Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Savage Muzzleloader-Smokeless Powder

Has anyone ever used this type of muzzleloader? The main questions I have are how it shoots, ranges, and accuracy.

buy one you wont regret

I load mine on the low end around 1900 fps. Still out to 250 yards with a 290 grain barnes hold dead center on a whitetail and you have a dead deer. Every load I have tried shoots amazing. Ragged holes for groups.No recoil easy cleanup well worth the money.

What he said.

What kind of powder is best and how many grains

We all know you can't put a lot of faith in Toby, but there might be a little truth in this. Maybe not. Who knows for sure?

http://www.namlhunt.com/muzzleloaderlies.html

Are you shooting the Barnes MZ or the TMZ 290

What is your opinion concerning this muzzleloader

Does anyone really think in this day and age of sue for anything that savage would market this gun if there were problems? I will not share all my feelings on Toby Bridges. Will say this though he was at one time a huge fan of the savage. He was very well known for pushing the safety envelop of the gun. He tested and recommended all kinds of crazy loads including duplex and even triplex loads. If anyone was gonna blow up a gun it was going to be him. None the supposed problems came to light until after his relationship with savage ended. It would seem he has an ax to grind. I could type a lot bunch more.

I agree with you, but is the gun still being made?

Is any smokeless ML being made?

Just asking. I don't follow it too much, because it's not legal here.

I am shooting the TMZ in a MMP high pressure sabot. Load it over 44 grains of 5744.

The savage was discontinued. But due to demand they have continued making them. Originally they had a big disclaimer when they brought them back that there would only be one or two more runs. Now they are standard item no disclaimer. Other option for smokeless is the Bad Bull Muzzleloader. Very expensive but a great gun as well.

Something to think about. I could load it with BP for ML season, and use smokeless for rifle season.

I think. I'll have to check on using smokeless powder. Generally, you use anything in rifle seasons here.

Savage is still making them.

Or I can put one together for you. Or Bad Bull, SMI, Swinglock, even Hart I think.

In my opinion, smokeless is as good as it gets when it comes to muzzle loading. Minimal cleaning required. No smoke. Great accuracy and terminal performance. I understand some people do muzzle loading for the smoke and cleaning, and I totally understand that, but it's not for me!

Here's a post I put together for another thread last night:



I recently put this one together for a customer. It weighs 7# 13oz as shown in a McMillan HTG stock. This is definitely on the lighter end for the bolt action variety. Some of the 45/70 conversions that guys do are lighter.


It shot ok too:
Shots 4 & 7 were when I got the barrel too warm. At smokeless pressures, sabots become very sensitive to barrel heat.

Shot 1 @ t=0hrs
Shot 6 @ t=12 hrs
Shot 8 @ t=24 hrs
to give you an idea of cold bore consistency.



Here's one my brother took at 175 yards. Prone off of his back pack. I had spooked it out of a draw too him. He mouth bleated it to a stop in the middle of a corn field. No time to range, but he new it was less than 200 yards, so he put it right on the button. Perfect shot and the 195 grain expander never fails!

I'll get in touch later. I'm going to go ahead and still hunt the timber this year like i've been doing all my life.

Next year I want to try some long range big game hunting before I get too old to try something new. The only hunting i've done long range is coyotes with CF guns. I want to hunt big game long range with a ML.

I couldn't use smokeless in ML season, but i'm fine with using it in rifle season with a ML. that actually puts me at a disadvantage to the CF guns. I like that.

Why didn't I think of this before? Do they really recoil less? At 70 years old. I'm getting sensitive to recoil.

Yes, they do recoil less, they shoot great, the laminated stock models are a tad heavy. I'm pushing 70 also, and I have no problem shooting mine. I have one for sale on the fire in the classifieds if your looking. Always had a backup, now I only need one.

Wow,that looks just like a Remington 700. Don't you have to have a rod?

Collapsible 3 piece rod that is carried in a sheath. Go to smokelessmz.com and click on the ramrod video. Pretty slick set up with the rod. Also any Rem 700 short action stock can be used on the 700ML. If you go with BDL stock you will just need bottom metal. The BDL stock makes a nice little storage compartment to hold sabot/bullet.

Where can I get a price for a 50cal complete gun and information pertaining to its performance?