Savage 10 ML 11

[Fat Cat]

Greetings, found a Savage 10ml 11 in a pawn shop thier asking 500$ no tools no way to get the breach plug out , synthetic/blue. Couple questions, first I've ever handled one of these. Opened the bolt and it came completely out of the rifle seemed odd to me, is this normal for ease of inserting a primer or is something amiss? Other question is simply is this a good deal on this gun or not ? Hate to buy one with a frozen plug. Where can a guy get the breach plug tool?

 

[HC]

I’d pass on that one.

 

[GM54-120]

Front trigger guard screw holds the bolt in...IF its the correct screw. Its unique to the MLII and the ones for composite vs laminate stocks are different length IIRC.

Old style plug needed a special tool. New style is just a 3/8th socket. They can be swapped out to the new style pretty cheap.

New on left...old on right

 

[jims]

They usually are hard to find at that price but I would want to know the condition of the BP and barrel before a real decision can be made.

 

[Fat Cat]

Front trigger guard screw holds the bolt in...IF its the correct screw. Its unique to the MLII and the ones for composite vs laminate stocks are different length IIRC.

Old style plug needed a special tool. New style is just a 3/8th socket. They can be swapped out to the new style pretty cheap.

New on left...old on right

I'll take another look at the rifle especially front trigger guard screw. And look at the rear of the breach plug with fingers crossed hoping for a 3/8 . Thanks for the info

 

[Fat Cat]

They usually are hard to find at that price but I would want to know the condition of the BP and barrel before a real decision can be made.

Agreed I'll buy only if I can get the breach plug out and the bore is ok. I see so many ruined barrels because of neglect. Sad when it's so easy to clean one

 

[Fat Cat]

I’d pass on that one.

Your probably right but I'll give it a second look first.

 

[sdporter]

You can hand grind a socket to get the breech plug out or I'll send you my tool to pull the plug, if you send it back. Less than a grand is a GREAT deal if the bore is good. I'd buy it.

 

[Fat Cat]

I will be revisiting that rifle soon armed with a good flashlight and I'll be looking at the front trigger guard screw to see why the bolt comes completely out. Wish I had a drop in bore light. Anyone know who sells them? Thanks for the offer I may take you up on it once I can ascertain what breach plug is in it and if it has a decent bore.

 

[ENCORE50A]

I will be revisiting that rifle soon armed with a good flashlight and I'll be looking at the front trigger guard screw to see why the bolt comes completely out. Wish I had a drop in bore light. Anyone know who sells them? Thanks for the offer I may take you up on it once I can ascertain what breach plug is in it and if it has a decent bore.

Another option for checking a bore is an endoscope. They are very cheap and can be found on Amazon. They take photos or videos.

 

[GM54-120]

Couple other things to know about MLIIs

They came in large shank and small shank barrel. The large shank is normally more desirable especially if you want to upgrade to a 45cal barrel in the future.

Action bolt spacing were available in 4.27" and 4.40". You wont find nearly as many available aftermarket stocks in 4.27". Much fewer actually. There are lots of aftermarket Savage stocks in 4.40" from fairly cheap to very expensive that could be made to work with a MLII. I mention this because the OEM stock is pretty poor. Boyds does offer affordable stocks for both spacings but they really should be pillared and recoil pad upgraded. EABCO offers a affordable pillared laminate but ONLY for 4.40 and its a pig of a stock.

 

[Fat Cat]

Well I revisited the rifle today , I had not read about the barrel nut till this evening so don't know which it is.
Trigger guard screw was loose allowing the bolt to come completely out.
Looked in the barrel with a flashlight not great but all available at the time .Noticed some light rust at the muzzle looked like it would clean up but the rifling looked mighty thin ,very shallow grooves . Maybe that's normal for this gun I don't know. I seriously doubt the barrel is shot out.
Wonder what a 45 barrel would cost assuming this has the correct shank nut. Tupperware stock still had the sticker on it.

 

[GM54-120]

45cal barrels were around $400-450 when i got my Pacnor. Brux are a few dollars more but if you just want a sabot shooter you might be better off with the 8 land Pacnor vs a 6 land Brux. Some of the builders probably still got take off OEM 50s pretty cheap.

Sabot loads with a 200gr bullet can hit 2600fps without even cracking a sweat and thats at pretty low pressure for smokeless too. 2800fps is doable at under 35kpsi with VV N120 powder.

 

[jims]

I doubt the .50 SML barrel is shot out. Generally lower pressures than centerfire and no throat. It should be good for thousands of rounds and most never got shot much. Just if they used the subs and did not clean properly would be the issue.

I have some .45 replacement barrels but could live very well with the factory .50 barrel at ranges under 200 yards even with sabots.

 

[GM54-120]

The only real problem with the 50cal if you just want to shoot sabots.........One of the best powders for the 50cal is no longer made....SR4759. The others are either faster or much slower and 5744 fps is just plain pitiful for smokeless. It is however extremely reliable and cheaper per shot than BH209. So if you are happy with BH209 type speeds its a great choice.

Move upto N120 or Reloder7 with a 300gr bullet and you got a very solid 200+ yard rifle....2300fps or a little more at very reasonable pressures. Recoil gets a bit more brisk though.

 

[Fat Cat]

45cal barrels were around $400-450 when i got my Pacnor. Brux are a few dollars more but if you just want a sabot shooter you might be better off with the 8 land Pacnor vs a 6 land Brux. Some of the builders probably still got take off OEM 50s pretty cheap.

Sabot loads with a 200gr bullet can hit 2600fps without even cracking a sweat and thats at pretty low pressure for smokeless too. 2800fps is doable at under 35kpsi with VV N120 powder.

Wow that's a flying freight train

 

[GM54-120]

The real beauty of 45x40 sabots is just now taking off. For years we had two main bullet choices. Either the 200gr SST or the Barnes 195gr. Both have limitations. Fury and Pittman now both have 40cals larger than 200gr with better BC and construction. A 250gr 40cal even shot at OEM 50cal speeds will retain way more fps and energy than a 250gr 45cal bullet. Plus has a far far better sectional density.

Getting a 225-250gr 40cal in sabot upto 2400fps is a cake walk for a 45cal smokeless. 4198 will do that all day long with under 60gr of powder.