RE: Savage 10ML
The close mindedness of that is absolutely astounding. Can they not see that this is where the muzzle loading world is going? And that one day, the ratio of the number of BP muzzleloaders to the number of smokeless muzzleloaders is going to be reversed from what it is today? I mean, as long as you are still using a muzzleloader, and you are still restricted by the same limitations shared by all muzzleloaders, what difference is it to the state wildlife depts whether a hunter uses black powder, smokeless powder, or jock itch powder? You still have to go through the same motions as everyone else to reload after you have fired. Using a powder that is safer and does not corrode your gun does not make you one whit more likely to bag a deer than someone else who is using a powder that is more dangerous and that fouls and corrodes his gun. It gives you no technological edge whatsoever over the other hunters or the game animals, other than that you are more likely to return home with all your fingers and your face intact. The person who is using smokeless powder may have to brush his bore less than the person who is using a smoke generating powder, but that will not affect the chances of a successful hunt. If I use smokeless powder on a hunt, that is no skin off anyone else's back. The blindness and prejudice of people can really be astonishing.
The intent of their stupid law is not that you must use BP or a BP substitute, because smokeless powder is in fact the oldest and most traditional of all BP substitutes. It would be far more accurate to describe the intent of the law as that you must use a propellant which generates a lot of smoke. That is really stupid, because, how do you give a legal definition of "a lot of smoke?" How many cubic inches of smoke does your propellant have to generate at each shot in order to be legal? And what does the density of the smoke have to be? An attorney could have a ball with this law in court. Unfortunately, I do not have the funds to finance the battle. Maybe if Savage were to guarantee me that they would pay the legal expenses of the battle and the fine if I lose, I would intentionally allow myself to be caught using smokeless powder. It would certainly be in Savage's as well as the hunters' interest to see laws like this be stricken down in court, as they should be. This law is totally arbitrary and ill defined.
Vinny