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Allen Griggs
westernMDhunter
Member Posts: 2,938 ✭✭✭
You helped me out last year when I bought a Savage 10ML muzzleloader when my primers were jamming in the bolt and it would not open. Thanks again. Now I am going to switch over to use the smokeless powder in it instead of pyrodex pellets. Can you help me out? I need to know what brand powder you shoot, how much, which bullet and sabot combination do you use. Also what do you use to measure smokeless powder for your muzzleloder, digital scale, powder measure, or something else. I'm ready to unleash the full power of this amazing rifle and your help would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
Your name will be Grasshopper.
Well, the reason I am so smart about the Savage is because I have learned a lot from this forum:
http://dougva.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=Savage
But I have fired two or three hundred rounds in the Savage and I have killed 3 deer with it, including last year, the biggest deer I ever shot, and I have killed about 80 whitetails.
I use one of the classic Savage powders, Vihtavouri N110. I use 43 grains. I shoot the Hornady 250 SST. I also have killed a deer with the Hornady 250 XTP. With the 250 SST I use the supplied sabot, with the XTP I buy sabots from MMP.
I weigh the powder on a RCBS 502. This is a cheapo, about $50. If you want to really get into the Savage you should get a scale.
I like to buy top quality tools, and the little 502 is simply not a top quality tool, it is rather primitive, but the damn little thing is accurate. It works well.
Now a lot of guys just scoop powder and do quite well. If you want to do that you need to get AA5744. It works real well with the scoop. I have three of these yellow colored Lee scoops, each a different size. Do you have those? I think they came with my Savage.
The AA5744 is one of the milder powders. The Vihtavouri N110 is a medium hot powder.
See I am getting about 2,300 fps with a 250 gr slug. Some of the gearheads over on Doug's forum are getting 2,600 fps, and even more! That is some unbelievable foot pounds, I don't know, those guys must have cast iron shoulders. If you want to get this maximum performance, you need to go over to Doug's forum and talk to the pros.
The guys over there are very friendly to newbies and they are the most knowledgable Savage shooters in the world. The guys who invented the Savage drop by on that forum from time to time.
With the 5744 2,300 fps with a 250 gr slug would be about the most you could get, but don't get me wrong, plenty of guys settle in with a nice mild load of about 2,100 fps, they scoop their AA5744, and they are shooting accurately, they don't have to mess with a scale, and they slay the deer every fall.
Also I must warn you that guys have been having trouble with the 250 SST and 250 XTP blowing up when hitting the shoulder of a real big deer.
I took a 120 pound buck a year ago on a shoulder shot with the 250 SST and he dropped in his tracks but any deer over 150 pounds I would stay away from the shoulder. My buck last year was 200 pounds on the hoof and I made a lung shot and it was devastating, that was the SST.
One of the most consistently accurate slugs for the Savage is the 250 XTP. You need the .452 cal, don't buy the 240 gr with the green sabot, no good for the Savage.
Buy a box of 100 of the .452 250 XTP from Cabelas, then contact MMP and tell them what you are doing, they will get you the proper sabot.
This is the cheapest load you can shoot in your Savage, and a very accurate load. See the 250 XTP is a pistol bullet and you can buy it in a box of 100 with no sabots, this is why it is so cheap. This will give you something to take to the range and get dialed in, and, don't get me wrong, plenty of deer drop every year with the 250 XTP and 42 grains of 5744.
One trick the gearheads over on Doug's forum are doing to get through the shoulder of big deer is to use the 300 XTP, it holds up lots better than the other two.
Also lots of guys are using the Barnes copper bullets, they will go through the shoulder of any deer. But cost a buck apiece or more, too expensive for me.
You may know someone who gets good performance with the 250 XTP or 250 SST with an Omega or a Knight. The difference is, the Savage is cranking out the bullet so much faster that it is more likely to disintegrate.
If you are just interested in mild performance, you could settle in with 2,100 fps with the 5744 and you could probably do quite well with the 250 XTP or 250 SST, that speed is so low by Savage standards that you probably would not get bullet blow up.
Good luck and let me know if I can help you further.