When I purchased my last Savage 10ML-II earlier this month, of course I took it down and cleaned everything. I removed the breech plug and attempted to remove the ventliner which was stuck, straight out of the box. Luckily, I have breechplugs all over the house! I just installed one I had ready and went about my business and my hunt. FINALLY I called Joe DeGrande at Savage last Friday, October 21 and told him of my problem. MONDAY October 24 I had a new breech plug in my mailbox! That's as good as customer service gets!