SAVAGE SMOKELESS MUZZLELOADER

[JRS]

I first started muzzleloading using a Traditions Pursuit in line, just to see if it appealed to me. Well, I got the bug and a few years ago decided to get a Savage. I have no regrets at all. Accuracy is great, clean up is a breeze, and a pound of 4759 powder goes a long way when you are only using 42 grains (by weight) for each shot. My gun is stainless with a synthetic stock. The only thing I would like to change is the balance. It is front heavy with a synthetic stock. In hindsight, I probably should have gotten the laminate stock - it gave a more balanced feel, but also added weight to an already fairly heavy gun.

There is a wealth of info on the Savage forum on how to trick out your gun or enhance performance (much like the Excalibur forum). I tried all kinds of bullet, sabot, and powder combinations, and ended up shooting the recommended load from the owner's manual. I am going to order some Elite HPs from Epps though, just to give it a whirl. At $7/ doz. it is worth a try.

In Ontario, our regulations make no distinction between smokeless and black powder. They are simply classed as muzzleloaders, which must be loaded from the muzzle end.

[FredBear]

I have the stainless with laminate Savage. I LOVE it! The only draw back to me is the weight. It is one heavy gun, but you can shoot 300 yards with a 3 inch group once you find the load your gun likes. I took two deer last year at about 250 yards I feel comfortable even farther. I got a set of shooting sticks to go with it, and i'm very happy with that set up. I wanted the bi-pod attached, but the extra weight on a already heavy gun didn't seem like a good idea. From everything I read last year before I bought mine it is a scope killer! So do your research on a scope before you slap one on that will break after 50 shots. I went with a Burris. First time using a Burris product, and I can't say a bad thing about them. So if you can handle a heavy gun, and are willing to find the right scope then I say BUY IT!

[Esox]

Wow, I have to look further into it and let you folks know, but evidently was I way off base. Smokeless powders are not allowed in my state (New Jersey) and they are very firm about that, but according to a chart I just found online from Traditions Muzzleloader there are a bunch of states (I think it was 27 +/-) that evidently don't have "restrictions" on powder type for muzzleloaders... I'm assuming that they are talking about variations of black powder (Triple 7, American, etc) but they may also include smokeless, but you all know how convoluted state regs are, so I will follow-up on this and as a FYI let you know....

[Esox]

FYI- The Traditions Muzzleloader chart (www.MuzzleloadingRegs.pdf) is interesting to read and though I didn't ground truth all of the states, what I found for the states I hunt (NJ,OH, NM,CO,PA,TENN) was accurate for the powder restrictions (or none)....Places like Colorado and New Mexico came out and stated no smokeless powder allowed during muzzlerloading season... Others like Tennesse said very little except no breech loaders, but that still leaves a lot of states (24) with restrictions of some type....

Bottomline for me is, I found out that the Savage ML 10 does have it's place in the field and I now might reconsider taking her on a trip...

Thanks guys for the thread...