Savage Muzzle loaders?

[clark270]

I haven't heard anything about the smokeless/ black powder burners. Do they still make them? How do they compare to rem 700's? I like the fixed action and bolt. I heard of custom Savages being made.

 

[ENCORE]

I haven't heard anything about the smokeless/ black powder burners. Do they still make them? How do they compare to rem 700's? I like the fixed action and bolt. I heard of custom Savages being made.

Savage stopped making their smokeless muzzleloader a number of years back, after a ton of lawsuits filed against them. Those that have and use them today still swear by them but, they don't load them hot.
What's happened to the Savage is that the rifle's actions are highly sought after by the new smokeless shooters. They remove the barrel and throw it out, using the action and re-barrel them with .45 custom barrels. There are a couple guys that have created a breech plug for use in those custom barrels that works perfectly.
As far as how the Rem and Savage compares for these builds, it all depends on who you talk to or listen to. Many like the Savage and say its the easiest to convert, which is why the price for a used rifle has gone through the roof. Others may disagree and prefer the Rem.

If you don't mind a more custom fixed action, Ultimate Firearms Inc. builds their muzzleloaders on the Remington 700 40X action and Cooper is about to release a new muzzleloader with its in house fixed action.

 

[ATH]

The Savage factory smokeless MLs were limited in performance by their .50cal status. Smokeless is hot, so with so much plastic around the bullet blown sabots were the norm. By re-barreling to .45, the setup shines.

Like many, I didn't bother with the factory and built one up from a Savage short action. It worked very well, IIRC I was shooting .40cal 200gr bullets north of 2700fps.

There is nothing wrong with the new Remington, except years ago I began to find hunting/shooting time short and elected to no longer bother with BP/subs due to cleanup. I shot my smokeless ML for six years before using the action to build a 243AI and never had to clean the barrel.

 

[clark270]

Good to know. I have an encore now and would like something in a fixed frame.

 

[Cuda]

I have a Savage 10ML-ll 50cal and it will shoot a 3 shot 1" group at 100yds I have it zeroed at 200yds. I load it with 69gr of IMR4198 with a 300gr Hornady .458 bullet in a Harvester Black Crushed Rib sabot. I use the same load for my custom 45 I build with a 290gr .451 TEZ bullet and a lubed wad under it sabot less. It is zeroed in at 200yds too. Both guns are great for killing deer one well placed shot and they drop right there. Once you start shooting smoke less you will never go back. I cleaned the barrels when I first got them and have not cleaned them since. I clean my breech plug and that is it. I have had many black powder guns over the years and spent more time cleaning than shooting. I can not believe I wasted all of that money and time. I had 45s and 50s and even a 58cal. Now I like to shoot my 50 and 45 I can sit back and watch the guys with black powder clean their guns. And I do not have to do anything to mine.