Nothing has caused such an uproar in the muzzleloader industry as the introduction of the Savage smokeless powder burning muzzleloader. New ideas generally bring new fears and the Savage brought many. Fears of guns blowing up, fears of DNR closing muzzleloader seasons, fears of hunters now taking yard shots were but a few.

Savage 10ML ii stock upgrade ?

After ignoring the entire Savage issue for as long as I could, I decided to give a call to Savage and get a test gun so I could report first hand my experience. They sent me a pair; one with the Accu trigger and one without. I have shot just over shots out of the pair of laminated wood stock stainless steel barrels and here are my thoughts.

On most burn rate charts there are between and powders listed. These powders are numbered fastest to slowest from number one up.

Depending on the burn rate chart you use, the Savage functions between the numbers 40 to We focused our testing on Vihtavuori N and N, IMR SR and Accurate Arms XMP These represent burn rate chart ratings of 40, 52, 46 and 47 respectively. Using between 40 and 48 grains of any of these powders combined with the Winchester resulted in instant ignition every shot.

In any load development situation, certain powders will shine better than others in a particular firearm.

S-T RIFLE STOCKS Accessories | Numrich Gun Parts

The Savage owner's job is to find the powder that works best with his particular gun with the bullets that he intends to use. I have not shot enough with any one powder to make a single powder recommendation. Any of the four powders listed above, N, N, and gave a full range of velocities with a wide range of bullets weights and ZERO MISFIRES. Much has been written regarding. We have no idea who started this theory or what their motives were for starting it but I can tell you that our testing could not substantiate that claim.

Our testing included Dead Center bullets in. We went from gr.. Higher velocities and a quicker twist inside the barrel 1: Of my two 10ML-II, one shoots the very best using the gr. Much has been written regarding MMP high pressure.

In our testing, we achieved the same results with all diameters of MMP sabot. We also achieved the same results with any of the MMP. The shooter should be aware that "Sabot Failure" is achieved when the base is blown out of the sabot creating a donut effect. The shearing of sabot petals is not an indication of sabot failure, as some sabots including our.

The new Magnum Sub Base from MMP is designed to fit under the sabot.

Our experience using the MSB has resulted in improved accuracy and lower standard deviations. We do not load our Savage without the MSB. Depending who does the writing, vent liner replacement is recommended anywhere from 80 to shots. I do not have any first hand experience with the concept of Vent Liner erosion as neither of my guns has required a change. My shooting routine with the Savage is to do nothing between shots. I do not brush it, I do not swab it.

Accuracy holds using this routine for about 90 shots. At that time, I remove the breach plug and brush the barrel with Brake Clean and a brass shotgun brush. Five minutes later, the gun is back together and accuracy is where it was before. This, to me, is the most amazing aspect of the entire smokeless powder concept.

The Savage 10MLBSS-II Muzzleloading Rifle

Nothing to do but shoot the gun. No clean, no fuss, no muss. The breach plug pops out with a twist of your wrist. No worry about fouling or crud rings. Henry Ball, the inventor of the smokeless muzzleloader that Savage builds under license, did a wonderful job of designing the gun.

Savage, on the other hand, falls a little short on building the gun.

The recoil lug of the receiver does not touch the stock. Some stocks miss touching the recoil lug by as much as. This means that the gun does not recoil utilizing the recoil lug but rather on the two action screws. You know your gun also suffers from this problem if your Savage shoots left and right.

My Accu Trigger Savage would move almost 2" horizontally as it was supplied from the factory with any load and any bullet.

For a pillar bedded gun to be a pillar bedded gun, the pillar must protrude both above and below the stock. When the action screws are tightened, the receiver is pulled onto the top of the pillars and not into the wood. In theory, the pillar bedded guns will never move in the stock and will not change point of impact as the wood stock expands and contracts.

The Savage pillars are below the surface on both the top and bottom of the stock. They are not pillars; they are simply metal pipes inside the stock that the screws pass through. They sound great in advertising copy but have no functional use the way Savage installs them. The simplest way to correct this problem is to drill out the Savage pipes and replace them with a proper length pillar to achieve the pillar bedded advantage.

The method Savage currently uses to make the 10ML-II utilizes the rear guard screw to also act as the bolt stop screw. To clean the gun, you must remove the bolt. To do that, you must remove the rear guard screw. Once you do that, your action is no longer held securely in the stock. Why not install a third screw to hold the receiver in place so removal of the bolt stop screw will not effect the positioning of the gun in the stock?

Information about the Smokeless Powder Capable Savage 10ML II

I guess I just do not understand why Savage, who has the exclusive manufacturing rights to the most trouble free, most potentially accurate muzzleloader ever designed, would stop a couple of bucks short of building the best muzzleloader the world has ever known.

The Savage 10ML-II is potentially the most powerful, most accurate, most trouble-free muzzleloader commercially available. Out of the box it is easily a 2 MOA muzzleloader. Once tweaked, the Savage is clearly in a league of it's own. Smokeless powder in muzzleloaders is a radical concept that will never appeal to everyone but I will tell you that there will always be room for a Savage in my muzzleloader collection.

The Savage 10ML-II makes every other commercial muzzleloader just a muzzleloader.