My background.
Shooting since I was 3, I'm now 64.
reloading for years
Smokeless experience: 19 years.
Expert? NO, there are those of us with a lot of experience but no experts.
This discussion has been going on for years. I have seen Savages blown up, several as a matter of fact, barrels bulged, stocks blown apart and scope bells blown off.
Bottom line is this, make a loading mistake with any firearm and you are holding a potential pipe bomb.
Almost every gun I have seen bulged or blown was because of a double load.
Several years back I blew one up, but it was not a Savage, it was a robustly built .45 with a 1.250 shank for 5", the load was experimental with a new powder on the market, no pressure traces or data to go by, to save the boring details my saving grace was the fact that God had mercy on me, and I was shooting from a large bull bag.
My left hand was out of the equation, fortunately.
When I fired the gun it knocked me off the bench and I landed on my feet holding half the stock which held the action and the rear half of the scope. No barrel, no scope bell and the front half of the stock was missing.
To say I was fortunate is a gross understatement, my only injury was a busted lip from my right hand holding the grip, and my pride of course.
My scarred-up bull bag I still shoot from is a grim reminder every time I shoot.
I had to MAKE myself pull the trigger again a few days later but believe me, I have a new found respect for guns in general now.
I NEVER shoot my guns without sliding the bolt out and making sure I see light thru the plug bushing, NEVER!
At the time this happened I had several years experience under my belt and thousands of rounds down range with a smokeless muzzleloader, I had become careless and overly confident.
witness marks and other safety precautions are a must every single time you push a load down the barrel and pull the trigger.
I don't care who you are or how much experience you have, YOU CAN MAKE A MISTAKE! never think it can't happen to me.
Back to the Savage.
I am willing to say there has never been a Savage blown up where operator error was not the root cause, be it a double load, wrong powder charge used, powder volume, etc.
Yes, the Savage has a somewhat wimpy barrel with sight holes drilled in the top which make a weak spot but if used within design parameters it is relatively safe.
I owned about 20 of them years back and played with them extensively.
I was there at the shoot when Jerry smoked the module and it was an eye opener for all in attendance, Jerry's mistake? someone else loaded his gun.
Smokeless safety checks:
POINT YOU BARREL TO THE SKY AND CHECK FOR LIGHT THRU THE BREECH PLUG BEFORE GETTING STARTED
Never store a gun with a load in the barrel UNLESS you cover the muzzle with tape, balloon, etc
ALWAYS use a witness mark for that specific gun when loading
Never let someone else load your gun unless you are closely watching them
shoot alone if possible, added distractions multiply mistakes
LEAVE YOU PHONE IN THE TRUCK
WHEN WEIGHING POWDER CHARGES ONLY HAVE ONE SPECIFIC POWDER ON THE TABLE
use known charges for specific bullet weights
Smokeless guns have received a bad rap over the years, most think they are voodoo but they can be very safe if used correctly.
