John you may want to try the 250 sst or shockwave bullet and 100 grs of pyro in the gonic or even the 300 gr.I have shot them in all my muzzleloaders with very good results.I have a knight,ruger,2 encores and a savage.
Maybe you wasn't impressed with the savage is because your buddies hadn't worked out a good load for it.I have one of them and very impressed with it.Below is a 5-shot group I shot the other day with the savage@100 yds.using the 250 shockwave bullets.