Savage 10ML-II Load Data
Please Note: Randy Wakeman, his agents, heirs and assigns, hereby disclaims all possible liability for damages including, actual, incidental and consequential, resulting from usage of the information or advice contained in these articles. Use the data and advice at your own risk, and with extreme caution.
Above is actually four shots at 100 yards out of a Savage 10ML-II with .458 diameter 300 grain Barnes Original Semi-Spitzer Soft Points and Orange MMP .458 / 50 sabots. The Savage 10ML-II is capable of far more accuracy than you can use in the field, but it still is satisfying to have. If the accuracy doesn't sway you, the low cost per shot, use of non-corrosive propellants, comparatively low recoil, and the Savage Accu-Trigger surely will.
These loads have been evaluated with Winchester 209, Federal 209A, and CCI 209M primers. I've found Federal 209A to be the primer of choice, the most consistent. All loads have yielded sub 1-1/2" 100 yard accuracy in multiple Savage 10ML-II rifles, over many thousands of rounds, over the last seven years. All loads have proved to be devastating on deer-sized game and larger game. All smokeless powder charges are by weight.
Note from Western Powders on Accurate 5744:
Accurate Powder designations: Since 2003/4 all prefixes of Accurate Powder designations such as “XMR” or “XMP” no longer apply.The products are merely designated as “Accurate” or abbreviated with a single “A” prefix. As long as the numerics are the same example: A-"5744", the powder will have the same characterists/burn rate and the same loads will apply.
SMOKELESS POWDER LOADS: 250 grain bullets
MMP short black sabot, Hornady .452 XTP Start load: 40 gr. Accurate 5744. Do not exceed load 45 gr.
MMP short black sabot, Hornady .452 XTP Start load: 37 gr. Vihtavuori N110. Do not exceed load 44 gr.
SMOKELESS POWDER LOADS: 275 grain bullets
MMP 50 x .451 HPH12 sabot, Barnes #45105 "XPB." Start load: 57 gr. Vihtavuori N120. Do not exceed 62 grains N120. (Personally, I use 59 grains as maximum.)
SMOKELESS POWDER LOADS: 290-300 grain bullets
Barnes T-EZ .451 290 Grain Tipped Flat Base. Use with MMP HPH-12 sabot for best results. Start load: 55 gr. Vihtavuori N120. Do not exceed 60 gr. N120.
Barnes T-EZ .451 290 Grain Tipped Flat Base. Use with MMP HPH-12 sabot for best results. Start load 40 gr. Accurate 5744. Do not exceed 45 grains 5744.
Barnes T-EZ .451 290 Grain Tipped Flat Base. Use with MMP HPH-12 sabot for best results. Start load 60 gr. Alliant Reloder 7. Do not exceed 67 grains Reloder 7.
MMP 50 x .458 Orange Sabot, Barnes Original .458 Spitzer Soft Point. Start load: 55 gr. Vihtavuori N120. Do not exceed 60 gr. N120. (Personally, I most often use 57 grains.)
MMP 50 x .458 Orange Sabot, Barnes Original .458 Spitzer Soft Point. Start load 60 gr. Alliant Reloder 7. Optimum, often 62 - 65 grains.) Do not exceed 67 grains Reloder 7.
Barnes MZ-Expander 300 grain, supplied sabot, Start load 40 gr. Accurate 5744. Do not exceed 45 grains 5744.
MMP short black sabot, Hornady 300 gr. .452 XTP, Start load 40 gr. Accurate 5744. Do not exceed 45 grains 5744.
MMP 50 x .458 Orange Sabot, Hornady 300 gr. .458 Hollow Point #4500. Start load: 55 gr. Vihtavuori N120. Do not exceed 60 gr. N120.
BLACKPOWDER, Pyrodex, Triple Se7en, and Blackhorn 209 Loads:
Start load for all loads: 90 gr. BY VOLUME blackpowder FFg, Triple 7 FFg, Pyrodex RS, Pyrodex P, or Blackhorn 209. By far, the best performing "blackpowder substitute" class of propellant is Blackhorn 209.
Do not exceed load for all loads: 120 gr. by volume.
MMP short black sabot, Hornady 250 grain .452 XTP.
Barnes MZ-Expander 300 grain, supplied sabot.
MMP 50 x .458 Orange Sabot, Hornady .458 300 gr. Hollow Point #4500
348 gr. Powerbelt, Hollow point or AeroTip. (Do NOT use with smokeless.)
405 gr. Powerbelt, Hollow point. (Do NOT use with smokeless.)Bullet note: It is easy to confuse the Hornady XTP "Mag" with the standard Hornady XTP. The standard .452 Hornady XTP generally groups extremely well, the XTP "Mag" bullets do not. Avoid them.
Sabot note: Get current formulation sabots direct from http://mmpsabots.com or phone MMP at 870-741-5019. That's the only way to insure current formulation product, and consistent accuracy. Barnes MZ-Expanders come with current formulation MMP sabots.
Triple Se7en note: Triple Se7en is notorious for forming a hard, slag-like fouling ring in the breechplug area. Immediately after the first two shots, crack your breechplug and retighten it when shooting Triple 7. This breaks the bond line, and helps avoid a stuck breech plug. Use of Winchester "Triple Se7en primers" helps reduce crud formation.
Blackpowder, Pyrodex, and Triple Se7en note: As always, when using these corrosive propellants, your gun must be thoroughly cleaned at the end of the day to avoid damage to your barrel. This is true with any muzzleloader. Start at "start load" working up in 5 grain volumetric increments until group size starts to open, then back down 5 grains by volume.
Smokeless Powder Note: the best performance with 250 grain bullets has been with Vihtavuori N110 or Accurate 5744. The best performance with the Barnes 275 gr. XPB, and all 290-300 grain saboted bullets has been with Vihtavuori N120, Alliant Reloder 7, or Accurate 5744. All smokeless charges are BY WEIGHT. Start at "start load." Those are all very effective deer hunting loads right there. Work up a load in 1 grain increments by weight if you wish, until group size begins to open up, then back down one grain of powder charge by weight to finalize.
Now in its 10th consecutive year of production, the Savage 10ML-II is fully developed product. Savage has strived to give their customers choices of powder, but of course has no control over local availability. That why THREE different powder manufacturers are offered as Savage recommended powders: Accurate 5744, Vihtavuori N110, and IMR SR4759 in the current owner's manual, free for the download from http://www.savagearms.com .
Please Note: Randy Wakeman, his agents, heirs and assigns, hereby disclaims all possible liability for damages including, actual, incidental and consequential, resulting from usage of the information or advice contained in this article.
Use the data and advice at your own risk, and with extreme caution. The suggested loads listed here are for reference only, and are not necessarily endorsed or recommended by Savage Arms.
MAKING IT EASY
Often, when we ask for more choices, we can end up making things far more complicated than it needs to be. I should know, because I have spent many years doing you just that, trying to quantify minutiae. There is no substitute for accuracy and shot placement. Place a good bullet in the right spot and it is game over. It is that simple and the Savage gets you there very, very quickly. A 10ML-II nets you an easy 100 yards more effective range than any slug gun, for example, and gives you the ability to place a shot with more precision than any other muzzleloader made today. It does so not only with cleaner, more consistent propellants it is designed for but also with the fundamentals of rifle build quality: that means a one-piece stock, a recoil lug, pillar bedding, a floated barrel, a fast-lock-time action, and a precison trigger. All of these things combine to making your hunting more enjoyable and more successful.
Step One: Get a couple packs of standard, 209 shotshell primers. CCI 209M or Federal 209A primers work superbly.
Step Two: Get some Accurate 5744. 42 grains by actual weight is very close to a ideal load. With a 250 grain sabot, it means 2150 fps or so muzzle velocity, with a 300 grain sabot, it means 2000 fps or so at the muzzle. Either way, this moderate load generates over 2500 FPE. This moderate, comfortable load has been whacking deer for close to fifteen years by now with super-quick, super-clean one-shot kills. In fast, first shot out of a 10ML-II at 225 yards with this load did just that for my eight-two years young father.
Step Three: Proper saboted bullet / bore fit is critical for best accuracy. Your saboted bullet should load smoothly, but firmly. An interference fit of .003 - .004 inches is ideal. At the moment, the premier choices for me are the Barnes 290 grain T-EZ tipped Flat Base bullet or the .458 Barnes Original 300 grain Semi-Spitzer Soft Point. The 290 gr. Spit-Fire T-EZ FB Barnes is their part #45174 with a factory published ballistic coefficient of .223. This bullet comes with an easy-loading blue sabot, you might want to substitute in an HPH-12 MMP as previously mentioned for a bit stiffer, more accurate load. It did a fabulous job on the 6-1/2 foot Minnesota Black Bear taken last year with terminal performance similiar to the classic "tube type" gapping hollow-point Barnes 300 grain MZ-Expander that has filled up its share of my walls. It flys better, though.
Barnes # 457010 is the .458 "Barnes Original" 300 grain Semi-Spitzer that has a published ballistic coefficient of .291 and a tough, .032 in. thick jacket. It is a supremely good flyer for a muzzleloading projectile and it has never failed to do its job whether it is a big, fat wild boar at 10 yards or a Pronghorn at 287 yards. It has taken just about every North American Big Game animal out of the Savage 10ML-II you can mention at a wide variety of ranges to past 300 yards. It requires the Orange, .458 / 50 MMP sabot as mentioned. The bullets themselves are sold in boxes of fifty.
Step Four: Go have fun. Practice and then go whack 'em stack 'em. Though deer aren't nearly as impressed with velocity (or recoil) as we sometimes are, if you want more velocity Vihtavuori N120 or Alliant Reloder 7 can both net you 2300 fps and 3525 FPE of energy with bughole accuracy out of the Savage 10ML-II if that's what you're looking for, discussed in detail in other articles.
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