Repro Zouaves in Canada

H Wally

H Wally

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The other thread on Zouaves reminded me of this question.

Why is there almost no talk of Zouave rifles (repro or otherwise) in Canada while stateside they seem to be the most affordable and often decent quality minie rifle available?

Up here it's all about the Parker Hale enfield minie rifles... which I suspect is partially due to Canadian's interest in Enfields, ties to Britain etc, but still I wonder.

While I'm asking - what have been people's experiences with Zoave rifles? Worth getting and shooting?
 
The Zouave rifles were Civil War safe queens, very few issued and the great majority spent the War is storage at the Union's Eastern Arms Depots. Most were sold as War Surplus to France during the Franco-Prussian War, they were desperate for weapons and were buying just about anything. Even today, most serious Civil War re-enactment groups won't allow members to use the Zouave repros.
 
Agreed. In the Civil War, both armies standardized on 3-band rifles with triangular bayonets and bought few 2 band rifles. In the 50's, the North/South Skirmish Association started live fire shoots with Civil War muskets. In the beginning, most of the muskets were originals (many well worn) because the Italian repro market was just getting started. Then somebody discovered a cache of minty original 1855 style 2 band rifles of Remington manufacture in Bannerman's warehouse and people started winning matches with them. It got nicknamed the "Zouave rifle" and the Italians started reproducing it. That's the only reason this otherwise obscure rifle is so popular today.

If you just want something inexpensive to shoot Minies with, go for it. It's an attractive gun. But if you want what a typical soldier carried get a 3 band Enfield or an 1861 Springfield.
 
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