Remington Model 1863 Zouave

About the Remington Model 1863 Zouave

The Remington Model 1863 Zouave is a .58 caliber percussion muzzleloading rifle produced by the Remington Arms Company of Ilion, New York during the American Civil War. Firing the Minié ball, it features a 33-inch rifled barrel, a black walnut fullstock, a color case-hardened percussion lock, brass barrel bands and nose cap, a two-leaf rear sight, and a saber bayonet lug. Widely regarded as one of the best made and most attractive Civil War long arms, roughly 12,500 were delivered under government contract, though the great majority were never issued to troops and remained in arsenals.

Often called 'the rifle without a soldier,' the Model 1863 Zouave was delivered to Union arsenals but apparently never issued in combat. Surviving rifles were sold off as surplus after the war, and their pristine condition made them prized among collectors and the basis for one of the most widely produced modern muzzleloader reproductions.

Remington Model 1863 Zouave specifications

The 'Zouave' nickname was applied largely by later collectors, associating the ornate brass-fitted rifle with the flamboyant Zouave volunteer regiments; there is little documentary evidence the rifles were actually issued to Zouave units.