Sorting out the Zouave builders

[OregonBill]

Gentlemen, I recently came into another Zouave, probably the fourth or fifth I have had over the years, including a couple of the "Buffalo Hunters." All except this one were clearly marked Zoli. I am getting a few hits by Googling "FARA Zouave," but the information remains sketchy. The XX next to the proof marks would suggest a date of 1964, except it is not in a box. The 69 stamped on the base of the barrel and breech plug is an assembly number, I am guessing, as it is also stamped inside the lock, inside the buttplate, inside the trigger guard assembly and inside the patch box assembly. I can find no other markings. The barrel is the usual three-groove, the stock appears to be beech and the lock has a coil spring. Any ideas who made it, and whether it is among the decent ones for quality?
Thanks in advance.

https://i.postimg.cc/FfYxnMwF/image-67164417-1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/FfYxnMwF)


https://i.postimg.cc/K1vftkNM/image-67183617-4.jpg (https://postimg.cc/K1vftkNM)


https://i.postimg.cc/KKC5X9yP/image-67191297-1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/KKC5X9yP)


https://i.postimg.cc/qNbLwJbZ/image-67213313-1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/qNbLwJbZ)

[OregonBill]

As only four images are allowed per post, here is a fifth -- of the lock.

https://i.postimg.cc/bDFb2P8c/image-67176449-1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/bDFb2P8c)

[Harry Gaul]

I bought a Zouave in 1971, and it had a regular mainspring. The Zouave was a Zoli. To me the coil spring is a later version. When did coil springs become the norm and not the exception?

Harry in Pa.
forney's
03626v

[OregonBill]

Harry, this is the first and only Zouave lock I have seen with a coil mainspring. I am baffled.

[CAGerringer]

F A R A was an Italian manufacturer owned by one of the Zoli brothers. It has all the appropriate Proof marks...so, at least you can shoot it.
Charlie Gerringer
Old Dominion Dragoons

[OregonBill]

Charlie, thank you. Somewhere I read that FARA was an early consortium of smallish Italian gunmakers that included the Zoli brothers before they became the Zoli we know. Still puzzled by that coil-spring lock.

[Scott Lynch 1460V]

I got one of these in a trade, not knowing about the lock. Once I took the lock off and realized what it was. A really cheap repro of a repro. The lockplate was about as thick as a piece of paper and the workmanship was lousy. Stick with the really early ones from the 1960's. A member of my team has a Navy Arms zouave lockplate dated 1961. Really thick lockplate, real black walnut stock, hard to tell the difference between that and my original. As the late Charlie Smithgall said, "you never have to apologize for buying guality".

[Joseph Plakis Jr, 00302V]

I joined the N-SSA in 1965. One of the men who was on my team at that time had a Zouave that had a coil spring in his lock. He constantly complained about caps not going off consistently . At the next national shoot in Winchester, VA he purchased a coil spring for that lock. It worked for a year or so & he had the same problem. He then purchased a Zoli lock that had a normal main spring. It worked fine from that point on.
I would suggest buying a replacement Zoli lock.
Joe Plakis Jr
Hampton Legion
00302V

[Carolina Reb]

I think everybody in northern Italy was making Zouaves and Sharps in the 1970s and 80s. The Navys, EOA and Zolis were always good, but there was some real junk too. You could mail order a Zouave for under $90, and you didn't get what you paid for! I was fixing a lot of muskets for reenactors back then and saw some awful stuff. One of the worst had the super thin lock plate and inside everything was miniature derringer parts. It would barely set off a cap. Luckily the bad ones seem to have disappeared.

[Keith Williams]

Don't forget Korea and Japan...Furthermore, you could buy them through Sears. Lol!

Keith A. Williams
15th. Reg VA Vol Cav

The day of the cavalry has passed but the dedication, valor, cunning and spirit of that service will live forever. How the color yellow ever became associated with cowardice is vague; it certainly came not from the cavalry "Yellowlegs." - Richard Mann - The Cavalry - S.L. May-June 1976

[OregonBill]

Well the lock plate, at .160, is far from paper thin.

[Dave Cole]

Keith,
I have a Sears Zouave and it was made by Zoli.

Dave Cole

[Keith Williams]

Interesting Dave, what time period did you order it '60's - '70's? Does it have the coil spring also...were you able to change it out?

Information is a good thing, take care.

Keith A. Williams
15th. Reg VA Vol Cav

[Dave Cole]

this one I got from a fellow competitor and has. a standard spring. I will check the proof mark and find out what year it was made.

Dave

[RaiderANV]

Had an identical lock on a Zouave marked Made In Spain. 1965 Spanish date code of K*1.