New Sight on Zoli Zouave

[GaCop]

The new sight did the trick. at 50 yards, I was shooting about 2" below point of aim but got a group of less than an inch with 45 grains of T-7 and a PRB using .018" Ox Yoke patches. I'm also putting a wad over the powder before ramming the ball. I tried the same load at 70 yards and it averaged 6 inches but was impacting pretty much level with point of aim but all around the edges of the circular bullseye target. The .018" patch is a little hard to start and because of the sharp edge of the crown, it sometimes tears when I use the short starter. I think a small bevel at the crown would do wonders for PRB ball seating.

I didn't have to do much filing on the sight but still have more work to do finding the right thickness of patch material.

I have the pre-lubed Ox Yokes but found I had better grouping if I put a bit of Bore butter on the patch and it made swabbing between shots with alcohol much easier.

I'm so glad to finally be on the paper and getting some semblance of groups!

Tom

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hi Tom,
Glad to hear the news!
To help with starting the patched round ball.
Purchase a ball like grind stone, larger than bore diameter ( about 1" ) install in your battery drill.
A small amount of oil on the stone, allow the drill to turn slowly for a few seconds, add a bit oil, then reverse rotation for a few seconds.
You do not want to grind all the way to the breech!
You only wish to to introduce a small radius to the muzzle.
Do not let the stone form a hard line on the stone, or it will do the same to the muzzle.
Keep changing the angle of the drill to the muzzle, and not much pressure.
You will find the patched round ball much easier to start.
Remember, go slowly & carefully.
Question: You are shooting "PURE LEAD " ? Not wheel weights!
All the best!
Fred

 

[GaCop]

As far as I know, the Speer balls are pure lead. The ball is .570" diameter and the ticking patch is .018"

I'll give your suggestion a try as that seems like a good way to bevel and protect the rifling.

I have crowning cutters but they're for modern bench rest rifles.

 

[PaulN/KS]

What type of new sight did you put on your Zoave..? :hmm:

 

[GaCop]

It was a high front sight being sold by (IIRC)Dixie gun works. It measured .470" fro the rounded base to the top of the blade.

I Dremeled a groove in the bottom of the sight and then filed the factory front sight down until is slid into the groove. I attached the sight with Loctite two party epoxy that has a strength of more than 3300 lbs.

Yeah, the Zouave looks funny but at least I'm hitting the target now instead of shooting over the target and can see the front sight much better. I opened up the V notch in the rear sight with a Swiss needle file and have good daylight on each side of the front sight making it easy to see.

Initially, when I assembled the Zouave, the front band would not clear the higher sight so I had to take it down about 1/16" or so for the band to clear.

I'm going back to the range today to retest 42, 45, and 50 grains of T-7 with the PRB. This time, I'll have the chronograph set up to record velocities.

Tom

 

[PaulN/KS]

Sounds like a good fix for your problem.
I thought that you had a fix/replacement for the flip up/down rear sight that my older Navy Arms version has...

 

[George T.]

I made my new front sight out of an extra GPR front sight. It shot way left so I had to cut a groove left of the factory and I cut it so tight that it had to be tapped in. I soldered it in place. I made it extra high because it also shot high. I took a file to the range and worked slowly. It is spot on at 50 yards now as that is as far as we shoot our matches.

I also took the second leaf and made a peep out of it. I am currently slowly opening it up. I am at .125 right now and I'm close. I assured that I could get another sight before I drilled it. I have read that there were Civil War rifles that had been drilled. Geo. T.

 

[GaCop]

Good info. I was looking at the rear sight thinking about drilling an apperature. I found opening the notch in the rear sight gave me added daylight on each side of the front to be able to see the front clearer on a target. I thought of soldering my front sight but I had no way to silver solder it and there's no gunsmiths in this area or I would have gone that route.

Tom

 

[GaCop]

Well, I chamfered the muzzle but still seem to be getting a bit of tearing of the patch. Was really cold yesterday morning so it was harder to seat the ball with the stiffer lube on the patches. I put Ballistol on the patches and that seemed to help a bit. No burning of the patch material because I'm using a wad over the powder.

My best load to date is 43 grains of FFG T-7 and the .018" patch for 2.22" at 70 yards just 2" below point of aim at 4 o'clock. Velocity was on the low side this time averaging 1295 fps but SD/ES figures were nice and low for a change. Recrowning/chamfering seems to have improved accuracy compared to the last trip but to completely eliminate the tearing, it may need a bit more.

Tom