Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Really frustrated with Savage ML 10 -II

Wow - thanks for all the info guys! I had NO idea that I needed to wait as long between shots or things would fall apart like this.

Bar Hunter - the 4" groups with BH209 were with Barnes T-EZ bullets. That's all I tried so it's quite possible it simply didn't like those bullets / sabots. That was also basically loading them and firing them very briskly and it was with the old breech plug and ventliner which was replaced.

I have a couple more I can try with the BH 209 this weekend. I have some 300g SST and 250g shockwaves I can try with BH209. I was really hoping to hunt with it Sunday and I suppose if it can do reasonable with either the SST or Shockwave, that will be fine until my MMP Sabots and other bullets arrive along wit the 4759.

Savage test fired my gun with MMP Sabots, 250g .452 XTP, 209 primers and 42g of 4759.

Ok, good luck.

The largest problem is his bore size, he needs to first find a sabot and a bullet to suck up the space provided then move to the powders. I think his bore is lager and yet he stated he is using sabots and bullets know to be smaller?....Counterintuitive.

If it were me I would first slug the barrel and measure it out then move from there.

In my CVA I have a slugged measured .503 barrel so because of this I use a MMB HPH/12 sabot and a larger .453 250 grain T/C Shcockwave (Hornady 250 SST) bullet coupled with 120 grains of BH209 and a CCI 209M Primer. She loads a bit tight but shoots 3 shot MOA at 100 yards so who cares.

In my Knight it has a slugged measured .5025 barrel and it likes Harvestor black Crush Rib sabot, 250 grain Hornady .453 bullets, 120 grains BH209, and CCI 209M primer.

Using EZ load sabots is not good, especially for smokeless. If it were me, and saying this from no actual experience in the Savage, if I were to start some where and through money at it I would pick up a bag of MMP HPH/12 sabots and some 250-300'sh grain bullets of your choice, some Hornady .453, some .451 Scorpion PT Golds, or even some .452 Barnes bullets. That will give you .003 variance just in the bullet differences. Then play with some of the sabots. You could also move to a .458 bullet and run a tighter .452 MMP black crush rib sabot as was posted pervious.

MOST Savage MLIIs run on the loose side. Mine did not but it still would not shoot the EZ load sabots or the crushribs as well as a tighter sabot.

If you have some 50cal bullets like the 50/300gr FTX its easy to tell. If the 50cal FTX will drop down your bore its a looser model. The 50/300gr FTX runs really close to .501. They would not start in mine.

I could shoot the MMP short in mine with a 250gr but they were a bear to load. Mine liked loaded sabots in the .505-507 range the best. Anything under .504 would not shoot very well with a couple exceptions. The Harvester smooth black for under 300gr bullets would sometimes shoot ok WITH a .452 300gr bullet.

Problem was the heat and the stock sabots..........get better sabots and wait till the barrel is cool or make a barrel cooler and you will find the gun shoots better............

Definitely a learning experience for me fellas I will update what I find this weekend and next.

go to Dougs Message Boards/ Savage smokeless muzzleloading and learn all there is to know about the savage, more info than you can digest in a month.
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I started and ended with the MMP, 250 XTP, and 5744 in both a Savage and a NULA using the load that was recommended in the Savage manual. Nothing special but it was accurate and has killed everything I pointed it at.

While never having shot the savage...

I have not seen an inline that doesnt love 100gr of pyrodex or bh209 with a 300 gr Barnes redhot or EZ with federal primers. That combo has worked in 3 differnt knights, 1 encore, 1 remington and 1 traditions.

I wouldnt put Pyrodex in my Savage if you paid me and cleaned it for me. BH209 though can be very good in the Savage, Ive also shot a fair amount in a 45cal sabotless. I was surprised how well it worked with hot 300gr bullet sabotless loads.

BH209 can pretty much equal 5744 in fps if you dont mind more clean up time and cost per shot.

That combo didn't work for me. The Barnes OD were just to small and both my CVA and Knight hated them.

Its not a problem to switch sabots. Ive seen so many people complain about poor accuracy with (insert brand) bullet but never tried another sabot or tried the wrong sabot.

The only Barnes that ever gave me issues are the boattail TMZs and only because there are about 2-3 sabot choices for boattails. I avoid BTs completely in my Savage. They are known to be problematic with high pressure loads.

My favorite Barnes is the .458 250gr TSXFN bullet. It does not fly well compared to the poly tipped Barnes but it shoots really well. Many Savages show a preference for .458 bullets

Quick update. Last weekend was ML opener in GA. We have a 100y and 200y rifle range on my hunting lease. Between hunts I tried some 250g TC Shockwaves and Blackhorn 209. I have never shot the Shockwaves in this gun but they did much much better with Blackhorn 209 than the Barnes bullets.

I was able to get them into about 2" at 100y. I know that many of you are getting some amazing accuracy out of yours but 2" from what I've experienced in the past is much improved! No squib loads or other odd behavior. I'll use it with blackhorn 209 for the rest of ML days then I will focus on the MMP Sabot, 4759, and the 250g XTP. That stuff may all be here in time for me to try it next weekend.

I would advise you to dump the 250gr XTP and get some 300gr XTPs. The man who designed the gun used that bullet and it shoots very well in every Savage I have owned. I've shot about everything through mine and keep coming back to the 300gr SST or the Hornady 300gr HP in .458" dia. Never could get the mono metal bullets to shoot well.

Tag

I sighted mine in saturday and had no luck with XTP 250 grain bullets and MMP sabots. I loaded up some T/C cheap shot 240 grain lead bullets and supplied sabots and it started to group very well. I use VV 110 powder with a low charge of 37 grains.

May not work for you but I had similar problems with mine. Tried barnes, power belts, etc. Buddy of mine recommended this and it worked for me...

IMR SR 4759 43.5 grains
Hornady XTP 45 cal .452 diameter 300 gr.
with the shorter MMP sabots
winchester 209 primer

I get sub 1" groups at 100 yds 2.5" at 200

My thoughts....

I have all the components now. SR 4759, the 250g XTP, and the Short black MMP sabots. I probably won't get a chance to really try it until next weekend but I'm hopeful this will be much better.

I would get some 300 grainers as well as stated previous.

I have some coming as well.