by Phil W. Johnston
Handgun Editor

My wife, Cindy, and I had the great pleasure of breaking bread with Ron Coburn, president and CEO of Savage Arms, during the hectic SHOT Show in New Orleans last January. Coburn and I have several things in common, including shooting and motorcycles for starters.

During the course of the quick lunch, the conversation turned to Savage's new 10ML muzzleloader model designed for smokeless powder as well as Pyrodex. While I'm not usually excited about rifles and such, I have had a long-running gun battle with a vocal bunch of people who feel threatened by any front stuffer that looks different than the one they use. This debate reached a climax in my opinion, when I spoke in favor of two bills that were recently introduced in the North Dakota (ND) legislature. In a nutshell, these two bills were aimed to help our senior hunters hunt a few more years. Had they passed, they would have allowed the use of telescopic sights on muzzleloaders during the muzzleloader-only season here in ND, and the second one would have allowed the use of lighted sight pins on archery tackle during hunting season. Both of these bills were written so the above equipment could only be used by people 55 years of age and older. The "traditionalists" in ND did a great job of trouncing the bill and the legislature did what they're elected to do-they killed the bills because there was but one whisper in the closet in support.

During the debates that raged here, the main testimony concerned someone getting their foot in the door and then systematically working to destroy our traditional muzzleloading season-a season that they had worked so hard to establish. Neither of these bills would have mandated that anyone use a scope on their front stuffer; the bills would only have made it an option for people who can no longer see perfectly. In my testimony I pointed out that unless the traditional crowd is walking or possibly riding a horse out to the hunting grounds while clad in homespun clothing and homemade leather boots, "traditional" is pretty much out the door. Throw in the use of Pyrodex powder, which hit the market in 1976 or the even newer (and great) Pyrodex pellets and hot modern percussion caps, and that pretty much takes care of traditional ideas.

Door Blasted Open
Rather than sticking a foot in the door, however, Savage blasted the door wide open with the introduction of the 10ML. In one fell swoop, Savage took muzzleloading into the 21st Century with a blue steel or stainless front stuffer that works nicely with modern smokeless powder as well as Hodgdon's Pyrodex powder or pellets. While we're no muzzleloading expert to be sure, this rig piqued our interest right off the bat. (A test report on the Savage 10ML by Toby Bridges appeared first in print anywhere in Gun Week, July 10, 2000.)

Up front, the 10MLSS defines what a modern rifle should be. The 10MLSS features a button-rifled 24-inch, .50-caliber stainless steel barrel and stainless receiver all set into a great looking, durable, weatherproof black synthetic stock. The barrel is pillar-bedded and the barrel and action are attached to the stock with two stainless steel Allen-head bolts. The rearmost action bolt also serves as the front trigger guard attachment, and also serves as the bolt stop. It must be backed out slightly to allow bolt removal.

The 10MLSS is equipped with excellent sights-a fully adjustable rear sight and bead blade front sight. In keeping with the modern design, the rifle is also drilled and tapped for scope bases, and all major manufacturers build systems to work on the new muzzleloader.

The trigger on the sample broke like ice, somewhere in excess of 10 pounds we'd guess. Actually not bad, considering the litigious society we've become. Fortunately the Savage trigger is adjustable and we managed to pull about 3 pounds or so off of the weight. To Savage's credit, there is no creep and the trigger is good enough to allow some really great shooting out of the box.

The black synthetic stock looks great, fit my average frame nicely and it should look great for quite some time. It features a rubber recoil pad and the entire rig should be weather resistant for a lifetime or two.

Typical ML Features
Typical of all front stuffers, the 10ML features a removable breech plug that is easily accessed once the bolt is removed. Savage supplies a tool that makes removal of the breech plug a snap. The breech plug is tipped with a removable and replaceable vent liner, and Savage recommends that this vent liner be replaced every 100 rounds (smokeless) and 50 rounds (Pyrodex). The vent liner is removed from the breech plug with an included Allen wrench. Savage recommends cleaning every 50 rounds (smokeless) and no more than 20 rounds of black powder shooting.

Typical of several other in-line muzzleloaders in the industry, the 10ML gets its fire from a standard 209 shotshell primer. The rifle is loaded in the normal fashion (powder first, then projectile) and the primer is slipped into a cut in the bolt when you're ready to put a substantial hole in what you're shooting at. More on this, a bit later.

Billed as the only muzzleloader in the world designed from the get-go to be used with smokeless powder, the new 10ML indeed blows the competition out of the way, if one measures things in terms that include accuracy, power, convenience and safety. Traditional it isn't-Savage never intended it to be, either.

Savage recommends that the 10ML be loaded with IMR-4227, Accurate Arms XMP-5744, or Vihtavouri N110 powder behind .45-caliber pistol bullets seated in black Muzzleload Magnum Products sabots (MMP Sabots, 518 Buck Hollow Lane, Dept. GWK, Harrison, AR 72601). Judging from our limited experience, we're going to use MMP sabots anytime we're using a front stuffer from now on. Savage feels strongly enough about this combination that they supply a few black MMP sabots and Hornady 250-grain .45-caliber XTP JHPs with each rifle.

In addition to the above powder choices, Toby Bridges has forgotten more about the 10ML than we'll ever know and he's piled up an impressive data bank on smokeless loads for the 10ML. He also recommends experimentation with: IMR-SR4756; Alliant 2400; Vihtavouri 3N37, and Vihtavouri N350; this is a good place to point out that we're talking about weighed charges of smokeless powder. You set your powder measure to throw charges that are checked on a typical powder scale. If you're working with Pyrodex, it's to be handled by volume just like it's handled for any other muzzleloader. Savage also recommends that Pyrodex RS, Select or Pellets be used with any full-caliber lead projectiles with charges up to 150 grains (volume).

Relied on Bridges
Our sample 10MLSS arrived about a week prior to the opening of our regular deer gun season, so we relied entirely on Bridges' work to get started. In no case were we interested in any of the smoky loads.

While the factory-installed open sights are great, we can't see the front sight any longer and opted to install a new crystal-clear Burris Signature 1.5-6 power variable scope on the 10ML. Equipped with Burris' Posi-Lock system, the scope is a natural on any hunting rig. We used Burris Signature rings to install the scope, so scope mounting was a cinch-no ring lapping or critical alignment necessary. We used Burris bases to round out the package.

Because we didn't have the time to work up dozens of loads for the 10ML, we simply grabbed one of Bridges' recommended loads and headed for the range. We set our vintage powder measure to throw 44.4 grains of Vihtavouri N110 (by weight) behind the black MMP sabots with 250-grain Hornady .45-caliber XTP JHPs for our range session.

On the range, it became quickly apparent that this muzzleloader is like none other that we're familiar with. We first set the zero at 25 yards and then backed the target off to 100 yards and got down to business. We knew we were working with a thoroughbred right off the bat.

With the rig printing in the center of a Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C target it was time to run a few rounds down range for group. The first two shots were touching and the third one opened the group to .998 inches, center-to-center, about an inch above the aiming point. Few modern cartridge rifles are capable of better accuracy, out of the box. In addition, this load leaves the 24-inch barrel doing 2,353 feet-per-second (fps), while generating over 3,000 foot-pounds (FP) of muzzle energy, according to Bridges.

Because this combination isn't legal for ND's muzzleloading season (smokeless powder and scope), we opted to use it during our regular deer gun season after a quick check with the North Dakota Game & Fish Department.

The hunt itself was rather anti-climatic for lack of better words. We had bluebird weather and when a nice young buck passed within 40 yards as we walked out to the vehicle we couldn't pass up the shot. The fact that it was in a place we could drive to also entered into the decision. At any rate, the buck folded at the shot and we had fresh venison for the table.

It had been at least 10 years since we'd used a high-powered rifle on a deer and the devastation caused by the Hornady XTP hollow point was unbelievable, to say the least. The fist-sized exit hole made it clear that we'd not recover this bullet. The buck dropped like a stone at the shot, as well. Impressive performance, to be sure.

We've long been of the opinion that "we're OK and you're OK." We prefer a revolver, bow or 28-gauge Ruger over and under for our hunting, but this doesn't mean that we think that you should only be able to use like equipment. Heck, contrary to the way some folks think, we are all in this water together and the sooner we realize this the better. Regardless of the way anyone thinks, the new Savage 10ML is the finest muzzleloading rifle in the business, currently. It is fully capable of centerfire rifle accuracy-a good one at that, and it is as convenient to use as a front stuffer can be. It's still loaded from the front end, one shot at a time. Will I give up hunting with a revolver to switch to the 10ML-nope, not a chance. Still there are places where one can't hunt with a handgun and there are seasons that require a single-shot muzzleloader or slug shotgun. In that instance, we'd grab the Savage in a heartbeat. If you're into muzzleloading and you aren't hooked on gun cleaning, generating smoke, or the mess, this baby should be high on your list. Traditional, it's not.

Carrying a suggested retail price of $507 (stainless) or $451 (blued finish), we'd call either a bargain. As we've said before, we have yet to see a Savage that doesn't flat shoot!

For more information about the 10ML or 10MLSS, drop Savage a line at: 100 Springdale Road, Dept. GWK, Westfield, MA 01085, or you can find them on the Internet at: www.savagearms.com.