Zoli Zouave rifle

[Renegade Dan]

Came home with a Zoli Zouave rifle from the gun show today in mint condition.It followed me home somehow. :hmm: No manual came with it, so I'm not sure of what the maximum load is or what the rate of twist is. any Info would be much appreciated.
Thanks

 

[D Sanders]

Run the ram rod down thew bore with a tight patch on it so it will rotate as you push it down. Count the revolutions to find out what the rate of twist is. It is probably a .58 cal with a 1/60 twist. most of these civil war rifles shoot a minie ball. They have a hollow skirt on them and they will only shoot about 60 grains of double "f". That does not mean that you cannot shoot a patched round ball though. Your powder charge for that will be somewhat heavier, maybe in the 70 to80 grain range.

 

[jdstrang]

If you want maximum accuracy with the minie for which the rifle was designed, then you will find a charge somewhere between 35 and 45 grains of 3f under a properly lubed, dead-soft lead minie sized one- to two- thousandths under bore diameter (almost certainly .577 in your Zoli), will deliver you cloverleafs at 50 yards and sub-4-inch groups at 100. Your rifle will tell you exactly what it likes.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Just to Add to what Pappa says, you also need to SIZE your minie balls after they are cast, to about .001" SMALLER than your bore diameter, so that there is only a minimum amount of obturation needed to fill the grooves with that base "skirt". A greased minie ball, properly sized, will slide easily down a CLEAN barrel, with just the weight of the steel ramrod assisting the travel.

Loading techniques vary, but some shooters like to lean on their ramrods to force that thin base "skirt" to expand on the powder once seated. Others just seat the bullet on the powder. Still others seat the bullet on the powder and then put a thin OverShot CARD on top of the bullet to keep it from moving in the barrel if the rifle is to be carried around for any length of time, before it is shot. ( a .58 caliber rifle would use a 24 gauge OS card, available from TOTW, Circle Fly,and other suppliers.)

 

[Renegade Dan]

Thank you kindly for all your Input :thumbsup:
Dan

 

[CoyoteJoe]

And don't rule out the patched ball. I've owned two Zoli Zouaves that gave their best accuracy with a patched ball of .562 to .570" and 80 to 100 grains of 2f or Pyro RS. It's a lot more economical than hucking minies, balls are much easier to cast than minies and shoot much flatter, which makes hits on targets at random unknown range much easier.

 

[Chuck Thom]

mine shot best with round ball and55 grs.ffg...