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Post by brokennock on Mar 25, 2023 16:46:25 GMT -7
I am placing this question here as I don't want to sell this online. But, I need expertise from the our panel of experts. Things are really tough and I need to sell some stuff. Thos musket has leaned in a corner since an older friend gave it to me years ago. What exactly is it? (Beyond the obvious stampings of an Antonio Zoli made Navy Arms stamped .58 caliber Black Powder gun) Is it any good? (Reputation and such) And of course, how much can I sell it for?        It appears in very good shape mechanically, bore and bluing look great. Slight surface rust on the rear sight and in a little corner of the bulge that the nippe screws into. There is the obvious "chip" or "scrape" on the forestock, but it is so shallow that one can barely feel it. I've never had the barrel out or pulled the lock. Literally I brought it home several years ago, leaned it in a corner, and it has been there ever since, moved a couple times when cleaning the room. I have a large container of musket caps he gave me for it too. Thoughts? |
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Mar 25, 2023 17:15:05 GMT -7
Is it rifled?
This doesn’t seem to replicate ACW arms I’m familiar with… likely meant as a “Zouave Rifle”, Enfield carbine, etc. A lot of these were made for NSSA black powder shooting. The other board would likely know.
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Post by brokennock on Mar 25, 2023 17:20:24 GMT -7
Is it rifled? This doesn’t seem to replicate ACW arms I’m familiar with… likely meant as a “Zouave Rifle”, Enfield carbine, etc. A lot of these were made for NSSA black powder shooting. The other board would likely know. I thought "Zouave" as well. Yes, it is rifled. Folding 3 leaf sight. |
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Post by brokennock on Mar 25, 2023 17:22:16 GMT -7
I don't really want to ask on the other site. I am meeting with a fee local guys from there next week (Lord help me) to try to get one of them started.
Hoping one of them may have interest in it. I'd prefer to not have to ship it.
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Mar 25, 2023 17:25:11 GMT -7
You won’t need to ship. It’ll sell local, even as a consignment in your LGS.
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Post by brokennock on Mar 25, 2023 19:07:49 GMT -7
You won’t need to ship. It’ll sell local, even as a consignment in your LGS. I don't really have time for consignment and can't afford the LGS to take a cut. Any idea what they go for, used or new? |
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Post by artificer on Mar 25, 2023 21:57:26 GMT -7
Hi Nock,
The Zoli made Zouaves are regarded by most North - South Skirmish Association members as the best one made of all the generic Italian clones and is a popular rifle for that competition.
What's the bore look like?
I would definitely suggest some little work and touch up finish, so those scratches/worn spots don't show as much.
If the bore is in really good condition and you did that work, I'd say it's worth is around $375 - $425 as a reasonable asking price. Take some off depending on how fast you want to sell it.
I would check to see if there are any N-SSA Teams near you, as they may know someone who is looking for one.
Gus
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Post by brokennock on Mar 26, 2023 9:51:31 GMT -7
The bore looks really good as near as I can tell. I don't have a borescope, but I have a small flashlight just the right size and brightness level to shine down a bore.
Thank you for the info.
Any suggestions on stain color to match the stock?
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Post by artificer on Mar 26, 2023 11:10:41 GMT -7
Do you have any stain now? If you have some brown leather dye, it could be thinned down to match in a very small quantity.
Gus
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Post by artificer on Mar 26, 2023 11:59:53 GMT -7
PS After you smooth up the exposed wood, I would use one thin coat of finish on the exposed wood before you add stain. That way if the stain is too dark, you can wipe it off before it dries and it won't sink into the wood. Sometimes I have used brown magic markers for such a small job, after a first coat of finish dries. You also have some bare wood in hollow spot under the patch box, so you can experiment there to get the best match possible.
Gus
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Post by brokennock on Mar 26, 2023 17:11:03 GMT -7
Thanks Gus. I have some brown or medium brown Fiebings. Also some other colors of same. I have several partial cans of various color minwax kicking around too.
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Post by artificer on Mar 26, 2023 18:21:20 GMT -7
Since 1974, I have refinished I don't even remember how many dozens of unmentionable rifles with a stock and two handguards. The tip of using one thin coat of finish on the wood before coloring it with leather dye makes it so much easier to match the color of all three pieces of wood. Also, if I got it too dark, some acetone on a wad of paper towels allows you to wipe most of the dye off to try again.
I've also at times mixed a few drops of leather dye in the second or third coats of finish.
It's better to thin your dye so you have to use one or more coats of stain to match, rather than beginning with too dark of a stain.
Gus
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Post by brokennock on Mar 26, 2023 20:03:49 GMT -7
Not much different than dying leather, start light, work up.
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Post by artificer on Mar 27, 2023 2:30:57 GMT -7
Darn it, wrote my last post too quickly and forgot to mention something.
Remember what was the last/finest grit size of sandpaper that you sanded the worn spots with before you apply the first thin coat of finish. As an example, GI stocks were never sanded with anything finer than 150 gr sandpaper. The stock on your Zouave may have been originally sanded to 180 gr or at most 220 gr, but I highly doubt anything finer than that. (I probably would not go finer than 180 gr.) After the first thin coat of finish dries, sand the surface of the worn spots one more time with the finest grit of sandpaper you used. (This is the last time you will use sandpaper.) What this does is keep the dye from going too deep into the pores of the wood, but still have surface wood to color. Wipe the sanded dust/matter off the surface.
After you dye the wood, rub the dickens out of it with an old terrycloth washcloth or hand towel. This sort of sets the color and burnishes it a little bit. If the color is too dark, use the acetone on a wad of paper towels. If the color is too light, lay another or more coats of dye until it matches.
When the color matches well, then use one to three more coats of finish, depending on what it takes to match the surrounding surface finish. After each coat of finish, lightly abrade the surface with a GREY (Ultra Fine) GM Scotchbrite Pad and wipe off all the sanded dust/matter before applying the next coat of finish. This allows each additional finish coat an abraded surface to stick to properly and should not cut into the color. After the last coat of finish, very lightly abrade the surface one last time and rub the dickens out of it with the old terrycloth washcloth or hand towel.
Now I USED to use steel wool to do the surface abrading before GM came out with the Scotchbrite pads, but I swore off steel wool decades ago. There is nothing more infuriating than to see one or more tiny "hairs" of steel wool under two to five coats of finish. Even as careful as I was to blow off the abraded surface with compressed air and then used a tack cloth to clean the surface, those blinketly blank steel wool hairs still snuck their way into a good finish every so often. With the Scotchbrite pads, you don't even need a tack cloth to wipe the abraded surface, just a clean cloth.
Gus
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