I got robbed on a new savage 10ml today. Price was 550 but I always wanted to try out a savage with an accu trigger and I don't own an inline. The one problem with the gun is that it has what appears to be a flat black finish like the cheap finish in the newer Remington 700s.

Does anyone have a 10ml with this finish and does it hold up well?

Pretty good price on a new one. I've had them both ways, high polished and matte. Couldn't tell you if one holds up any better than the other.

I guess that's a good sign if you can't tell me either way.

I coulda said it differently... they both held up the same to me. Savage did some weird things during the last production runs. Some were gloss, some were matte, some had sights and the last one I had wasn't even drilled & tapped for sights. I heard it said they were cleaning up their inventory of parts?

BTW, Boyds now makes laminated stocks for them. I put one on the last one I got in, bolted right up and was pretty nice. Killer checkering too!

hey mitch, that looks like a really nice piece! So if I decide I don't like the gun for some reason I could probably get my money back out of it?

No problem getting your money out of it if actually new. Used are bringing more than you paid.

Shouldn't be a problem, unless Savage decides to start making them again.

thanks guys. What should I be shooting in this gun if I want to run a 250 ish grain bullet.

A good place to start is the factory recommended loads. I have run mostly 5744 in mine because it ignites easy and I'm not concerned about top velocity. If you want to get into high performance loads you should frequent the Savage smokeless forum on Dougs Message Board. Those guys have taken smokeless muzzleloading to the limits.

http://dougsmessageboards.proboards.com/board/23/savage-smokeless-muzzleloading

grafs has the hard to find N110 in stock.and i also recomend doug's there is a ton of info from experienced people over there

I have 2 of these. Bought them to hunt. They are the most consistent ML's, period. I struggled to find a load but once I found it, it was/ is on! i am not picky about the finish, due to the fact that the gun shoots so well.

for what it is worth here is what works in both of mine:

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 sub 2" at 200