So to avoid conflict im just talking about paper and steel targets, but what is the farthest you have been able to reliably hit with the MLII and what are you shooting? I just bought one on here and am anxiously awaiting its arrival!!!
Thanks
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So to avoid conflict im just talking about paper and steel targets, but what is the farthest you have been able to reliably hit with the MLII and what are you shooting? I just bought one on here and am anxiously awaiting its arrival!!!
Thanks
i know absolutely nothing about black powder so pardon my incompetence. Was elk hunting last year and hunting buddy's brought one for shits and giggles. We where hitting steel at 200, It was fun but i wouldn't take a game shot with it at that length. 150 was a whole lot easier.
mnhunter I think you will be surprised how far you can reliably hit with a 10ML-II. My son has used his in Illinois several years and killed several 300lbs. Deer at 300 yds and over. We use 250 gr Hornady at about 2300 fps I think it is, I am not at my loading bench right now. Maybe he will get on here and add to this.
As stated above I have shot numerous deer at 300 plus yards and have had none run over 10 yards after the shot. mnhunter if you would like my load info. let me know and I will get it from my shop and send it to you. As with anything else its more the indian than the arrow ;D
Sniper any load info you want to send would be great. I understand its more indian than arrow, but have you ever tried to shoot a bad arrow reliably? ??? I primarily hunt with stick and string. My two favorite spots are just over 500 yards apart and it seems like in bow season i always pick the wrong stand for the day. I got a spot to put a stand that could cover both if i can reach 300 yards duruing our firearm and muzzleloader season with the MLII.
The Savage 10ML with smokeless powder is not a center fire rifle, but can easily reach out to 300 yrds and cleanly kill game. But IMO it takes lots of practice on paper, calm conditions and a solid rest to ethically pull the trigger on game at that distance. The table below shows the ballistics for my rifles pet load of 58gr N120 and the Barnes Origional 300gr bullet which has one of the highest BC's (.286) available for 50 cal ML. I have my Savage ML load "0" at its the maximum PBR of 185 yrds. That allows me to use the Leupold B&C reticle drop compensation bars out to 300 yards. But note that bullet drop and wind deflection are significant factors in bullet placement past 200 yards. I have shot only one deer at 275 yards which dropped in its tracks. The bullet hit a rib going in and exploded sending a chunk up through the spine. If you can consitently punch 50 cal holes in a 6" plate at 300 yards, then cleanly killing medium size game with a Savage ML out to 300 yards is doable, as others have confirmed in this post.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps0ed0d6a1.jpg
Hey sniper15545, you have a PM.
Thanks,
dj
Congrats on your new muzzle loader. In my opinion, it is by far the best muzzle loader you can buy. First thing I would suggest is to read the owners manual and be sure to clean the barrel to get rid of the factory grease if is a new one.
Second, keep an eye on the breechplug. I have found after 30-40 shots it needs to be drilled out with a 5/32" drill bit. I also change the ventliner around 75 shots. This has definitely helped with keeping the accuracy up.
Also you will love using smokeless powder. Don't have to clean the barrel everyday that you shoot it.
One other thing to keep in mind that during the warmer weather, you have to give the barrel time to cool between shots. 15 minutes is not to long.
This is a parallel to this topic, but if I may add that while my SS ML10 is very fussy, it would reliably at one point in its life it produced 5 and 6 shot groups of about 1/2" at 265 yes. Obviously under ideal conditions. The result of lots group shooting was the failure of a premium scope. Unfortunately afterward its been hard to get tothat standard again. However deer have dropped at 150-200 yds. I passed up a couple the last day of the early season last week at 200 yes because of a gusty cross wind. An"indian" problem.
Ya know, if you click on the Go Advanced button there are table tools there so one could actually read all that data your took the time to enter.Quote:
Originally Posted by jpdown
As for the distance question, I'm comfortable shooting out to 250 yards or so but I typically won't take a shot over 200 yards. In my neck of the woods I figure if I can't get within 150-200 yards of a deer I'm not much of a hunter and don't deserve the meat.
I've shot mine to 200 at the range and got pretty good groups (3-4") if I do my part. Wind plays a huge part when you get that far. At 100, I can keep them touching most of the time. Shooting 44.0 gr of 5744 with a 250gr XTP in a black MMP sabot.