New to muzzle loading

[Frank46]

just took delivery of a extremely nice armi-sport zouave in 58 caliber. Although I've been here for some years black powder muzzle loading is something entirely new to me. First off I've decided to only use blackpowder only. No substitutes here. I've read about the use of both 2f and 3f bp in 58 cal muzzle loaders. Any special reason for using the 3f granulation?. Caps, should I use #11 caps or the musket winged caps, any special reasons why one may be better than the other. I cast for some of my handguns and rifles so am familiar with this. And have about 500lbs roof sheathing waiting to be cast into minnie's or maybe round balls. Should I be looking
at any special mfgr's bullet molds and what would be a good mold to start out with.
Black powder, was checking the grafs site and they offer three brands. Goex which is currently out of stock, Grafs house brand wano or the swiss bp. Trying to get aquainted with this new part of a facinating hobby. Any insights, tips, suggestions and info you can provide will be greatly welcomed. Frank

[StrawHat]

just took delivery of a extremely nice armi-sport zouave in 58 caliber. Congrats, the Zouave is a nice looking musket.



Although I've been here for some years black powder muzzle loading is something entirely new to me. First off I've decided to only use blackpowder only. No substitutes here. I've read about the use of both 2f and 3f bp in 58 cal muzzle loaders. Any special reason for using the 3f granulation?. While I have not shot a Zouave, I have used 2f in several 58 percussion muskets, most recently a 1841 Mississippi rifle.. 3f will give you a bit more velocity and pressure. I have been happy with 2f.



Caps, should I use #11 caps or the musket winged caps, any special reasons why one may be better than the other. Unless an aftermarket nipple has been fitted to your musket, the winged musket caps are what will fit. #11 will be too small. The musket cap should be the hotter of the two if I remember things right.



I cast for some of my handguns and rifles so am familiar with this. And have about 500lbs roof sheathing waiting to be cast into minnie's or maybe round balls. Should I be looking at any special mfgr's bullet molds and what would be a good mold to start out with. Okay, I have only used the patched round ball to any extent. I tried the minie bullets and decided for Ohio whitetailled deer, the PRB was what I needed. The PRB was the more accurate projectile, the minie is the more historically correct. Others with more minie experience will be able to guide you to a proper mold.



Black powder, was checking the grafs site and they offer three brands. Goex which is currently out of stock, Grafs house brand wano or the swiss bp. Trying to get aquainted with this new part of a facinating hobby. Any insights, tips, suggestions and info you can provide will be greatly welcomed. Frank I buy my powder locally and they stock GOEX so that is what I use. Once you get shooting, a separate wiping rod is a handy item. With a brass tip to accept cleaning tools wouldn't hurt. For cleaning, I use plain hot water with a couple of drops of liquid dish soap.

There are several good articles available, read as many as you can. Weed through what does/doesn't make sense and try what you want. Much of what was known and followed has been forgotten and is now being relearned. Muzzleloading is a fun sport but can be tedious, try not to get bogged down in the details. Have fun and enjoy your Zouave.

[northmn]

Swiss is great powder, but more costly in a larger bore. The Graf's powder will not give the punch per grain of Swiss but is a nice clean burning powder also. I am basing these observations on a limited use and will admit that Graf's may be a hot as GOEX, as my chronographed differences might show in different lots of GOEX. A lot of folks like GOEX as a buy American issue and that is your own personal decision. I have shot a lot of GOEX and it was the only game in town for me for many years. Mostly I agree with Straw Hat on his recommendations. Minnies are what the rifle is designed for but patched RB may be more accurate. Minnies were a military expediency to get the desired rate of fire and played hobb with Napoleonic tactics employed in the Civil War.

Northmn

[cwskirmisher]

The repro Zouave's shoot very well with the minie - as long as it is sized to .001-.002 under bore. You will probably need a mould that drops pure lead at .580, and then you can size it to the proper dimension (most likely .575-.577).
The patched round ball will work just fine and is accurate, but at longer ranges (100yards+) the minie will be what you want. You will also get a 500 grain projectile in a minie, vs lighter weight for the round ball.
As far as 2F vs 3F, use whichever your gun groups best with. In my experience, 3F shoots cleaner with the .58, and you need less of it for the same velocity. I hunt with 60 grains 3F goex (the minimum legal charge in Virgina) and it will stop anything short of bear. You will need 70-80 grains of 2F for the same MV. For very accurate target shooting to 100 yards, I use 42 grains 3F goex, and can usually get 10 rounds into a 6 inch circle off hand/open sights with that charge - which is accurate enough for anyone with a ML. I compete regularly with these in the N-SSA.

[59sharps]

The repro Zouave's shoot very well with the minie - as long as it is sized to .001-.002 under bore. You will probably need a mould that drops pure lead at .580, and then you can size it to the proper dimension (most likely .575-.577).
The patched round ball will work just fine and is accurate, but at longer ranges (100yards+) the minie will be what you want. You will also get a 500 grain projectile in a minie, vs lighter weight for the round ball.
As far as 2F vs 3F, use whichever your gun groups best with. In my experience, 3F shoots cleaner with the .58, and you need less of it for the same velocity. I hunt with 60 grains 3F goex (the minimum legal charge in Virgina) and it will stop anything short of bear. You will need 70-80 grains of 2F for the same MV. For very accurate target shooting to 100 yards, I use 42 grains 3F goex, and can usually get 10 rounds into a 6 inch circle off hand/open sights with that charge - which is accurate enough for anyone with a ML. I compete regularly with these in the N-SSA.

same for me 42 of 3fffg w/ the hodgens minnie, but mine needs to be sized at .580. Lube 50/50 beeswax olive oil.
Best to slug the bore before buying a mold.

[Hanshi]

I had a Zouave and it was a lot of fun, but that was long ago. I shot mostly minnies but hunted with prb. Never shot anything bigger than a fox squirrel but they will take down just about anything you will want to hunt with one. I used both 2f and 3f but generally leaned more toward 3f. Crisco and beeswax make a good minnie lube. Be aware these things normally shoot several inches high so you might want to think about a rear sight replacement or at least file it down.

[Frank46]

Thank you all for your posts. Yep this will be a learning curve for me but one that I think I will enjoy. Thanks again, Frank

[bob208]

i hot with a nssa team we used 40 gr 3f and a layman 400 gr. minie cast out of pure lead. lubed with crisco sized to about .002 under bore.

i think layman discontued that mold. but lee has one close.

the service load was 60 gr. 2f with a 500 gr. bullet