Some of the lube inside the hollow base cooks off/melts as the ball passes down the barrel. That softens fouling. You do not need any wads. I've shot minies in the evening and sometimes powder grains adhere to the lube in the base and you get a tracer effect. During scorching hot weather there is the danger of melting lube that could affect the powder charge.
Hellgate in Orygun
With 16+revolvers, I've been called the Imelda Marcos of cap&ball.
If you do not subscribe to a newspaper you are uninformed. If you do subscribe to a newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
All I can say is SWEET!!!! I have always wanted one.Maybe some day.
Fly
Although not exactly proper for traditional minie loading and shooting-- for best accuracy in a couple of my rifles a slightly oversized minie works best. The only way to start these minies and not risk damage to the skirt is to use a false muzzle and short starter. Took a solid delrin rod and drilled out one end to slip fit over the muzzle. Drilled the other end sized for a slip fit of the minie. Made a simple short starter that matched the minie nose profile.
Slip the delrin cylinder over the muzzle, insert a lubed minie into the end and pop it into the bore using the short starter. This system has worked especially well for my 7 groove Zouave using the .584 N-S minie and has yielded exceptional accuracy.
Trust but verify the honeyguide
Nice work and again thanks for all the advice, will try some lube in the hollow base. It is supposed to rain here tonite and tomorrow, not gonna complain we sure could use it, but hopefully will be able to shoot it in the afternoon.
Just came back from shootin the zouave, sorry guys no pics. I ran out the door without the camera. Anyway I am not too impressed with what I found, the thing shoots REALLY high. I filed the rear sight down as low as I could and finally got on paper. That being said it still shoots about 12 inches high at 25 yrds, couldn't even hit the cardbord box I had the target stuck to at 50 yrds.
When I was aiming the sights to hit paper, I had to really pull the front sight way down in the bottom of the rear vee, this is not the sight picture I like. What am I going to have to do to correct this? Change the rear sight? change the front sight,or a change both sights? Other than the fact it shot extremly high I found 60 grians of FFF did hold a nice 1in group at 25 yrds. Need to cast more minnies as I ran out of the 25 that I took to shoot.Thanks agian for any input good or bad!
Check here
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...uroarms-zouave
Since that is a slightly shorter barrel the sight geometry may be exaggerated a little and could easily print higher than normal 33" Zouaves which usually print too high also.
Trust but verify the honeyguide
You might also try some patched round balls. I've used them about 99% of the time, and they can be quite accurate. You just need the right powder load, patch and ball. I've found that 72 grains of FF black, with a pillow ticking patch around a swaged .575 round ball works best for my Zouave. A cast .575 works well also, just watch the sprue.
I shoot a Lee .575 470 gr. minie for longer ranges.
If you go with a patched ball, the .570 ball might be a good fit also. The .575 might be a little tight. When I got my Zouave back in the late 60s they were recommending a .562 ball with a patch. That always seemed a little small to me but I shot them qanyway. The .570 is a more snug fit. The .575 could be too snug. The only way to tell is use them both. If the ball is too small you can always use a thicker patch.
Regarding sights. I did both things you are considering: I cut the rear notch down deeper and filed off and soldered on a taller front sight. A dovetail front would be even better for windage adjustment. They are meant to shoot right on way down range i.e. battlefield distances. A 60gr load under a 450-500gr minie might be right on at 100yds. My 58 minie shooters are sighted in 5" high @50yds to put them on zero at 100.
Hellgate in Orygun
With 16+revolvers, I've been called the Imelda Marcos of cap&ball.
If you do not subscribe to a newspaper you are uninformed. If you do subscribe to a newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
............Put in a taller front sight.Originally Posted by jnovotny
...........Buckshot
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