3F. 2F was OK but fouled much faster.
If your's has the musket nipple you can still purchase a replacement that uses #11 caps.

 

[flintlock]

Good snag. I picked up one made in Italy about 1978 for shooting in some matches at the local range. I was told it is a 1863 copy. It has two bands on barrel. I put a new taller front site, raised the leaf rear site and drilled a small hole in for peep.
I shoot 50grn of 2F and a Lee Mold Hollow base mini , about 240 gun I think. It will print 3" groups at 50 yds. Have to wipe bore each time I load a round to keep accuracy. Still has musket cap nipple. I had to replace the lock spring once. Got weak and had some hits on the caps but no fire.
You will love it. It shoots roundball pretty good but the Mini's are the best. I loaned it to a friend and he took a black bear with it at about 30 yds, eating his apples from the orchard.
If you are interested, I could mail you some of the mini's I cast and info on the mold to try. I got a lot of plumbers sheet lead a long time back and make all of my roundball and mini's with it.
Mike

 

[skeeterfogger]

Good snag. I picked up one made in Italy about 1978 for shooting in some matches at the local range. I was told it is a 1863 copy. It has two bands on barrel. I put a new taller front site, raised the leaf rear site and drilled a small hole in for peep.
I shoot 50grn of 2F and a Lee Mold Hollow base mini , about 240 gun I think. It will print 3" groups at 50 yds. Have to wipe bore each time I load a round to keep accuracy. Still has musket cap nipple. I had to replace the lock spring once. Got weak and had some hits on the caps but no fire.
You will love it. It shoots roundball pretty good but the Mini's are the best. I loaned it to a friend and he took a black bear with it at about 30 yds, eating his apples from the orchard.
If you are interested, I could mail you some of the mini's I cast and info on the mold to try. I got a lot of plumbers sheet lead a long time back and make all of my roundball and mini's with it.
Mike

Darn nice. I'm anxious to get it. Probably just throw PRBs at paper with it. Hunting here has become so expensive that it has turned hunting into a blood money kill happy crazy people activity.
No mold yet, want to measure the bore first.

 

[Texas Moon]

A while back I picked up a Zoli Zouave cheap in an estate sale.
Overall its in decent condition but it has a few issues.
First problem is the nipple has been battered to death. Ordered a couple of replacements but they do not fit properly.
The skirt it too high on the replacement nipples. I tried filing the bottom of the nipple down but when enough metal was removed where the skirt fit down onto the drum I had reached the wide section of the flash hole. Massive blow back.
Second issue was apparently someone had pounded on the ramrod with a hammer as the threaded end was ruined.
I straightened the ramrod and filed off the damaged threads. I'd like to replace the ramrod. I purchased a replacement but it was junk. Too narrow so it would not hold position in the stock.
And the big problem is the bore. There is a large severe pit about seven inches down from the muzzle. The rest of the bore is very nice. What I thought would be a fun project it to turn this thing into a Musketoon.
Do you folks know of any BP gunsmiths that would do this project?

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Any idea how deep the pitting is in the bore? It most likely won't affect accuracy unless it's at the muzzle. The big question is if the barrel is thin there at the pit. Cutting it down is not a huge deal, you can also salvage the ramrod at the same time.

 

[Texas Moon]

The big pit is deep.
It covers one entire land and groove. The land is missing there. Area is about 1/3in square.

 

[AlexanderA]

What I thought would be a fun project it to turn this thing into a Musketoon.

A cut down Zouave would not represent anything. I don't think there were any original Zouave musketoons.

If you really like the gun (for some reason), it's possible to get a replacement barrel. http://www.whitacresmachineshop.com/ If it were mine I would try to sell it and possibly make a small profit (if it was purchased cheaply enough).

 

[4v50 Gary]

Texas Moon - that sounds like a fun project. So cutting the barrel from 33" to 24" (along with crowning the muzzle) and reshaping the stock? As for the nipple, if it can be fitted onto a collet, it would be simple to turn down/remove the extra material.

 

[Texas Moon]

I looked at the new barrel but that's way more $ than I want to put into this.
Making it a musketoon is relatively simple except for the sight mounting. I can't do that myself.
I hadn't thought of just placing a washer on the nipple.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Texas Moon,
I seem to recall that some of the surplus Zoave rifles were sold and turned into shorter smoothbores for the settler "trade" after the war.
Cutting down muskets was a common enough modification as well.

 

[AlexanderA]

Making it a musketoon is relatively simple except for the sight mounting. I can't do that myself.

On a Zouave, there are two attachments at the front of the barrel: the front sight and the bayonet lug. These are silver-soldered on. Use real silver solder and the appropriate flux, and a MAPP torch (a regular propane torch doesn't get hot enough). Real silver solder is available at Ace hardware stores (Alpha Fry #53500).

If you're not planning to mount a bayonet, you can leave the lug off. If you are planning to mount the bayonet, make sure that the muzzle circumference at the point where you cut it off is the same as the original muzzle circumference. If not, the ring on the bayonet can be reamed out.

The Zouave barrel is blued. Resoldering the sight and bayonet lug is going to discolor the bluing. You can either have the whole barrel reblued, or remove the bluing and leave the barrel "bright."

 

[desidog]

Interesting you guys bring up cutting down the barrel. I was going to do that exact mod, but then I happened upon a Cook Bros. musketoon for 350 and that plan was sidelined.