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Over the past few years, I have already written
twice about the Savage smokeless muzzleloader; once soon
after its introduction, and again when
they fitted the AccuTrigger to that firearm. For more
details on the weapon, I refer the reader to those two articles.
Since writing about the Savage, I have received,
and continue to do so, many emails regarding the rifle. Whether
or not you like inline muzzleloaders, they are here to stay. For
more on that subject, I again refer the reader to my previous
article, Thoughts on
Muzzleloading.
This article is intended to address what is a
recurring theme that I receive in email correspondence often,
and that is to suggest a good hunting load for the Savage. Many
muzzleloading hunters are just that; they are hunters first and
foremost, and care little about experimenting with several
powders and projectiles. They want a good load that works for
deer hunting, is easy to load, and gets the job done. There is
nothing wrong with this, as most hunters are not handloaders.
However, muzzleloading hunters are handloaders by necessity;
they just do not use a brass case.
I have in the past, and sometimes still do, run
my Savage 10ML-II with several different powders, bullets, and
sabots. I am an incurable experimenter, always looking for more
accuracy, more velocity, flatter trajectory, or a combination of
these. I have found that many powders are not suitable for
the Savage. That was no surprise. I have also found that many
sabots will fail, leaving the bullets to hit my target sideways,
if they hit it at all. I have also found several bullet/sabot
combinations that are accurate, but are so hard to cram down the
barrel that a quick reload is impossible, but I have also found
that one particular combination of components works very well in
every 10ML-II in which I have tried it. Accuracy is good,
velocity is good, it is easy to load, and the bullets are
available almost everywhere. The problem is that the
manufacturer does not recommend the bullets for use in the
Savage. I did not know why, so I called them. They have had good
reports of the bullet working just fine out of the 10ML-II, but
officially, they do not recommend that anyone use smokeless
powder in a muzzleloader. That is understandable, for some
shooters will try using smokeless powder in another brand of
muzzleloader, which is stupid, to put it rather bluntly. Only
the Savage is built to use smokeless powder, and smokeless
powder must never be used in other brands. The Savage is built
to use black powder, black substitutes such as Pyrodex
and Triple Seven, and certain smokeless powders. It is
with these smokeless powders that it offers its greatest
advantages.
The bullet that I have settled upon for this
load is the 245 grain PowerBelt AeroTip, and it has
produced extremely satisfying results in the Savage. The
accuracy of this bullet is very good out of my rifle, and it is
absolutely the easiest bullet to slide down the barrel that I
have ever tried, yet it fits tightly enough to keep it in place
and, with the right powder, assures consistent ignition. That
powder is Accurate Arms 5744. I have tried other powders
that offer higher velocity than I can get with 5744, but none
with better consistency.
The simplified load to which I alluded in the
title of this piece is 45 grains of 5744, a Winchester
209 primer, and the 245 grain AeroTip bullet. A shooter needs
only a Lee 3.4cc dipper, which is included in the Savage
accessory kit, to measure his powder charge. This load has given
outstanding consistency with the AeroTip bullet. Out of the
rifle pictured here, which is the Realtree Hardwoods HD
version of the 10ML-II, I get an average velocity of 2012
feet-per-second, with an extreme velocity spread of less than
10, and an average deviation of under 2! I wish that I could get
those kind of consistency readings from metallic rifle
cartridges. As shown in the picture, I also get good
accuracy from this load. The picture shows a group of one and
one-eighth inches at 100 yards, and the rifle and load can do
this every time, if I do my part.
The PowerBelt bullets have a snap-on base,
instead of a sabot, to provide a good gas seal. Instead of an
undersized .429 to .452 bullet, the PowerBelt fifty caliber
measures a full half-inch in diameter. This is no big deal, but
just another plus in favor of the PowerBelt. The main advantage
for me is the easy loading, and the accuracy. The 45
grains of 5744 (which is, by the way, a powder that Savage
recommends) offers all the power that a deer hunter needs, and
then some. This is a load that is easy on the shoulder, but has
plenty of power for whitetail deer. With a 150 yard zero, a
hunter can hold dead on all the way out to about 180 yards, and
still be in the kill zone. The bullet drops only six inches out
at 200 yards. You can easily speed this bullet up in the Savage,
but these is no need to. The 3.4cc Lee dipper makes it
easy to get the same load every time, even if the shooter has no
elaborate powder measuring and weighing system. The load works,
and it works well.
After testing this newest Savage 10ML-II, I am
still of the opinion that it is the best inline muzzleloader
available. It can be loaded up to power levels of the .375
H&H Magnum for larger game, but this load with the PowerBelt
and the 5744 makes for an excellent formula for the hunter who
just wants a good, reliable, easy-to-load deer hunting
recipe. The 5744 powder is available through mail-order stores
such as Midsouth Shooters Supply (www.midsouthshooters.com).
They also carry the PowerBelt bullets (part number
002-AC1589AT), or you can get them at most Wal-Mart
stores. The rifle also does not need the everyday cleaning as do
other muzzleloading rifles, but can be cleaned like any other
modern cartridge rifle. In the Savage 10ML-II, this AeroTip/5744
load works, and it works well. It will be my deer hunting load
this year, and is the load that I recommend for deer hunting
with the Savage 10ML-II rifle.
Check out the Savage muzzleloaders online at:
www.savagearms.com.
For a Savage dealer near you, go to the dealer
locator icon at: www.lipseys.com.
For more info on the PowerBelt bullets, go to:
www.powerbeltbullets.com.
Jeff Quinn
UPDATE October 17th, 2005
I just received an email from the engineering
department at Savage strongly recommending AGAINST the use of
the PowerBelt bullet with smokeless powder. They certainly know
more than I about this, so I am including their message here:
"PowerBelts are just undersized conicals,
measuring .499 dropping down the bore of the .501" land to
land 10ML-II. Not truly "jacketed," they have a thin
copper cladding. Some Powerbelts remain pure lead.
"Encouraging the use of Powerbelts has
several detrimental consequences. While there may be no misfires
with the double-based, 20% nitro AA5744-- misfires and unhappy
customers are likely with Savage recommended N110 and SR4759, a
certainty with the long recommended 4227.
"There is the 295 grain PowerBelt Jeff was
using, but the better PowerBelts on game are the 348, 405, and
444 Flat Nose versions. These far heavier bullets will send
pressures through the roof with smokeless.
"As the copper cladding is thin, it is torn
up by the rifling-- not the case in a saboted projectile. Use of
the old, unplated Powerbelts (sold as BlackBelts) will coat the
bore with lead. A big problem to remove, the classic method
being to use liquid mercury. After the still-sold unplated PowerBelts
came the first "copper clad" PowerBelts that are still
around - the plating is a light copper wash, just like in .22
rimfire ammo. It is so thin you can see the lead through the
copper, making bore leading a certainty.
"Harvester makes a competitive
bullet to the PowerBelt, the Sabretooth. It is a very thin
copper wash that promises lead fouling. If the PowerBelt is
okay, why not the Sabertooth?
"PowerBelts generally do not move off the
charge with filthy Pyrodex or Black powder fouling. With the use
of ultra clean smokeless, movement of the bullet off of the
powder charge is a good possibility-- possibly creating a bore
obstruction.
"The Savage 10ML-II manual has long
suggested only bullets in sabots by MMP with smokeless. To
encourage or allow the use of bore-sized conicals may create
some or all of the problems listed above-- bore leading,
dramatically increased pressures, bore obstruction, and use of
other conicals that are lubed lead also creating misfires due to
powder contamination from that lube and also bore leading.
"With a PowerBelt, all of these problems
can easily manifest themselves.
"Saboted pistol bullets, while not a true
'pressure valve', are at least an accuracy pressure valve. Those
that choose to break the rules and just add more powder destroy
the sabot seal, and accuracy is gone. No such deterrent is
present in Powerbelts and other conicals.
"As a practical matter, a 295 grain PowerBelt,
bore sized, cannot fly as flat or hit as hard as a .452 diameter
Hornady XTP. The ballistic coefficient of the larger caliber
bullet is correspondingly poor.
"Misfires, bore leading, and bore
obstructions-- as well as the dramatically increased pressure
from heavier (348, 4405, 444 gr.) Powerbelts are all
problematic.
"Right in the Savage 'recommended powder
loads' appears this statement, which I believe is also in all
the manuals: "Use smokeless powder loads with
saboted bullets only. When loading and shooting bore-sized lead
conical bullets, Savage Arms, Inc. recommends loading with
"Pyrodex® RS", "Select", "Pyrodex®
Pellets", or "Triple Seven". Maximum recommended
charge is 150 grains." That should be enough
right there to dissuade people from Powerbelts and other
conicals-- the manual clearly does not allow their use with
smokeless."
Jeff
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Click pictures for a larger version.
Savage's 10ML-II Smokeless Muzzleloader with Realtree
Hardwoods HD stock.
The 10ML-II is equipped with high-visibility fiber-optic
open sights...
...and is also factory drilled and tapped for scope
bases.
The 10ML-II features Savage's excellent AccuTrigger.
The bolt holds a standard shotgun primer for ease of use
and positive ignition.
PowerBelt's revolutionary AeroTip bullet.
All you need for a good deer load.
The combination of Accurate's 5744 and PowerBelt's
AeroTip bullet offers all the accuracy, velocity and terminal
performance you need for a successful hunt. Muzzleloading made
simple!
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