Load Questions for an Anthony Zoli Harper's Ferry Rifle

[SmoothboreMurph]

Posting this for a friend who recently purchased an Anthony Zoli Harpers Ferry Rifle. I'm sure there are a large group of people who have seen or even use these rifles and know what the best loads are and what the maximum loads are. The rifle is .58 caliber as I am sure most know here on the forum. I haven't seen his rifle in person nor has the bore been measured to know exact diameter, however I am sure it is around .575 as 8/10 .58 cals are. I am concerned about powder loads and patch sizes. I have only used smoothbore and patches are fuzzy knowledge to me. Lastly what should be looked out for with this rifle. I know Euro Arms versions had terrible spark issues, does this Zoli version have them as well? What issues should be watched for with a Zoli Harpers Ferry? Any help is greatly appreciated and thank you to all who add information to this thread.

 

[TreeMan]

Use the forum search feature at the top of the page and type in “zoli harpers ferry”. Several pages of info come up including history and loading information.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

Use the forum search feature at the top of the page and type in “zoli harpers ferry”. Several pages of info come up including history and loading information.

Thanks

 

[FlinterNick]

I found that a .57 round ball with a .010 wadding works best. 70-90 grains of 2F, when i had one of these decades ago, nice match grade barrel but the lock was terrible.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

I found that a .57 round ball with a .010 wadding works best. 70-90 grains of 2F, when i had one of these decades ago, nice match grade barrel but the lock was terrible.

Does a Davis lock improve the ignition like it does for a Euro Arms ?

 

[FlinterNick]

Does a Davis lock improve the ignition like it does for a Euro Arms ?

The Davis Lock is a much better lock, however some pretty good work will need to be done to get that lock to fit the zoli stock. On the plus side the zoli stock has an oversized lock panel, so it can be done, it just needs to be done right.

 

[TreeMan]

Does a Davis lock improve the ignition like it does for a Euro Arms ?

Don’t worry about another lock until you shoot the current one a good bit. It may be perfectly fine. You never know what someone has improved upon on that rifle since it’s birth. The Davis lock is a good lock. I have one in my harpers ferry. It’ll take some work to fit it if your lock inlet is smaller than the Davis lock. If your inlet in bigger than the Davis lock panel then your going to have to work it out with the current lock. The rifle shoppe, euroarms, Davis and Zoli harpers ferry rifles all have a somewhat different sized lock plate. They are NOT exactly interchangeable.

 

[FlinterNick]

Don’t worry about another lock until you shoot the current one a good bit. It may be perfectly fine. You never know what someone has improved upon on that rifle since it’s birth. The Davis lock is a good lock. I have one in my harpers ferry. It’ll take some work to fit it if your lock inlet is smaller than the Davis lock. If your inlet in bigger than the Davis lock panel then your going to have to work it out with the current lock. The rifle shoppe, euroarms, Davis and Zoli harpers ferry rifles all have a somewhat different sized lock plate. They are NOT exactly interchangeable.

I had a lot of problems with the Rifle Shoppe lock.

I took a casted copy of the lock plate and used the Davis internals, it works perfectly .