Savage 10ML-II Availability
I don't make it out to Savage Arms very often, but I've enjoyed every visit including the one earlier this year. You might think I'm always in camo, but even an older fellow like me can clean up reasonably well once in a while. They are busier than you can imagine at Savage, running three shifts six days a week, with constant cross-training and new machining centers arriving on a regular basis. Savage Arms is one of the greatest success stories in modern American firearms manufacturing history.
November 16, 2011
According to Vice-President Brian Herrick & Ron Coburn of Savage Arms as of today, nothing has changed beyond what Savage has published on their company website.
1) Yes, the Savage 10ML-II remains in production. Orders are accumulated, the tooling is switched-out and confirmed. Production is then scheduled accordingly. Savage Arms is accepting orders presently. Savage does not manufacture based on speculation, they only make what is ordered. They are running six days a week, three shifts, are at capacity, and have 20 weeks or so of work in house, already ordered.
2) No stainless production of 10ML-II models is currently planned. Everything is subject to change as market conditions dictate. While stainless is a good idea when using corrosive propellants, it offers no great benefit when using Savage-recommended smokeless loads. How many stainless steel shotguns do you see in the goose pit? 4140 chrome-moly (blued) 10ML-II muzzleloaders are offered as that is precisely what has been the best-selling model for the last eleven years.
3) Production of the 10ML-II will continue as long as sizeable quantities are ordered. If any dealer, distributor, or buyer's group wants them, Savage Arms is accepting orders right now. All they have to do is place the orders. If they order them, they will get them. If they don't, they won't.
4) As always, the future is all up to the consumer. Savage Arms listens to their customers and that includes their rimfire and centerfire customers as well. They also have their new product line-up for 2012 to support.
5) Savage Arms feels the 10ML-II is the best muzzleloader ever made and the best on the market today. I agree.
The Savage 10ML-II has never gone out of production, there is no year that they have not been run multiple times. It is produced in carefully scheduled orders just as all Savage firearms are. Some folks might think that all products in the Savage catalog are made every day. This, of course, is not the case and never has been. Production is scheduled based on backorders and specific product is run two or three times per year just as orders dictate. Savage Arms is accepting orders for the 10ML-II right now. I personally have them on order and as always, Savage produces them when the quantities indicate the tooling change-out and production run is indicated. If you would like one from me, see: http://randywakeman.com/savage0.htm and order as many as you like to join the waiting list. Or, simply order them from your favorite dealer.
This same scenario has played out every year that I can remember. If you order now, you'll have a factory fresh 10ML-II as soon as Savage decides to run them, just like last year, the year before that, and the year before that. If you wait, then by the end of 2012, they will be hard to get. Savage has sold-out every year on the 10ML-II, they do not produce on speculation, they only manufacture what is actually ordered. Savage Arms produces 450,000 firearms a year that aren't muzzleloaders, so they have a lot of customers to try to keep happy. As far as I can see, the 10ML-II is going to be "first come, first served" for the foreseeable future . . . and he who hesitates is going to have to do without.
Email: randymagic@aol.com
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