Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Smokeless Powder in a Savage ML

Mooseyard
Has anyone tried the new Savage ML that can use smokeless powder. Have you found smokeless to be as accurate as BP? Any info would be appreciated.

"My faith, my country and my family will guide me; nothing more, nothing less" -Gen. Tommy Franks

Jess Hoffman
Mooseyard Precision
LE Supply & Firearms
NRA Certified Instructor
Shawano, WI 54166
0

Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • bambihunter
    A buddy of mine has one and he likes it. The only complaint that I've heard is that sometimes it is harder to ignite than regular BP. The main benefit is not accuracy but a cleaner rifle and added velocity. The extra velocity is not so much from the powder itself as it is from extra few inches of barrel length that would normally be filled by powder is instead empty (since it uses something like 10 grains of smokeless vs. 150 grains of BP). The smokeless powder does indeed add some velocity over blackpowder, but according to him not much if you subtract the difference in the amount of barrel it fills.
    Does that make sense?
    0
  • Mooseyard
    Perfect sense. Thanks for the info.

    "My faith, my country and my family will guide me; nothing more, nothing less" -Gen. Tommy Franks

    Jess Hoffman
    Mooseyard Precision
    LE Supply & Firearms
    NRA Certified Instructor
    Shawano, WI 54166
    0
  • bambihunter
    Glad to help. [:)]
    Oh, and I forgot to mention... He made certain to get the Savage MLII, I'm not sure what the differences are but it was important to him and he's normally up on what is good and useful. You might want to research it if you're thinking of getting one to see if the changes are something you want and decide accordingly.
    0
  • 01DUSE
    What is the powder that Savage uses in their muzzleloaders anyway...I've never heard talk of it?

    Men, like bullets, go farthest when they are smoothest.
    0
  • bambihunter
    I'm not sure of the exact formula, but it's a normal smokeless rifle blend like you'd load for a 30-30 or '06. (I know he didn't buy special powder and he also loads those two so I'm going off an assumption there).

    http://www.savagearms.com/muzzleloader_home.htm


    I did some searching and found this forum (http://www.sav10ml.com/pages/main.htm) and just skimming over it they had some load recipes on there. They were using MUCH more powder than my friend was. I don't know if he was using some really hot powder or what. Check it out, more than likely it'll answer any/all your questions from the look of it.

    Best of luck.
    0
  • river
    no real performance difference but sure is easier to "mess with" and you can get it anywhere - good shooting
    0
  • eastwood44mag
    quote:Originally posted by bambihunter
    I'm not sure of the exact formula, but it's a normal smokeless rifle blend like you'd load for a 30-30 or '06. (I know he didn't buy special powder and he also loads those two so I'm going off an assumption there).

    http://www.savagearms.com/muzzleloader_home.htm


    I did some searching and found this forum (http://www.sav10ml.com/pages/main.htm) and just skimming over it they had some load recipes on there. They were using MUCH more powder than my friend was. I don't know if he was using some really hot powder or what. Check it out, more than likely it'll answer any/all your questions from the look of it.

    Best of luck.


    So it is a rifle powder? I was wondering about that myself.

    O Lord,
    grant me the Serenity
    to accept the things
    I cannot change
    the courage to change the things I can,
    and the supreme firepower to make the difference.
    0
  • bambihunter
    Here's some of the powders mentioned on that page. I'm not a reloader so I can't tell you what they are...

    VIHTAVUORI N110
    IMR-SR4759
    AA XMP5744
    AA XMR2015
    IMR-4227**
    VIHTAVUORI N120
    AA XMP-5744
    AA XMP-5744
    ALLIANT 2400
    VIHTAVUORI 3N37
    VIHTAVUORI N350
    0
  • perry shooter
    Hello some of the powders listed are fast pistol and some are rifle the 4759 is a good powder for black powder rifle cartridges like 45/90 ETC I would go with that but look and see if the rifle comes with loading data.A 5 gn overload with 4759 might not hurt anything but a 5 gn overload with a pistol powder could. Karl
    0
  • allen griggs
    I have a Savage and killed a deer with it last year. Will go out again today in 2 hours.
    I use VihtaVuori N110. It is one of the favorite powders of Savage shooters. Another favorite is AA5744.
    A powder listed in the Savage manual that has fallen out of favor is IMR4227. It is hard to ignite. I have a pound of it but quit using it.
    The accuracy with the Savage is very good. Right out of the box I got 1 1/2 inch groups. This is shooting a .45 slug at 3,000 foot pounds, pretty potent for a muzzleloader. Some guys crank it up to 3,500 foot pounds but I don't like the recoil, and I am shooting deer not Grizzlies.
    I shoot 43 grains of N110.
    Some of the guys are shooting MOA and less routinely, they have bedded the barrels and gotten aftermarket triggers, although the new ones come with the AccuTrigger which gives good accuracy.
    Most guys who get a Savage like it quite a lot. It is nice to be able to come in from a long day of hunting and not have to clean the rifle.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity