Will bullet vs ball make a difference in windage when shooting a Navy Arms Zouave? I am shooting a Lee Minnie and a traditional type Minnie (Lyman?) that shoots about half a dozen inches to the right at 50 yards with 70 grs of FFg. Don't have the right diameter ball to shoot out of it so can't compare them to the Minnies but wondered if it could/would make a difference. Or is it that the sights are off enough, though I can't tell just looking at the rifle, and that is what is going on? Of course with this rifle there is no way to adjust windage so that is out. Bought this rifle at an auction and is that why it was there?
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windage
- Thread starter lapierre1
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longcruise
70 Cal.
My TC always placed any conical bullet to the right of the poi of a patched ball.
robert reed
40 Cal.
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My 63 Rem copy is not a Navy Arms but an Adler. It has 1-33 twist and shoots the Lyman 460 os minie slightly left of POA. Hornady .570 PRB is dead on. This is with 60 and 70 gr FFG. As you know, the sights are not adjustable. Increase or decrease in powder charge may change POI. Also, your bore size may not match your bullets. You should check your barrel with calipers and size minies .001 under bore for best results. Hope that you work it out. Many happy Zouave shooters out there and I am one.
huntsman247
40 Cal.
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You could drift (carefully) your front sight to the right a bit; I believe.
Thought too possibly a change in powder charge could do it. I just got the rifle and so far it's only made one trip to the range with me. The 70 grs and the Lyman? Minnies work in my 1863 Springfield quite well so figured that as a starting point but was surprised when the Zouave shot so far right.
You are right, there is no adjustment. On my Zoli Zouave I ended up cutting off the blade portion of the sight, cutting a groove for a new blade off center in the base of the original sight. When I did this I left it purposely high so I could cut it down when I found the load I would be using.
AZbpBurner
54 Cal.
If you bought it at auction and have had it out to the range only once, you don't really know how many rounds have been fired thru it already, except for yours. It may be a brand new condition barrel that still needs breaking in.
Best to err on the side of caution and fire at least a hundred rounds thru it before goofying the front sight.
And, actually shoot it to break it in, instead of trying to shortcut it by scrubbing the bore with steel wool, abrasives or other questionable methods.
Best to err on the side of caution and fire at least a hundred rounds thru it before goofying the front sight.
And, actually shoot it to break it in, instead of trying to shortcut it by scrubbing the bore with steel wool, abrasives or other questionable methods.
I'm not one for using abrasives of any kind on the barrel of a firearm. It's more fun to shoot them "in" anyhow. The bore on this rifle is so bright and shiny that when I got it home I shined a flashlight down the barrel and could see the breech plug. It amazed me how bright it is/was. Before I get carried away I will shoot the heck out of it trying all kind of different ball/bullet/powder charge variant I can come up with. I'm not in any hurry with it that's for sure. Kind of like good things come to those that wait or something.
Billnpatti
Cannon
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You will need to know a few things about your load then just plug it into this ballistics calculator. http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/rbballistics/rbballistics.html
Scroll to the bottom and click where it says "CLICK HERE to open a web application without having to download anything!"
Scroll to the bottom and click where it says "CLICK HERE to open a web application without having to download anything!"
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I believe you can also get a blank rear sight leaf with no notch cut, and then cut it where you need it. I believe these are available from some of the sutlers that serve the nssa guys. maybe Lodgewood mfg. or S&S firearms. This is a very common issue on the fixed sight rifle muskets.
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There are a couple other fixes for windage I did not see mentioned.
First always exhaust load development changes but if that can't be made to work then here are a few other options.
Solder on a front sight shim for added width to one side of the blade or the to other and relieve ( file or mill down) the opposite side and touch up blue or brown. This method is limited to not more than half the width of the front blade for obvious reasons.
This will be the same as if you could move the blade that amount in a dove tail.
Another option on the rear sight is to file out the middle and install an adjustable sliding notch for windage with a set screw to lock it in place.
An other is to bend the barrel a bit which will probably amount to straightening it up.
This can be done in an over head barrel vice or between v blocks on a bench using a large padded C clamp in the middle to produce the bend pressure. This is a bend and try situation a bit at a time. You have to remember to make an initial measurement above the bend fixture initially as index for straightening it up.
Measuring the progress and knowing when to stop.
Sounds radical but the practice has been used for may years in barrel production around the world.
First always exhaust load development changes but if that can't be made to work then here are a few other options.
Solder on a front sight shim for added width to one side of the blade or the to other and relieve ( file or mill down) the opposite side and touch up blue or brown. This method is limited to not more than half the width of the front blade for obvious reasons.
This will be the same as if you could move the blade that amount in a dove tail.
Another option on the rear sight is to file out the middle and install an adjustable sliding notch for windage with a set screw to lock it in place.
An other is to bend the barrel a bit which will probably amount to straightening it up.
This can be done in an over head barrel vice or between v blocks on a bench using a large padded C clamp in the middle to produce the bend pressure. This is a bend and try situation a bit at a time. You have to remember to make an initial measurement above the bend fixture initially as index for straightening it up.
Measuring the progress and knowing when to stop.
Sounds radical but the practice has been used for may years in barrel production around the world.
Flash Pan Dan
45 Cal.
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I bought a used Navy Arms Zouave. That had been use for NSSA competition. The lock had been tuned and hardened. But the front sight was bent to the right. So I decided to shoot it to see if it was worth fixing up any more. At the range the front sight looked a little odd but I shot it anyway.
Well, long story short, it shot like a house afire! I mean it shot cloverleaf groups out to 75 yards and at fifty yards it was dead on. It shot so well I didn’t what to touch anything on it. I just clean it and a keep it oiled. So even though it has an odd sight picture I can shoot it pretty darn good. So you might want try just bending the front sight and shooting it before you do anything more extensive.
Well, long story short, it shot like a house afire! I mean it shot cloverleaf groups out to 75 yards and at fifty yards it was dead on. It shot so well I didn’t what to touch anything on it. I just clean it and a keep it oiled. So even though it has an odd sight picture I can shoot it pretty darn good. So you might want try just bending the front sight and shooting it before you do anything more extensive.
Before I modify anything that I can't un-modify I will shoot it a bunch to figure if different loads or projectiles make a difference in point of impact. It shoots to same point of impact but just too many inches to the right at 50 yards. I had a 3rd generation SA that someone had bent the front sight on to get it to shoot to point of aim. Like you say it looked kinda strange when you looked at it but it shot good.
