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69 zouave smoothie

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For the record, a .69 diameter bore is a 14 guage. A .729 diameter bore is a 12 guage.

A 16 guage bore is .662 in diameter so I think that would be the size Treestalker would want.

My old Dixie Gun Works catalog says the Zouave made by Armi Sport/Italy had a barrel that tapered from 1 1/8" (1.125") at the breech to 15/16" (.938) at the muzzle. It also shows a Zouave made by Euro Arms/Italy that has a barrel that tapers from 1 1/8" at the breech to 7/8" (.875") at the muzzle.

The Armi Sport's Zouave bored out to .662 diameter would have a barrel wall thickness at the muzzle of .138".
The Euro Arms Zouave bored out to .662 would have a barrel wall thickness at the muzzle of .107".

My CVA 12 guage double barrel shotgun has a barrel wall thickness of .065 at the muzzle so, either of these Zouaves would be thicker than that so, I think boring a Zouave out to a 16 guage size (.662") would be quite safe. Of course it will still handle like the Rifled Musket that it is so it would be a very poor choice for shooting birds on the wing.

Now, the real problem is finding a good barrel maker that would be willing to bore the guns barrel out. :dunno:
 
Well, shucks Jim, I was going to have it bored to .69 cal to accommodate .69 cal minies and/or shot loads, but minies don't do so well in a smoothbore, I'm told. Then the idea of a larger shot load and a devastating close range PRB load came to the fore. Bobby Hoyt will bore to .62 cal, which as you know is a really heavy 20 guage. One could shoot prbs out of it, but long range is lost. I think I'll stay with the .58 rifled bore for Minnies and build a small shotgun for small critters. Thank you for your expertise, it really helps to illustrate the limitations, and I didn't know I was reaching for a stinking 14 guage, HA! Thanks for steering me away from a horrible, costly mistake. George.
 
Thank you, Moose, I'm still toying with boring this out for an all around useful non hc-pc game gun. The barrel is so thick on this darling I believe it could handle being a .69 with no problem. But we'll call The Man and find out, thanks for the phone number and calling advice, George.
 
For the record, a .69 diameter bore is a 14 guage. A .729 diameter bore is a 12 guage.

A 16 guage bore is .662 in diameter so I think that would be the size Treestalker would want.

My old Dixie Gun Works catalog says the Zouave made by Armi Sport/Italy had a barrel that tapered from 1 1/8" (1.125") at the breech to 15/16" (.938) at the muzzle. It also shows a Zouave made by Euro Arms/Italy that has a barrel that tapers from 1 1/8" at the breech to 7/8" (.875") at the muzzle.

The Armi Sport's Zouave bored out to .662 diameter would have a barrel wall thickness at the muzzle of .138".
The Euro Arms Zouave bored out to .662 would have a barrel wall thickness at the muzzle of .107".

My CVA 12 guage double barrel shotgun has a barrel wall thickness of .065 at the muzzle so, either of these Zouaves would be thicker than that so, I think boring a Zouave out to a 16 guage size (.662") would be quite safe. Of course it will still handle like the Rifled Musket that it is so it would be a very poor choice for shooting birds on the wing.

Now, the real problem is finding a good barrel maker that would be willing to bore the guns barrel out. :dunno:


Look no further than Bobby Hoyt.
 
Zoli made a smoothie barrel for the Navy Arms Hunter based on the Zouave. I had the smooth barrel, I think it was 20 ga.
 
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