Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	SHOTGUN -  BELGIAN SHOTGUN MODEL 1857/67 "ZULU" 12 GAUGE
Maker/Manufacturer:	FABRIQUE D'ARMES DE LIEGE
Date of Manufacture:	C 1885
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 8140
Measurements:	OL:127CM 50" BL: 83.8CM 33"

Object Description:

BELGIAN SHOTGUN MODEL 1857/67 "ZULU" 12GA
Made in France, converted in Belgium - Originally a French military percussion muzzleloading rifle-musket, M1857, converted to breechloading rifle in 1867 with the "Tabatiere" system (similar to Snider) then bore reamed out to smoothbore and halfstocked and sold surplus on the African trade. Weapon has an overall length of 50" and a barrel length of 33". Ramrod channel filled in, half-stocked, one barrel band. Complete and in good condition as a "Zulu" shotgun.

Markings:
Barrel: ZULU.
Lock: MRE. IMP/DE ST. ETIENNE.

Weapon donated to the Springfield Armory NHS by Tufts University (Victor A. Friend Collection) on 3 August 1979.

Notes: Sold mainly to natives in East Africa in order to harass the British. The French conversion closely resembled the Snider.

Friend's # 11-9 "Zulu Shotgun. With the advent of the breech loading guns many older guns were rebuilt and a breech block added to use more modern ammunition. This 'mongrel' gun was remade in Belgium from an old French musket made at St. Etienne, France, and with the breech adapted to use a Snyder type breech block. Chambered to take the 12 gage shot gun shell.
Thousands of these guns were sold to the natives in the Colonial possessions of various European countries."

Notes: "SPAR-8140 - ZULU - 12 guage -This gun was created from a French Army musket by a Belgian gun maker. The trade name ZULU was registered in Belgium December 23, 1885 by Fabrique D'Armes De Liege. They also made guns of this type marked HUNTER, GREENBACK, BUSHMAN, and KAFFIR" - Joseph T. Vorisek

"The Zulu Shotgun by Konrad F. Schreier, Jr. American arms catalogs of the 1880s and 1890s often list a single shot, breechloading shotgun called the 'Zulu.' It was usually prices from $3.000 to $4.00, a fraction of the price of any other breechloading shotgun at the time.
Zulu shotguns are found on the collectors market, but they are generally held in low regard. A prime specimen will usually bring less, and sometimes much less, than $50.00. Perhaps the Zulu would be more appreciated if its unusual history was better known.
The Zulu's story goes back to the end of the muzzleloading era, and is a part of the beginning of the metallic cartridge era. It began when the French Army adopted a new muzzleloading 17.8mm (cal..70) rifle, the Model of 1857, which fired the famous Minie bullet. This rifle was produced in large numbers until the mid-1860s.
By this time the American Civil War had proven breechloading metallic cartridge firearms were completely practical, so by the mid-1860s many countries with large stock of good muzzleloading rifles were looking for ways to convert them to breechloaders.
One of the first muzzle-to-breech loader conversions adopted with the famous Enfield muzzleloader. The conversion was invented by Jacob Snider, Jr. an American.
Although the French Army adopted the newly made Chassepot breechloading single shot rifle in 1866, they were still seeking a breechloading conversion system for their muzzleloading rifles. In 1867 the French decided to convert their Model 1857 muzzleloaders, using the same Snider system the British used: they even adopted a cartridge based on the Boxer type the British used in their Snider conversions.
The French called their Snider conversion the 'Fusil Transforme Modele 1867' (converted Rifle Model 1867.) It first a short, fat centerfire 17.8mm (cal..70) metallic cartridge. It was said to have been a simple, serviceable rifle.
The British Snider and French Model 1867 converted rifles have practically identical actions, and work the same way. To load, the hammer is halfcocked and the breechblock turned open, the cartridge is loading into the chamber, and the breech closed. Then the gun is ready to be full-cocked and fired. To unload, the hammer is again half-cocked; the breech is opened and the breechblock is pulled to the rear to extract the case. The case must then be picked out of the breech recess since the action only has an extractor, and not ejector to pop the case out of the gun.In fact, the Snider system worked well enough that British colonial troops were still using them at the time of World War I.
At first, the French Model 1857 Snider seems to have been well liked. It earned the nickname 'fusil tanatiere' - in English 'snuffbox' - because its action worked something like a snuffbox. However, when the French lost the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, they placed much of the blame for their failure, rightly or wrongly, on their weapons. They quickly replaced practically all of them, including the Model 1867 converted rifles.
By the end of the 1870s large quantities of older French arms were on the war surplus market. Since there were much better rifles on the market by then, the Model 1867 converted rifles were not hot sellers; there was so little market for them that they could be had for practically nothing.
Then a gunmaker from the group which later formed the famous FN Arms Company had an idea of a way to use the cheap French Model 1867 conversions. They were reamed from 17.8mm (cal..70) rifles into 12 gauge (cal..73) smoothbores, a job that took little more than removing the rifling. They they were rechambered for 12 gauge shotshells. The rifle sights were removed and a front bead shotgun sight installed. The full length military stock forends were cut off to sporter length. And, last but not least, they were refinished, during which practically all the French military markings on the gun and lockplate were ground and polished off. Then the required Belgian proof marks were applied. The result was a well finished 12 gauge shotgun which retailed on the American market for $3.00 to $4.00.
Where the name 'Zulu' came from is something of a mystery. It may have come from the British Colonial Zulu War of 1879 which attracted much public notice at the time, and in which British Snider conversions were used. The gun was also sold in America under the names 'Kaffir', 'Greenback,' 'Hunter,' and, infrequently, 'Snider.' In Europe they were called the 'Tabatiere' shotgun after the nickname for the Model 1867 converted rifle from which they were made. All of these names were the same conversion, and they were sold throughout the world.
The shell fired in practically all of them were the now obsolete 2 inch 12 gauge. However, there was enough metal in the Zulu that a very few dealers listed them also in 10 gauge (cal..775)!!. Whatever their caliber, the short Snider action could only be loaded with a short shot shell.
It is believed that all the Zulu shotguns were converted in Belgium and they sold in America beginning in the early 1880s. However, their popularity in the U.S.A. was short lived. When they were introduced, the Zulus were the cheapest breechloading shotgun on the market, but in the late 1890s the American single-shot top break shotgun's price came down to under $5.00, and they were better guns than the Zulus.
Although the Zulu was not sold in America after about 1900, it was sold elsewhere until World War I. When the Germans overran Belgium in 1914 its production ended.
The Zulu is probably the only example of a muzzleloading rifle converted into a breechloading rifle, and then again converted into a breechloading shotgun. A converted conversion. It was used in American long after World War I. It was a serviceable gun for anybody who could not afford anything fancier." - THE GUN REPORT, October, 1987.

"THE ZULU SHOTGUN by James B. Hughes. ZULU - a name the conjures up two images. The first and the source of the original name was a tribe of African natives who lived (strangely enough) in Zululand, just north of Natal, on the southeast coast of Africa. These Zulus were a highly organized military society that was removed as an impediment to further colonization by the British Empire during the Zulu War (25 September 1877 - 2 December 1879). That tidbit of history determines the source of the name. The second image is that of a 'single barrel shotgun of neither historical interest nor collective demand...widely manufactured and commonly enWith this introduction, let us examine a contemporary description of the Zulu. The E.C. Meacham Arms Company of St. Louis, Missouri, offered the Zulu shotgun for sale in the late 1880s. The Zulu was headlined as a 'single breech-loader' in 12 gauge. The advertising copy expanded on this meager description: 'A Safe, strong and close-shooter. To load, the hammer must be raised to half-cock, the breech-block brought over by the thumb from left to right. The extractor is attached to the breech-block. By pulling the block backwards,the cartridge case is extracted. There is a spiral spring that takes the block back into position. This weapon makes an admirable Boy's or Farmer's Gun, and fills a long-felt want for a good breechloader at a moderate price. 12 gauge, 7 1/2 pounds, 33 inch. Uses regular brass or paper shells.' The moderate price for first quality 'Zulu-Berdan(s)' was $3.53 each, and brass shells were offered at $4.00 per hundred.
How could this shotgun be offered at a retail price of only $3.53? To answer this, we must look to the European military armament programs of the period. In the year 1857, France adopted the Minie System of 1857, a series of rifled percussion muskets of 17.8mm bore diameter. As muzzle loaders became obsolete, various methods of converting them into modern breech loaders were invented. In France, a variation of the then-current British method (patented by an American, Jacob Snider, Jr., of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, No. 69,941 granted 15 October 1867) was adopted as the System of 1867. This conversion to breech loading was accomplished by cutting off the breech portion of the barrel and fitting the remaining barrel to a new breech unit (or receiver) which operated as described above. The breech/barrel assembly was replaced in the existing musket stock and issued as a 17.8mm breech loading rifle to French soldier not armed with the Model 1866 Chassepot needle rifle.
Three of the four patterns of the System of 1857 Minie arms were altered; many of these conversions saw service during the Franco-Prussian War (15 July 1870 - 10 May 1871). The French soldier quickly described the conversion as 'a tabatiere,' or, as a 'snuff box,' presumably due to the hinged 'lid' or breech block. Stockbridge, in his digest of patents, classes this action as 'swinging on longitudinal pin.' Some of these 'Tabatiere' rifles were produced under siege conditions during the Franco-Prussian War; they are easily recognized by the brass or bronze breech blocks, made from church bells sent to the foundry and cast into small arms parts. After the defeat suffered in the war, the French government launched a rearmament program that resulted in the adoption of the System of 1874, or Gras, single shot bolt action rifles and carbines. Massive serial production of the 11mm Gras arms resulted in quantities of surplus System of 1857 and System of 1867 arms that were sold off as obsolete. The majority of these outdated military weapons ended up in Belgium, then the world center of gun makers.
The Belgian arms makers had many thousands of these obsolete rifles and no apparent market for them. Across the Atlantic, by the 1880s, the westward expansion of the United States was in full force. Farmers, homesteaders, ranchers and others all had either the need or the desire for a shotgun to put meat on the table on to protect their home. A large market existed and the product to fill this demand could be made from these surplus parts.
In Liege, Belgium, a company founded in 1842 was ready, Antoine Betrand & Fils, or Rue Fabry, 25 (Telegraphic Address: Revolver - Liege), advertised themselves as manufacture of 'deluxe arms,' military arms and arms for export. Their two factories had a combined annual capacity of 100,000 arms. By 1886, Betrand & Fils were dealers in military surplus in addition to manufacturers. Medals and/or Diplomas of Honor were awarded to them at exposiOn page seven of the Betrand & Fils catalog, we find a listing of 'Marques de Fabrique,' or trademarks and trade names registered under Belgian law. The second trade name listed is none other than 'The Zulu.' On page 12, we find the advertising copy for a line of 'New center fire guns for hunting cartridges.' This bit of puffery appears in seven languages. One, of course, is English, intended for the North American market. 'These new guns are at an excessive advantageous price. They are of very easy handling, of an experimental solidity, of a great precision of firing and of a complete security for the hunter. They are made only for the cartridges respectively indicated for each of them.'
Betrand & Fils stock number 6000 is the Zulu. This shotgun is illustrated on page 13 and is offered only in 16 gauge. The illustrations, engraved by Gordinne of Liege from a line drawing, bears the notation 'Patent Dec 21st 1885.' This is the date of registration of the Zulu trade name. On the same page, a similar arm is offered in 12 gauge as 'The Hunter.' with a 'patent' date of 6 February, 1885. The Hunter shotgun is stock number 6020. On page 55 of the same catalog, the military issue System of 1867 (Tabatiere) rifle is illustrated as stock numbers 315) and 3152. For the record, there is a slight difference in the drawings between the breech actions of the Zulu and the Hunter, but none are evident between the Zulu and the Tabatiere.
Bertrand & Fils took their military surplus 17.8mm or .70 calibre rifled arms and bored the barrels smooth to 12 gauge (or .73 calibre). The 16 gauge bores (or .662 calibre) were reamed from .577 to .58 calibre barrels and fitted to an existing Tabatiere breech. Each barrelled action, now a smooth bore, was chambered for the appropriate cartridge and submitted to the Liege proof house. The proof load for those of 12 gauge was 308 grains of black powder with a 493 lead ball; the 16 gauge guns were tested with 231 grains of black powder and a 370 grain lead ball. After proofing, the barrelled actions were returned to the factory for stocking work. As these shotguns were processed by the Bertrand gunmakers, the military sights were removed, a front bead shotgun (shotgun) sight was added, the stocks were shortened and the cleaning rod channel was filled. Markings were applied and the entire firearm was then refinished. This resulted in the new gun for hunting cartridges described on page 12 of the catalog. Most of the Zulu shotguns examined have had all the earlier French military markings removed and carry only the trade name, Zulu, and the required markings of the Liege proof house.
The export market in America supported this conversion of sporting arms from surplus military weapons until the advent of the inexpensive single shot American manufactured shotgun during the 1890s. In addition to the retail sales by E.C. Meacham Arms Co., the Zulu was offered by Sears, Roebuck & Co. of Chicago, Illinois, in their 1897 catalog (No. 104) for $3.40 each. The Zulu was assigned stock number 871 1/2 and the catalog virtually repeated the Meacham advertising copy. Of course, the $3.40 price tag was 'our special price.' The shotgun offered was described as 'our Genuine Zulu,' indicating that the Zulu, by 1897, was famous enough to inspire imitations. The bargain Zulu does not appear in the Fall 1900 Sears catalog. Its American competition was in full production, with single shot shotguns being offered at $5.56 and up.
Francis Bannerman of New York City may have been the importer of the Zulus supplied to Sears, for as soon as Sears dropped the Zulu from the catalog, it appeared in a Bannerman flyer, circa 1900. Sales efforts by Bannerman are evident at Sears because in 1897 they cataloged both the Spencer repeating (pump) shotgun ($17.85), and surplus United StatMany other dealers offered the genuine Zulu, i.e., the Betrand & Fils product, and imitations abounded under trade names like Hunter and Saxon. There were sold from catalogs and by mail through advertisements in magazines with national circulations in rural America, the buying public who might very well require 'a very strong and durable gun for general purposes.'
The world-wide export market continued to absorb these inexpensive sporting arms after the American market was lost. Production of the Zulu ended with the German army's occupation of Liege in August 1914, and the subsequent closing of the various firearms factories. To give an example of the vast quantities of military arms for conversion, the Adolf Frank Export Company (Alfa) in Hamburg, Germany, offered almost 5,000 of the System of 1857 Minie rifles (still percussion muzzle loaders) for sale in 1911 at a price of $4.60. This shotgun was stock number ECF 33, assigned the cable code order word 'Tabatkau,' a reference to its origin as a Tabatiere. This example featured a pistol grip stock, indicating that either a new stock had been fitted or that a pistol grip had been inlet into the original military stock. No quantity on hand is indicated; therefore we must assume that production was continuing in Belgium to meet the demand, some 44 years after the French government began their program of breech loading conversions.
Some dating of examples could be determined from the proof marks, i.e, those applied under the law of 16 June 1853 only or those marked under the law of 24 May, 1888, which required the marking of the gauge inside a diamond. Those imported into the United States after the passage of the McKinley Tariff in 1892 should be marked 'Belgium' or 'Made in Belgium.'
Are these firearms of historical interest? Yes, if one considers their military use, first as muzzle loaders and then as breech loaders. One should also remember their service in the hands of those 'Boys' and 'Farmers' who settled the American West. But despite this colorful past, Zulus are rarely of interest to collectors; they all seem to have seen long, hard service and surviving examples are almost invariably in poor condition.
The Zulu shotgun was widely manufactured for about 30 years. In fact, so many were made that an original, 'as issued' System of 1867 Tabatiere is difficult to locate today. Zulus are so commonly encountered because they were the shotgun of the common man. They all appear to have been made in Belgium, mostly by Betrand & Fils of Liege; so American authors who refer to 'cheap copies...made abroad' seemed to have missed the point. This is one case where copies would actually have been more expensive than the genuine article." - MAN AT ARMS, Sept./Oct. 1993

"During the 1880s, many obsolete .50-70 Model 1865 and Model 1866 Trapdoor Springfields were converted by replacing the barrel and cutting the fore-end to half its length. These ultra-cheap 12- or 16-bore conversions were supplemented out on the Frontier by 12-bore 'Zulu' guns - ex-French Tabatiere breechloaders purchased in Europe after the Franco-Prussian War." - Walter

References:
Walter, John. THE GUNS THAT WON THE WEST: FIREARMS ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER, 1848-1898. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 1999.