The Current Savage 10ML-II Breechplug Design
The original fully threaded breechplug used by Henry Ball in his prototypes was more than sufficient; made that way primarily due to the limitations of the shop equipment at Mr. Ball's disposal.
The current 10ML-II breechplug was developed by the Savage Arms engineering department. It was approved by both Ron Coburn and Henry Ball, and it is actually STRONGER than the original Henry Ball design. There are several provable reasons why this is the case.
A) Threading to the front reduces the cross sectional wall (root to root diameter of inner and outer threads) and place stress risers at the area of greatest strain. That is one of the reasons the threading was removed, to INCREASE the cross sectional wall.
B) The area of elongation under stress is very short (or nonexistent)
compared to the length of the CURRENT non-threaded portion that
absorbs the stress repeatedly over its length without exceeding
the yield strength of the steel.
C) The safety factor over the front unthreaded section of the CURRENT
breech plug exceeds the safety factor of many Ultra mag and WSM
barrels.
D) The safety factor forward of the current metal to metal seal area exceeds the safety factor of ANY centerfire rifle of similar design.
Now you know why Henry Ball himself endorsed, approved, and currently is quite proud of the current 10ML-II breechplug design. It is stronger than the original, its threaded portion exceeds the strength of the parent metal, and it is STRONGER than his prototype breechplugs. No centerfire rifle is built to this extremely overbuilt safety factor.
That this breechplug has survived torture testing of 129,000 PSI loadings is no accident. The current Savage 10ML-II is the strongest it has ever been, and far stronger than any muzzleloader ever offered to the consumer-- at any price. No Savage 10ML-II breechplug has ever failed, even when the gun has been triple charged, then fired. Even this level of abuse, strongly warned against by Savage Arms (never exceed recommended loadings) has failed to cause breechplug failure.
Now you know yet another reason why Henry Ball, Bill Ball, and Ron Coburn all shoot the 10ML-II with great confidence and pride. That is why I do as well, and you should also!
Email: [email protected]
© 2004, 2005 by Randy Wakeman
