Savge ML range report

[simplicity]

Ok so I finally got some sabots in the mail and had made a trip to cabelas and got some 250gr and 300 gr 45 cal xtps. I went to the range this morning and got alot done before the rain crashed the party.  I did some chronoing and my accuracy load which was giving 1.25" at 100 yards was the 250 grainer with a charge of 42.0 grains of 5744 which gave a muzzle velocity of 1950 fps not nearly as much as I was hoping for but with the ease on the cleaning of the rifle  I can deal with it. Maxed out which was a charge of 44 grains I was getting 2045fps with the 250's and 2005fps with the 300's but I couldn't get the 300's to shoot even with 42. grains. oh well I can either hop up a grain or down a grain to play some more.  After about 20 shots I noticed that my accuracy was starting to dwindle a bit and I check to see if the breech plug had come loose and it did only 1/4 of a turn. Tightened it back up and was back on the money again. All in all i'm happy with this rig hence the not haveing to clean it all the dang time.  So now it's all sighted in 2.5" high at 100 and just waiting for some game to shoot.

[chefjeff]

Man, I'm hitting the woods of NC saturday. Two week ML season for the first time. I can't think of anything I'd rather be carrying than the savage.My load is similar and is very effective.Its nice not to see that cloud of smoke after you shoot game. Little cleaning till I feel like it,almost no vent liner plugging.Thanks for the info & happy skinning!

[moto357]

betcha you can find a good load for those 300's   

check this place out:
http://dougsmessageboards.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=smokeless

[Swampman]

Sounds like everything went pretty well.  I hope I can get the 300 grainers to work in mine.

[moto357]

with the twist of the savages there should be no doubt the 300's will shoot, assuming a load the particular gun likes is found.  i think it could range from very simple to whatever you are willing to do/spend finding that right load.  my father shoots .458 435gr cast lead bullets in an orange MMP sabot with 5744.  with his 4x weaver he can keep about a 1" group.. impressive to say the least.  he was one of the lucky ones who didn't look hard or far to find that load either 

[simplicity]

I know eventually I will find a load that willl work for the 300's but for now just sticking with the 5744 till it runs out then I'll try another powder. I found this one thread that talks about other powders than perscribed by savage, IE h4198 (have a pound already for my 45-70), n120 (instead of n110 they say the n120 works great with the 300's as the n110 works great for 250's) and LIL'gun ( I always keep three lbs on hand for my 500 smith) what I would like to do is be able to shoot a 250 grainer at 2300fps accuratly for the most part since I usually end up with long shots on a relatives farm. (150 yrads or better) which lil gun in the 500 gives the same magnum velocitys as other powders but with alot less chamber pressure and I have seen some reports where almost 2700fps has been gotten loading the ml2 with lil'gun which is way more then I want to acheive.  Another interest is the h4198 which they say easily gets 2200fps with no quarms which I could live with without issues. To me it seems like any powder that works in a 45-70-45-110 50-70, 50-90 would work fine. Like I've stated before the savage smokeless muzzle loader is very new to me unlike other mettalic loading, so I am trying to find as much info as I can before pushing any evelopes.  I also have found out that the hornady sst's come with MMP sabots whether they will stand the smokeless pressures I don't know.
Here's the thread i was refering to. 

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163220

 http://www.chuckhawks.com/ping_pong_balls.htm

[simplicity]

One more thing I have thought about doing to make shooting cost a bit more convienent is to try some of the 250gr fp from berrys you can get them from cabelas for $35.00 per 250 ct.

[moto357]

good thinking to stick with one powder and get things figured out.  when you start changing stuff, make sure to change only one thing at a time.  smokeless can be picky and finicky, but once you get the hang of it you'll wonder why you didn't do this years ago!

lil gun is no longer a recomended powder and for a good reason

you mentioned a few other powders you might try eventually,which will be more addicting than you may expect.  one thing to caution is that with H4198 you will be above 2200fps, if you are in that range then you may experience misfires especially in cold, ie hunting conditions.  with using 4198 i think your shoulder will be the limit of how fast you want to shoot.. 

[Swampman]

Powders other than the ones Savage recommends cause issues.  Randy Wakeman's articles are a vast wealth of knowledge.

[hesco]

stick with the 5744, have never had a misfire with it, cant say that for all the other powders. mine shoots the 250 gr xtps extremly well, puts a heck of a hole in big whitetail, also dont see any need to try anything else unless i go after grizzly,or elephant.

[indymadcaster]

I have had one since they came out,   I shot every combo i could try in 2 years of shooting every weekend.  I went from 200gr bullets with blue MMP up to 500 grain .458 bullets with an orange MMP  using 9 0r 10 different powders. That being said and the fact that i have set 35-40 guys up in shooting ML-10`s   I have found what works and what does not. Remember most loads approach 2100+ fps or over!!! Bullets have to be Tough or they act like varmint pills

    powders:  AccurateArms 5744  39.0-44.0 grains and VV  N-110    38.0-43 grains   
    primers :  Federal 209A or CCI209a (winchester 209 were made by RIO last year and filled breech plugs up in 10 shots or less Federal DOES NOT do that)
     Sabot :   MMP  ONLY! as Savage recomends
     Bullets :        .451 or. .452 DIA     .457-.458 with Orange MMP                                                                                                                                           .452 diam   250,300 grain XTP   NON mag Cheap (kills ANY whitetail made)
 BARNES pitch the included sabot and use MMP (i use 300 MZ  18 feet to over 320+yrds never fails,never had one stop in a deer@ any shot  angle in a whitetail, pass thru with awesome bloodtrail, And my ML10 and the load(44.0 5744) was loaned on a Bison hunt Dropped where it stood too and we did not recover it either(the bullet)
                    Shockwaves and flex tip    BROADSIDE only  they shoot flat BUT DO NOT LIKE   BONE. 
                    Bonded shockwaves seem tougher!!!!
        CAST lead is ok if sized .452  260-320 grains seem best BUT over 150yrds accuracy fell off
               Swaged HARD LBT style kill like lightning  BUT harder to tune loads for.
 
                 if you want real low recoil (none) 225 grain Barnes XPB in a short MMP
                  36.0-38.0 of VV N-110  or 40-44 grains of Accurate 5744 (my kids shoot this one)1800-2000fps
   sorry so long its what I have learned about these facinating muzzleloaders if you want to piddle and tinker you can (I DID)    but  they are wicked on game   match the bullet to the animal.
                                       

[moto357]

seems lot of people prefer harvester sabots with smokeless.. only sabot i can get to shoot with smokeless to my liking

[Redhawk1]

I like the IMR 4759 powder in my Savage. 42.0 gr. under a Precision Dead Center 260 gr. bullet.