Savage alert, new owners please read.

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Grouse

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I see more and more people on the Internet getting rid of Savages and buying Encores because they cant get them to shoot. That is so crazy. The Savage can be so simple if you are patient. Savage has done all the work for you. Start out using Savage recommended powders at NO more then 42grns by weight. I suggest 40grns starting out.

Keep your bullet choices between two starting out. The 250grn SST and the 250grn XTP. These two bullets have been proven shooters in the Savage.

Keep your sabot choices to two as well. The short black MMP sabot and the Harvester sabots that say for 300grn bullets or less.

Start out using Winchester primers. They are all you will ever need.

The Breech plug in the Savage is the trick to really enjoying your Savage. You must keep the flame channel clean. Dont buy into every 100shots. Every 25 to 30 shots take the plug out and clean it. This will consist of drilling out the carbon in the flame channel and replacing the vent-liner. Use only factory supplied vent-liners. Make sure to grease the threads on the vent-liner and the breech plug before putting back together. Also keep in mind, with smokeless powder the plug needs to be tight in the muzzleloader. With 777 guns it's pretty much just put in finger tight. In the Savage, the tighter the better. ( Within reason)

Another very important step is Patience. When the temp is above 60 degrees wait 5 to 10 minutes between shots. You dont want your barrel getting hot at all. This will make your Savage shoot very poorly.

Stick to the basics and you will love your new Savage. :wink:

After a couple years of shooting and getting familiar with your Savage. There are other powders and bullets you can try to push the envelope to your liking. :)
 
I wasn't aware that shooters were going away from Savages and toward Encores, but then I live near a cob pile. However, I am closing in on 2,000 rounds cumulatively through 2 Savages over the course of the last 3 years and I agree in large part with everything Tom wrote. Of those things, I believe patience between shots is the most often overlooked.

It's about time to spend more time at the range - shooting those Savages and the Encore

BR's Cob
 
Thanks, Grouse, for the info. I did not know, for instance, that the breech plug needs to be tightened down fairly hard. There seems to be plenty of info out there on "wildcatter" experimental type stuff, but not the basics. BTW, I just got back from Cabelas with some 250 grain XTP's, MMP short black sabots, Winchester primers, and 2lbs of AA 5744 (all they had). Only thing I think I'm missing is more range time. 8)
 
Grouse, that's excellent advise. How many times have we seen newbie tell that they've been lurking, taken the plunge and bought a savage and gone out and bought all the different powders, bullets and sabots and can't wait to get to the range. Many are not heard from again. Maybe everything worked for them and they have no more questions and nothing to add. I suspect they are among those who are selling their Savage and buying an Encore. Should be some way to keep your post on file and each time we get a post like that it should automatically post for them.
 
Last year I was a newbie to the savage. ( Still consider myself a newbie) I studied all the forums and articles I could on the savage for approx. 2 yrs. Last year I finally had to get a savage. I was sceptical about it at first, but now I love my savage. I started out simple 300 gr xtp's imr 4759 (42gr) and winchester primers. This is all I have ever shot and my savage works great with the combination. My advice to newbie's is read, study, ask questions, and practice and you will love your savage too.

Tim
 
I "stickied" the post..



Great post guys, let's keep it going!





doegirl, you will do good by 5744. 40-44gr will do all you ever need! Start out with about 42 grains, 250 XTP's and MMP short or the Harvester sabots Tom suggested and you should be shooting good groups in short order.

If you start printing groups with 2 bullets cutting the same hole then a 3rd shot blowing the group, you most likely have a hot barrel. Smokeless generates heat more readily than the BP subs plus the Savage barrel is rather heavy and it retains heat very well. Cooling time is very important to good groups.


Tim, welcome to the board! :lol:
 
I am a Savage newbie so I know exactly what you all are referring to. There is so much information out there it's mind boggling. I've read and re-read hundreds of articles and post all over the internet about the Savage. Most of what you read are good experiences right out of the gate, but there are the horror stories as well. That likely goes for any gun. Most the problems I've read about were traced back to component issues. Things like scope bases not being tight or sitting flat on the receiver, rings not being tight, etc. Others are maintenance issues like overly fouled breech plugs and worn out vent liners like Grouse pointed out.

The nice thing is that with the Savage, (and any other gun that has been on the market for several years), is that there are so many people out there that have, "been there, done that." So much of the load development has already been done for us newbies. There is no reason not to try what has already been proven. A particular load may not shoot well in your gun, but there are so many other stardard and/or proven loads to try that I would think that almost anyone could find acceptable accuracy. Same thing goes for the component issues I mentioned. For example, with the amount of information available there is no reason not to make sure your your front base screw doesn't botton out on the barrel threads before the base it tight.

I started out with Savage book loads and one other load that was not a book load but was a load that I wanted to try since others had good success with it. My initial results exceeded my expectations 10 fold. I don't see the need to spend the time or money to continue to tinker away. I'm lucky that at least initially my gun liked three or four loads right out of the box. Now its up to me to pick one and practice, practice, practice. If I run into problems, I know there are several places I can turn to for help.
 
I've been shooting frontstuffers for 30 years. I currently own 5-Two Knights, one RMC, and 2 TC rifles. I purchased a savage MLII two years ago. I sold it for 200 bucks this winter. Worst POS I've ever owned. The only good feature on that rifle was the accutrigger. The stock is tupperware. The fit and finish are terrible. My barrel touched out on one side with a quarter inch gap on the other. The bolt stop is a joke. I sent my gun to one of the gurus on the other site to be accurized. He sent it back-no charge. He did suggest I try a laminate stock, but since I don't hunt with a gunbearer, I unloaded the Savage. My next smokeless will be the NULA. Fire away!
 
Why should we fire away? Every manufacturer has duds... why not send it back to Savage to take care of instead of unloading it on an unsuspecting buyer? Unless you told him it was a dud in your estimation...
 
Nice post grouse!!

Only thing your ALERT is a lil late!! My Pro Hunter got me hooked now & wont let me quit smokin!!!! :lol:
 
Loggy said:
Nice post grouse!!

Only thing your ALERT is a lil late!! My Pro Hunter got me hooked now & wont let me quit smokin!!!! :lol:

Loggy: Think of the Savage as a nicotine patch :D You might not want to totally put down the smokers (I don't), but these guns are ton of fun.
 
Tom,
Great post. I have done a # of things to my Savages but 2 really stand out in making the gun easier to live with. First, is having RB modify the breechplug to edge's design and essentially eliminating the breechplug fouling. No more slow build up. Secondly, is to get the plunger bolt release(also from RB). The rifle bolt can be removed with the pull of a plunger while the bolt holding the stock to the receiver remains in place. OK, the 3rd thing is to get a 45 PacNor barrel on the receiver :D . Seriously the 1st 2 really help.
 
RAF said:
Grouse, that's excellent advise. How many times have we seen newbie tell that they've been lurking, taken the plunge and bought a savage and gone out and bought all the different powders, bullets and sabots and can't wait to get to the range. Many are not heard from again. Maybe everything worked for them and they have no more questions and nothing to add. I suspect they are among those who are selling their Savage and buying an Encore. Should be some way to keep your post on file and each time we get a post like that it should automatically post for them.

Hi im not a lurker a newbie maybe but i need some help. I have two muzzle loaders a black night and a remington. I am/was :? :? going to buy the savage laminate with the stainless barrel. I am a little nervouse now. The other gun i was looking at was the tc prohunter or the encore. I wanted to try the savage because of the smokeless powder option. I have seen posts of outstanding accuaracy with the savage. I want a accurate gun and this isnt the first complaint ive read about accuracy. Somebody mentioned a few mods wich im not sure what they were other then the barrel mod. I dunno what to do

so confused dont want any regrets Thanks
 
Hi im not a lurker a newbie maybe but i need some help. I have two muzzle loaders a black night and a remington. I am/was :? :? going to buy the savage laminate with the stainless barrel. I am a little nervouse now. The other gun i was looking at was the tc prohunter or the encore. I wanted to try the savage because of the smokeless powder option. I have seen posts of outstanding accuaracy with the savage. I want a accurate gun and this isnt the first complaint ive read about accuracy. Somebody mentioned a few mods wich im not sure what they were other then the barrel mod. I dunno what to do

so confused dont want any regrets.[/quote]

Moose Hunter,
Welcome. Don't take my previous post in any negative way. A Savage 10-ML2 is IMO the most for the money you can get. It will not disappoint. You should be able to shoot MOA and have at least a 200 yd gun. That's impressive! As with all other production guns, improvements can be made. The ML-2's breechplug slowly fouls and needs cleaned every 25 shots or so. Rick Bibby, a member of this board, modifies the plug to where it essentially doesn't foul at all. This helps im-measurably. Likewise the mod seems to slightly improve accuracy. Some people believe loosening the rear pillar bolt, which is req'd to release the main bolt in order to get the breechplug out, can affect the sighting of the gun. I am one who believes this. A retaining bolt with a plunger to hold the bolt allows the rear pillar bolt to remain tight and only the spring plunger is used which doesn't affect the accuracy as the rear pillar bolt is unaffected. The gun is a best buy before doing this and can be improved at very little cost with these 2 modifications. Finally, a # of us now shoot 45 cal barrels on out ML-2s. PacNor is the current brand used most. The brand may change. Where legal and only bear or white tails are hunted, many of us think the 45 has an advantage over the 50. That said, a 50 cal MLer that can shoot MOA or better with 2300-2700+'/sec with 250 g bullets and same with 300g bullets if you're willing to accept the recoil, all within safe pressures, is a very desirable MLer. I own 2 Rem 700MLs and have owned an Encore. They are not in the same league with the Savage 10-ML2.
 
Thanks for the help/info. Since i live in Canada the mods you refer to might not be available to me . Once i have the gun in my hands i will be sure to have a few more question. Hopefully i can find a way to get the mods. I shoot a 300 gr bullet out of my rem now except i only shoot 100 grains of pyrodex so i will have to see about recoil.

Thanks again 8) :)
 
Moose Hunter, welcome. You can't go wrong with the Savage. You'll like smokeless powder and a lot less cleaning. Most shoot good right out of the box. There are a few that are tempermental, but that can be addressed if need be. Don't go into this expecting problems because you might be looking for something that isn't there. Start slow. Read the manual and understand it. Give the rifle a good thorough cleaning. Start out with factory suggested loads. There are a number listed in the book. You don't say where in Canada you are but if you're like the rest of us Canadians here, you'll have trouble finding VV110 but IMR 4759 is readily available and preforms very much like 110 and you'll get good results. Any more questions don't hesitate to ask. Some one here will point you in the right direction. Good luck :wink:
 
Just curious about using smokeless powder, can the Savage ML be loaded and left loaded for days or weeks at a time and still fire reliably?

Our ML deer season is nine days long here in Florida. I use Goex FF blackpowder, clean and load my old side hammer gun the day before season begins, and I leave it loaded until I get a shot opportunity or the end of the season.

I will unload, clean, and reload it if I have hunted in rainy weather and do change the #11 cap before each and every hunt.

Not sure this is a reccomended process, but I have left the ML gun loaded until the next years pre-hunting season shooting session and the gun always fires like it should.

Dave
 
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