58 cal zouave minis

[sfruhwirth]

Hi all,

Was wondering if someone could steer me in the right direction for the type of mini mould that might work well in my 1863 zouave repro. I can shoot the roundballs up to fifty yards and am very acurate but anything further my groups are non existant. Thought I might give a mini a try for these longer range targets. I shoot a .570 rb.
Any ideas or advice will be appreciated!

TIA!

 

There are all sorts of good minis available that will shoot well in your rifled musket. Old style minis, New style, Wadcutter and varieties in between. Best 100 yd performace comes from the heavier bullets 400gr and above. Start with your known bore size and purchase PURE lead minies.001 or .002 smaller. Its hard to go wrong with the old style, however these heavy bullets have a hearty recoil.

 

[torn moc]

Yes, I agree.....the minnies will give ya much more KICK than a roundball. Also...casting the LYMAN minnie is a bit nore difficult than casting a Lee minnie. Also...use Pure lead...not wheel weights.
Let us know how ya do!

 

[musketman]

I shoot the "Old Style" minie #575213 in my Zouave...

I use 90 grains of FFg with the above bullet and Crisco lube on the bands only, not in the hollow base...

I can get tight groups at 110 yards with ease using this load, I used a small print edition Reader's Digest as a target... :grin:

It will have more kick than a roundball load, so look out for that...

 

[Big John]

The black Powder Manual suggests: # 577213 for under 60 gr. of powder and # 577611 for over 60 gr.

 

[sfruhwirth]

Great just what i need another punisher! :grin:

Thanks for all the input will check to see if i can get some of them in small orders for testing.

Started shooting this musket last year and just love it for 25 and 50 yard... just need something for that 100 yard shot.

:thumbsup:

 

[davy]

I agree you mite try a bigger RB size than .570 in your smokepole, say .575 or .580 along with lubed patch and try that for more accurate RB performance at 100 yds. Cannot comment on the mini's. :thumbsup:

Davy

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I use Musketman's load in my Buffalo Hunter, a shortened and lightened sporterized version of the Zouave. It is a fine, accurate load. With the 90 grain charge recoil really isn't a problem at all.

 

[musketman]

The black Powder Manual suggests: # 577213 for under 60 gr. of powder and # 577611 for over 60 gr.

I am aware of that, but I think they want to publish lighter loads because of the chance someone wants to shoot their original Zouave or Enfield, stout charges in 130+ year old guns is just asking for trouble...

My reproduction is made with modern steel and can handle loads as high as 130 grains of FFg, not that I would shoot that out of it, 90 was as high as I pushed it...

The Lyman Blackpowder handbook list 50 to 160 grains of FFg for the .58 caliber Zouave (26 inch barrel) using the "Old Style" bullet, can you imagine that? 160 grains and a brass butt plate... :shocked2:

Now in my opinion, anything over 100 grains will grossly distort and bell shape the bullet's skirt, resulting in poor down range performance by causing excessive drag, thus distroying accuracy...

 

[omgb]

I struggled with mine too. I bought it from Dixie about 4 years ago. Any way, after trying every Lyman, RCBS, Lee whatever mould I could get, I settled on the Lee target minie and 60 grns of 2F Goex. That sucker will shoot under 4 inches at 100 yards all day long. I cheat though, i swapped the sights from a 1903 Springfield (the ones with the tiny tiny peep sight) for the issue sights. made a big difference. I also worked over the trigger. IIRC, my gun is a Zoli but I could be wrong.

 

[omgb]

Ome more thing, with almost all of the minies except the REAL and the Target Minie, loads much over 60 grains will blow the skirt and groups open up wildly. I've never seen a standard minie handle loads over 80 grians without the skirt failing, never in over 35 years of shooting these things.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I'd try a bit more work with the roundballs. If you are getting good groups at fifty there is no reason why they should go wild at 100. Try thicker patching and other lubes and tinker with powder charges. Better sights would surely help, the issue sights are really lousy. Round balls are cheaper to shoot, much easier to cast, shoot flatter with less recoil and it is generally much easier to find acceptable accuracy compared to minies, and zero barrel leading to boot. :grin: