zouave muskets

[maineguy]

what do people shoot out of their zouave minnies or round ball ?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sorry, couldn't resist. It depends on the what that particular rifle will shoot.
The Minnie was not made for hunting. It was made for quick reloads in combat. As such, the original bullet design was not liked by a great many big game hunters, especially those after "dangerous game".
However, today, conicals come in a rather wide variety, and can shoot quite well, and perform better than perhaps their antique ancestor, the ACW Minnie.

That's a long winded version of..., you don't know until you try them out. What is the twist rate of your rifle? Some say that the slower twist rates below 1:48 won't shoot a conical well, but the Pedersoli Enfield has something like a 1:72 twist and shoots conical quite well.

LD

 

[TreeMan]

I shoot both in my euroarms Zouave. Mine shoots minnies really good with low powder charges. Anything above 50grains of 2F throws them everywhere. It is deadly accurate with round balls.

 

[simonbeans]

Back in the day when I was with the N-SSA, my Zoli Zouave shot a .575 Minnie with 43 gr fffg powder. It was very accurate and I loved that rifle. Sold it to buy a horse in the 1990s, unfortunately the damn thing died and it is really missed. The gun that is. Much cheaper to feed than a horse.

 

[ppg1949]

Almost always PRB over 60 grains of whatever I brought with me.

 

[RjSixgun]

Minie Ball is the only way to go, excellent for hunting and target shooting

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

what do people shoot out of their zouave minnies or round ball ?

I shoot both, but prefer the mini in my Zoli.
Flintlocklar

 

[tenngun]

It was made for the minnie. And made for man incapacitating. It doesn’t matter to an army of the other guy is dead or wounded. On a WTBS battlefield wounded out numbered dead anywhere from three to one to five to one.
You don’t want that hunting. You want clean quick kills. That means minnie or ball get close. Around a hundred yards max range.
I shot mine with ball. Because I like ball.
I got better accuracy with an eighty grain charge and patched ball then the sixty grain service charge and minnie.
The boys that shoot these for smallest groups often shoot lighter charges, forty grain range. They do that for a reason that visible on their targets.
But you go all the way to sixty or sixty five, and a fat WTBS minnie or even one of the heaviest.58 you get deer dropping accuracy at a hundred yards. Lots better then round ball in my smoothie
Shoot them both see what you like better. Both will serve you well.....
of course real men shoot ball, from flint guns and real men spend a lot more time ‘round the fire talking then shooting.... well let’s not go there

 

[Stantheman86]

It depends on what brand, Zoli is a slightly different animal than Euroarms / Pedersoli and Chiappa makes several different twist rate Zouaves including the "Match Zouave "

 

[HiDesertHunter]

My Euroarms Zouave shoots both PRBs and hollow base conicals very well.

I am having to 'wean' my shooting off to PRBs since Hornady has dropped my favorite HB conical in .58 cal - their 'Great Plains' bullet.

 

[maineguy]

i have no idea what the twist is in the barrel . i sent it to the gun smith to have a new front sight on as the original is too short

 

[sawyer04]

I have an old FIE euro arms zouave from 1971 and it's front sight is short, but useable. It handles the 575 minnie with 80 grains of FF best. The newer Zoli zouave seems to handle a patched ball with 60 grains of FF best. .

 

[Tumbledown]

It depends on what brand, Zoli is a slightly different animal than Euroarms / Pedersoli and Chiappa makes several different twist rate Zouaves including the "Match Zouave "

I'm sorry, but if they aren't using the original twist, they shouldn't call it a Zouave.

 

[HiDesertHunter]

I'm sorry, but if they aren't using the original twist, they shouldn't call it a Zouave.

Rifling twist rate is something that has NOT remained necessarily the same for any rifle - including some of the exact same model, style and caliber in some cases.

Many manufacturers of all styles of rifles have at times changed rifling twist rates for a variety of reasons and it is not something that can be used as a designator of originality.

 

[Tasbay]

My Zoil Zouave shoots well with 80 grains FF, Ticking patch lubed with olive oil and a .562 round ball just made from wheel weights.

 

[TNGhost]

I'm sorry, but if they aren't using the original twist, they shouldn't call it a Zouave.

Actually, Zouave is a made up fictitious name with no real historical context, other than some troops that were called Zuoaves after the French originals may have been issued these rifles at some point, and if so it was likely after the war.

The term Zuoave was coined by Val Forgett of Navy Arms when he commissioned the reproduction of the Remington Model 1863 Contract Rifle. He initially was going to call them Remingtons, and indeed the first locks said Remington on them, but "Big Green" took exception to his using their name and told him to cease and desist, so he came up with the catchy Zuoave moniker, which, seemingly has as much or more flair than Remington, especially these days.

As far as projectiles, these arms were designed to use Minies and in historically correct context that is what they fired for the most part (in actuality the Remington 1863 saw little or no use in the War of Northern Aggression) That being so 99% of the time I am using a Lee .578, 478 grain home cast Minie in mine

 

[Tumbledown]

Rifling twist rate is something that has NOT remained necessarily the same for any rifle - including some of the exact same model, style and caliber in some cases.

Many manufacturers of all styles of rifles have at times changed rifling twist rates for a variety of reasons and it is not something that can be used as a designator of originality.

I'm a purist. A "Zouave' is a specific model. It was designed for Minie ball. If I'm getting a reproduction of an historical firearm, it should be historically accurate.

 

[Stantheman86]

If you're looking for the best of both worlds, the .54 Mississippi by Pedersoli or an older Euroarms is essentially very similar to a "Zouave " and is a round ball rifle. Likely one of the few Military-type Rifles you can buy in repro (or original) form that's designed for Patched Round Balls and "may" shoot ok with Minies.

The 1863 Remington rifle was in fact essentially an updated 1841 "Mississippi " rifle. I have a .54 Mississippi by Euroarms and it's nice to just pick up boxes of .530 ball and be able to just go shooting with loose powder and patched balls if I don't feel like lubing and sizing Minies.

The Chiappa "Match" Zouave has a very fast twist and seems made for bullets other than Minies.

 

[Treestalker]

I'm a purist. A "Zouave' is a specific model. It was designed for Minie ball. If I'm getting a reproduction of an historical firearm, it should be historically accurate.

I like being mostly historically correct with my guns, but if I'm hunting, I want to be sure I can guarantee an accurate, lethal shot. Game animals deserve a quick and efficient death.