The Savage and several other makers allow smokeless powders. Other's have toyed with smokeless as well.
Smokeless powders offer three advantages to me. One is that it is cheaper per shot than triple seven or other powders except maybe Pyrodex P, for me. A can of 3031 or 5744 are $28 and Pyrodex for me is $14. I use 70 grains to 90 grains of Pyrodex , and up to 40 grains of 3031. Pretty close on price.
Smokeless is cleaner, but not clean. As mentioned, recoil to energy served is vastly reduced.
Lastly, smokeless powders are easy to get even here in Hawaii, shotgun primers are easier to get than are musket caps which I have to buy by the caselot ... $225 and now that I have modified my rifle to shoot with cartridges, the pistol primers too are way easier to get than are #11's or musket caps... therefore... smokeless has that peripheral advantage also.
Smokeless powders in guns not designed for them, or for guns that one does not have the blessings of the manufacture for, should not be experimented with. Smokeless is in no way related to black powder or its substitutes when it comes to energy per grainweight of powder, and until you have some official guidline (FROM THE MANUFACTURER) you don't know what is a safe load for the gun. This brings up HP Muzzleloading.
Toby Bridges, who also happens to be a friend of mine, had a gun that blew up on him. Toby took the path of criticizing Savage of their design of the breech plug. Savage, and others, have subsequently smeared Toby by publishing personal emails and other "private" documents on the internet. This precludes me from looking at any of the parties as behaving in a responsible manner in this issue.
There is no reason to suspect that the Savage is anything but a fine muzzleloader. Why this particular one blew up, is probably anyones guess, and Toby is the only one who is likely ever to know for sure. Anyone who purchases a Savage in my opinion should follow the recommendations of Savage and enjoy their muzzleloader for a lifetime.
Smokeless powder is a dream to shoot. It is smooth, less recoil, clearner, and nicer to shoot when compared to Black Powder or Pyrodex. Smokeless powder muzzleloaders are just going to become more and more popular as more and more people shoot them, and more and more states accept them. But you DON'T use smokeless powders in your Knight, CVA, Thompson, etc.
Much Aloha ...
