My Zouave with Wm Malcolm Long

[KyBill]

Finally Mounting is complete . Now ready to test drive . Learned how to cut in the dovetails by hand,drill and tap WaaLaa ! ! figured if it was done in the 1800s with modern tools I cold do it to just check and rechecked. thanks to some guided assistance from a few Cast Boolits members .

[bigted]

cool ... cant wait to hear how it works out and holds up under recoil. by the way ... what boolit will you use and charge of powder?

looks great ... and again ... cant wait for a range report and maybe some target pictures.

[keydet15]

Nice, I like it!!

[KyBill]

I have 3 molds . ideal 575 213 , 575 494 & a modified 575 494 stick cutter shown and the red speed loaders are tubing thread savers

[BethelHntr]

Very nice kybill, I had a friend that was handed down a zouave by his grandfather, He traded it for a remington 742

[fouronesix]

Agreed, very nice job!

I don't think recoil will be an issue as the scope is designed for large BPCRs. If nothing else you should be able to really determine which bullet/load combo is most accurate as it should eliminate most sighting error.

I have done similar scope mountings to MLs in the past for load development and it will tell a story about accuracy.

[JSnover]

Agreed, very nice job!

I don't thing recoil will be an issue as the scope is designed for large BPCRs. If nothing else you should be able to really determine which bullet/load combo is most accurate as it should eliminate most sighting error.

I have done similar scope mountings to MLs in the past for load development and it will tell a story about accuracy.

I've never shot a Zouave but I did mount a Malcolm on a Buff Classic a few years ago. The mounts were woefully inadequate for that rifle.

Good luck, Bill. I hope it works 'cause it sure does look nice.

[Zouave 58]

Those mounts are designed to withstand the recoil of the 45-70,45-90, 45-100 so I think a musket and a service load of 60grs or so should be no issue. However, I've found that Minies shoot best when they are sized as close to land to land diameter as possible so I think your 575213 may be a bit undersized for your bore to produce optimal accuracy. So you might want to invest in a .575 round ball mold and include that in your testing. Have fun!

[bigted]

wasn't the military boolit a .575 diameter? they did great feats with them on occasion. just throwin it out there as I have not done any tests with my CVA Zouave yet.

[fouronesix]

I believe the standards of military "accuracy" and reliability were different during the Civil War than what we strive for now. The battlefield 150 years ago... with the .575 in a .580 bore was about quickly reloading a heavily fouled bore while yielding at least some downrange accuracy- varying from point blank to maybe a few hundred yards. That would also apply with the same .575 working in a .577 Enfield. I don't know about great feats of accuracy other than a chance result of the sheer number of bullets in the air during a battle.

I'd guess, only the snipers of the day, such as they were along with the various types of arms they used or had access to, would have approached things somewhat like we do today.

[bigted]

cool and thanks ... read somewhere that a rifle and solder should be able to hit a horse at 1000 yards to be qualified but maybe I misunderstood what it was that I read.

[Nobade]

Heck, you'd be hard pressed to find someone now using a scope sighted bolt action rifle that could do that on demand.

Nice work on the Zouave, I've been wanting to do something like that myself. Keep us posted on how it works out. No problems with hammer clearance?

-Nobade

[fouronesix]

A horse sized target @1000 to qualify? Maybe something like that for recruits or volunteers for the few official sniper units, but I think the average Civil War soldier was not, what we would call today, well trained or even very savvy about shooting or guns. Overall, I don't think much if any "qualification" was done. Matter of fact many officers on both sides constantly complained about lack of even the most basic firearms training for their units. There were a few attempts at such but it amounted to little more than basic loading skills and shooting at some hastily erected targets at whatever range was handy at the time and certainly little if any long range practice. In many cases there simply wasn't the time nor resources for such. It's my understanding that during the first stages of the war a few of the Confederate units were fairly well trained for accurate and effective shooting but that was not the norm for either side.

Early on, one of the favorite rifles of the Confederacy was the 54 cal "Mississippi" (a rifle favored by Jefferson Davis). But at 54 caliber it was not a standard caliber (like the .577 or 58 was to become), was a hold-over from the Mexican War and logistics of 54 cal ammo, being non-standard, was a headache. The 54 Mississippi was a superbly accurate, reliable and handy rifle (which I can attest to) but was originally only fitted with a simple notch rear sight dovetailed into the barrel. I would imagine it was very well suited for the type of warfare common before the Civil War but not so much so in 1860 where huge volumes of standardized ammo were necessary and where longer range artillery came into it's own.

[KyBill]

this mold 575 213 Ideal mold casts from bottom up .580 next .580 next .579 . the guy who owned this rifle reinacted and was a stick cutter and was said to be verry good with open sights . (I will say this mold was Tweeked)
and the full wad cutter / stick cutter I know he had made from a 575 494 .581 and a verry thick walled hollow base .091 skirt the 494 wad cutter I have mics .571

[KyBill]

by the way This is a 1963 HyHunter Zouave

[KyBill]

Nobade the hamer clears 1/8 th I will try her out if this rain ever stops here in KY ! Got the itch and dont think the recoil will be a problem the weight of this Zouave is nearly 9 pounds without the scope