Well, I've had the Savage out to the range a couple times now, once without a scope and once with one. I decided to wait to mount a scope until I had sighted in the gun with the iron sights so the iron sights can still be used if the scope is rendered non functional for whatever reason. For that first trip to the range I decided to try some 240gr .45cal XTP-Mag bullets with T/C Mag-Express sabots. Also shot were a number of .40cal 215gr QT bullets with MMP blue sabots. While these bullets were not recommended in the manual, there is extensive liturature regarding their use by many others, and there is no reason why they would be any less safe than their .45 caliber cousins. The only risk with the .40cal is that the thicker sabot could blow out more easily and reduce accuracy to zilch. I also decided to head off a potential problem at the pass and got some Winchester 28ga. AA shotgun wads and cut the obturator cups off to create sub-bases, and it turns out that I'm glad I did as the sub-bases do a very good job of protecting the sabot and improving accuracy.

Since the weather has been warm (70+ degrees) the ML10's manual, and the other posted literature from other shooters including Randy Wakeman and Toby Bridges, indicate that best accuracy can generally be had by reducing the charges by about 10%. In warmer temps the sabots get soft enough that the higher pressures of the heavier loads tend to blow sabots with enough regularity that meaningful accuracy is impossible. Heeding the manual and various literature on the subject, I did decide to step the charge down from the recommended 3.7cc Lee dipper of Vihtavuori N110 to a 3.4cc dipper charge. However, I did try shooting both with and without the sub-bases, and discovered that even with the reduced loads there was evidence of partial and in one case complete sabot failure, and accuracy was mediocre. With the sub-bases I found not a single sabot that displayed any indication of melting or gas cutting whatsoever, and accuracy (for me with open sights, anyway), was good to excellent with both bullets (1.5-4" at 75 yards), with the QT's surprizingly enough being the more accurate of the two.

The real test came today after I had mounted the scope on the rifle. While I intend to put better glass on it eventually (when funds permit), I did have a Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40 lying around that had recently been taken off my Knight. While I was not 100% sure that the scope was good since I never got the Knight to shoot well with it mounted (it was the second of three scopes that I tried on the Knight thinking that bad scopes were the source of its complete lack of accuracy), I decided to give it one chance to prove that it was the Knight, not the scope, that was a big piece of s***. Turns out the scope is A-ok, and the Knight was junk after all (I know some of you will have a hard time believing that a Knight could be a poor shooter, but I tried three scopes, two mounting systems, and no fewer than 4 different bullets and five different types of powder with no success at all) . But I digress...

So today I finally got out to the range with the newly scoped Savage and a pack of Hornady 250gr .45cal SST sabots in addition to the 240gr .45cal XTP-Mags both with T/C Mag-Express sabots. I also had a few 50/45 MMP black sabots that came with the gun that I wanted to try with the SST's to compare the T/C Mag-Express to the MMP in the same caliber. The reason for the SST's was because I want a bullet that isn't ballistically akin to a flying ashtray to take full advantage of the velocity and range potential of the gun. It just doesn't matter how fast you get the XTP's going at the muzzle, because with a BC of .160 the bullets are flying like an artillary shell past 125 yards. I decided to keep the powder charge consistant at one 3.4cc Lee dipper of N110 as this was a consistantly accurate load with both bullets before, and try each bullet for an even comparison.

I initially used the much cheaper 250gr .45cal XTP's to achieve the initial zero of the scope. I first shot them at 25 to get the gun on paper, and then at 75 to ensure that the SST's would hit paper at that range as well. I only had 20 SST's this time out so conservation of bullets for fine tuning my zero at my desired range and checking actual trajectory at a variety of ranges in between. The first pleasant surprise was that the gun shot right with the published load data for the 250gr bullets, reaching a muzzle velocity of 2230fps even with the reduced charge. With the full load in cooler weather I'd anticipate that I'll see 2250fps+. Hornady gives the 250gr SST a BC of .210, which concurs with the chronographed muzzle velocity and the actual witnessed trajectory when the numbers are put into the ballistic computer at (http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html). My trajectory was +1.25" at 50 yards, +1.75" at 75, +2" at 100, and zeroed at 150. With a 150 yard zero, I can hold dead on out to about 180 yards with this load, which is likely beyond the range I can realistically expect to get a clear shot. The accuracy of both the XTP-Mags and the SST ranged from right at 1" to a touch over 2", with an average group being right at 1.5" or so at 100 yards. I zeroed it at 150 yards, and accuracy at that range hovered right at 2.5" for both three shot groups I fired at that range. The next time I go out I plan to shoot it out to 200 yards to see exactly how much drop below zero the bullet experiences at that range.

As far as recoil goes, it is definately very stiff, akin to a 300 Win Mag with 180gr bullets in my opinion, but the lack of a decent recoil pad does definately contribute to the percieved beating this load dishes out. It is stout enough at this load level to to become very uncomfortable in just a few shots, and I found that I needed to place a folded towel between the butt and my shoulder to make recoil tolerable for an extended shooting session. I Limbsaver pad will be ordered for this gun in the very near future.

This rifle shines in both the accuracy and firepower departments, but the icing on the cake is definately the convienience and cleanliness of the gun. First of all, the action itself is the tightest and most blow-back free of any muzzleloader I've ever witnessed. After firing 40 shots without a single cleaning, the total fouling and primer residue was removed from both the bolt and action by five seconds of scrubbing the bolt face with an military issue cleaning brush (the kind issued with the M16A2 cleaning kit) and ONE SWIPE from a SINGLE CLP dampened cleaning patch. One wipe and it was completely clean. I also went 40 shots without swabbing the bore one single time, and the 40th bullet loaded as easily as the 2nd. There is NO detectable buildup of fouling in the bore whatsoever. The only time the bore saw a patch or brush was when I cleaned it before putting it in the case. And when it did get cleaned it was simply a matter of the usual 10 strokes with a solvent soaked brush, followed by in this case 5 dry patches until clean. I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to go home with a clean gun, without having to dread the black soapy water all over the kitchen after dinner routine. That alone, IMO, makes it all worth it IMO.

A second bonus with the 10ML-II is the great economy that comes with performance that easily meets or exceeds the performance of the best the 150gr "magnum" muzzleloaders can muster. Considering that T7 pellets cost roughly $0.25 PER PELLET, and requiring three pellets will cost you about $0.75/shot just for powder alone, just to come close to the velocity the Savage can easily achieve with a 10% reduced load of N110. The Savage, with a 40.4gr charge of N110 costs roughly $0.10. In terms of powder cost, which is the only relevant cost since the bullets/sabots and primers used in a "Magnum" MLs are the same, I can shoot my 10ML-II EIGHT times before I exceed the cost of a single 3 pellet charge of T7. I'm saving $0.65 per shot over T7, which amounts to about a 50% savings per shot, or a total of roughly $26 for my typical 40 round range session. Only the BP roundball shooters beat that cost/shot, and without the performance.

I realize that there are many traditionalists out there who feel that the Savage 10ML-II is nothing short of heresy, and I respect that opinion and wish you continued success with your black powder weapon and propellent of choice. I wanted to write this both to inform and, pardon the pun, clear the air about some of the misconceptions people may have about this excellent high-performance ML. If one wants the best and most economical high performance ML without all the cost and hassle, the 10ML-II is the way to go. From now on I'm proud to be "smoke-free"!

Mike