Zouvae shooters ????

[slippery50]

I took my new to me Zouvae rifle by Navy Arms to the range yesterday & shot off 48 rounds of Minnie balls. I am quite pleased as how it shoots & it`s very accrete. At 100yds. as long as I was doing my part, shot after shot into a 8" bull. Now here is the problem. Just about every shot the hammer would rebound & sometimes all the way to the 1st cocking notch. I`m only using 40g. of Goex 3F. I got two nipples with the rifle. One is a musket nip & the other is for #11 caps. I`m using the #11 cap nip. Is this a common thing with these rifles? One thing for sure, I don`t have to remove the spent cap because it is blown off. Thanks in advance.

 

[btech]

My Zoli Zouave has never done this and I've shot it with musket caps and up to an 80 grain load. What I really love about it is I can shoot it all day without worrying about fouling. This is a great musket design.

I suspect you have a nipple that has been drilled out. Get a new one from TOW. A lot of shooters think drilling them out gives better ignition. Nope. It just fires back at ya.

 

[hanshi]

I agree; nipple problem. Years ago I owned/shot/hunted with an NA Zouave. I loved it and it never did anything like you describe. I much, much, much prefer and recommend a musket nipple/caps. Though I no longer have that good rifle I do have a .54 US M1841 that I feel is the apex of military rifle design. The Zouave is very good looking but the 1841 is gorgeous. Both function with properly made (not drilled out) musket nipples.

 

[ZUG]

I agree with the others --- nipple is either worn or has been opened up. I shoot 65 gr 2F with the original musket nipple and it does well for me.

 

[fcderosa]

For a .58 Cal, have you considered replacing the nipple and going to a FFg powder? :hmm:

 

[slippery50]

Thanks much guys for the replies. I was thinking nipple problem myself, but wanted to get your input on it. Both the musket nip & the #11 nip have an opening of about 3/16" on the threaded end. Seemed to be awful big to me. I will get a new #11 nip for it. I want to use the #11 nip because I have a big supply of #11 caps already. I use Goex 3F because I have access to an almost unlimited supply of it for $15.00 a pound.

 

[Wes/Tex]

FFFg is perfectly fine for the lighter loads you're using and is one of the reasons for your slow fouling build up. Those nipples both should be replaced. Understand you want to use the #11's but I always got better ignition with the musket caps. Try it and see which yours prefers. :thumbsup:

 

[fcderosa]

Eh, start your problem solving with a nipple change then. Both FFg and FFFg costs me about $15. If I buy FFFFg though, the price jumps to $25, go figure.

 

[Alden]

Buy both nipples and then a spare musket one -- the shipping charges have this make sense.

 

[bpd303]

In the Hard Lessons Learned thread, I related how when I was about 16, I had the bright idea to drill the nipple on my '63 Springfield for faster ignition. All it did was blow the hammer back to half cock and I wound up with a piece of fragmented cap stuck in my forehead.

I would recommend not shooting it till you can replace the nipple and always wear shooting glasses.

I have a Navy Arms Zouvae musketoon (carbine) and it works better with the musket caps, which I buy online from Powder Inc. along with my blackpowder. When you combine caps & powder the hazmat fee isn't bad.

 

[satx78247]

Either musket or #11 caps are fine in MY Zouave "short rifle"/carbine/musketoon/"whatever you want to call it". - Mine has a 25.5" barrel.

MY Zouave seems to do best with 60 grains of BP using my homebrew 530 grain Minies. - ImVho, any load that is accurate and will reliably "pass through" the thorax (from any angle) of your game is the CORRECT load.

yours, satx

 

[BillinOregon]

Satx, is yours a Navy Arms Buffalo Hunter -- a modified Zoli Zouave?
What diameter Minie is giving you best accuracy?

 

[satx78247]

NOPE. - My Zouave is a "Civil War Centennial Commemorative" by an UNKNOWN maker.
(The only other markings on it is the serial number: 1861, 1861-65 & some Italian proof-marks.)

Any number of experienced ML shooters/re-enactors have examined my Zouave and they don't know who the manufacturer was BUT don't believe that it was built by Zoli.
I bought the carbine from an estate sale (unfired) in the late 1980s and the executrix said that her father bought the rifle to "hang over the fireplace" and never fired it BUT she did not know anything else about it.
(In the 1950S & early 1960S, it is my understanding that several companies in Asia & Europe tried making "Civil War guns" in preparation for the "Civil War Centennial".)

My homebrew Minies measure about .575 caliber. Fwiw, I do NOT "size" my homebrew Minie balls.
(In my experience most any ".58 caliber" hollow-base Mine works FINE in .58 caliber muskets/rifles/musketoons, as pure lead "skirts" will expand to seal most any bore.)

yours, satx

 

[satx78247]

Btw, given how accurate that my little Zouave IS (I've fired any number of "one ragged hole" groups off a rest with it. - It shoots better than I now do at 67YY.), how many "new shooters" that it introduced to BP shooting and how many feral hogs, WT & other game it has collected, it's the best 250.oo that I've spent in many a year.

yours, satx

 

[BillinOregon]

Satx, I was asking because I found an old Buffalo Hunter for sale for $195. It has a crack in the stock on the forend, but otherwise billed as in good shape. I had one of these once that I got from our own Bakeoven Bill. Missed the little dude. With some sort of a peep on the rear, I think this "sporterized Zouave" should be nuts for deer or elk. Will post when it arrives next week.

 

[satx78247]

You did NOT ask for my advice BUT if I was "patching the forearm", I'd use "slow-set epoxy", mixed to "creamy peanut butter" consistency with a matching color of fine saw-dust & then refinish/re-stain the whole stock.
(Epoxy "peanut butter" is stable and stronger than steel, by weight. - Properly done, it's a "one time for life fix". - I cannot tell you how many wooden boats that I've "patched" over the years with that mixture and NONE of those motors/hulls/trailers has ever cracked in the repaired section again.)

NOTE: A friend of mine from Travis County has a Zouave musketoon & his little firearm does NOT shoot Minies well. - Otoh, it shoots the "heavier for caliber" Lee REAL bullets just FINE.
(It has been my experience that every ML firearm is "a law unto itself".)

just my OPINION, satx

 

[Wes/Tex]

Just to muddy the waters, a 60's vintage Navy Arms catalog I have shows the Zouave "carbine" (their description) along with the standard Zouave rifle. Only means that one importer got them from what was probably Zoli since the standard Zouave and Buffalo Hunters came from there, being builder-of-choice for Navy Arms. Lord knows who others may have used. Like the .44 version M.1851 Colt revolvers, the "carbine", "musketoon", "Call it what you like" is a fantasy weapon like the Buffalo Hunter. Neat and useful but not really copies of original guns. Would love to find a shorty myself!

 

[satx78247]

As I originally bought the little "whatever you choose to call it" as a HUNTING weapon, I couldn't care LESS that it's NOT HC/PC, as it is just too handy in the northeast TX swamplands & the south TX brush to NOT have it.
(OR even to have it to loan out to guests.= HAVING the Zouave means that nobody has the GUTS to try to borrow my beloved/expensive cape-gun/drillings.)
ALSO, it has made a LOT of "new shooters" out of NON-shooters & SOME "antigun folks" into "new shooters".
(That's a GOOD THING, too.)

After I "customized" it to suit ME a couple of times (and my brother of the heart, Ed, worked on the lock/trigger pull, so that breaks like glass at about 6#) in >25 years it doesn't look the same as it did new anyway.

WATCH the gun-shows, as I've seen more than a couple of Zouave "shorties" over the last few years & CHEAP. = collectors & re-enactors are DISINTERESTED in these "replicas of nothing at all" & therefore only HUNTERS are vying for them.
(I've seen NONE that were priced over 250.oo)

ANY ML rifle/carbine that will consistently FLATTEN a 200KG hog at 100M is a bargain at 200-250.oo

just my OPINION, satx