Chap what's wrong with hotrodding? Its fun and gives you something to work on till hunting season!

I do agree start with the book loads, then when you get tired of shooting 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" start searching for under 1", then start backing up the target to 300 yds. A few people are getting bored with that and talking about 400 yds. This is one amazing ML, and can be a handful. Be patient and do check out http://dougva.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=Savage. This can be a very picky rifle, but the payback is well worth the work.