[Dillinger]

I got this in an e-mail today. This is pretty graphic, so I am not going to post the pictures here, but here is the story.

A very good shooting friend of mine from Winnipeg, MB Canada sent me a link to these photos in a web album. A Winnipeg area shooter by the name of Trent Procter who works for Manitoba Hydro was sighting in his Savage muzzleloader rifle and nearly lost his hand. Luckily, he had his hand on the scope instead of the forearm when this happened. (Incidentally, the Savage is the only muzzleloader that is supposed to withstand the high pressures of smokeless powder.)
I don't know if this failure happened due to a defect in the rifle itself or if the shooter perhaps didn't properly seat the projectile against the powder firmly. This is VERY important with any muzzleloader, especially when shooting black powder.
Doc Martin
Webmaster Coon 'n Crockett Muzzleloaders Club Grand Forks, ND - USA www.coon-n-crockett.org <http://www.coon-n-crockett.org/>;
This is what the rifle looks like:


This is a page I took from the manual that mentions the smokeless loads:

This is the note that was sent with the email I received:If you guys know of anyone who is shooting a Savage like this let them know that there are many recorded cases of them failing such as Proc's did. Savage is the only muzzle loader that claims it can handle smokeless powder loads. Cabelas won't even carry this product anymore.. This email has gone to the CEO of Savage Arms via another hunter who has contacted Trent. The same thing happened to him awhile back, he was lucky as his fore hand was on his scope as he was sighting in.


This is a link to the story on the owners' preferred forum ( with respect to hpmuzzleloading.com )

N.A. Muzzleloader Hunting

The e-mail I have has a few more very graphic photos if anyone wants to see them, PM me your e-mail addy.

Suffice to say, anyone with one of these rifles should be VERY careful going forward....

JD

[skullcrusher]

Wholly crap! PM in sent. A couple of friends of mine have these.

[canebrake]

Ouch!!!

Get the word out!

[willfully armed]

ho-lee-sheot!