Some of you may have read my intro, I am fixing up a savage for a coworker, it's been in storage for 10 years so first thing I did was open up the carb and clean it, it was dry but the jets were plugged and the needle and seat were junk, I replaced the needle and seat, bought a Raptor petcock, new gas in tank, new battery. it will start and idle, but that's it if you try to give it any gas it backfires out the exhaust and stalls, also the mixture screw seems to have no effect on the way it runs except if you turn it all the way in it will stall, anything from 1/8 out to 3 turns out makes no diff. I noticed when cleaning the pilot jet there are no holes on its sides like the one shown in the picture on the download cd, is this normal? also the opening on the screwdriver slot end of the jet is much larger than the other end, again normal? everything else in the carb looks good, no tears in the plunger diaphragm, the small diaphragm on the side looks good also, float level is good, no fuel pouring out the bowl vents, I blew compressed air through all passages, all seem clear, any ideas? New spark plug also!

Are there any other mods done to the bike?  Did you check the spark plug?  

Is the bike stock? What sizes are the pilot and main jets?

Just looked at my small collection of jets. On some the screwdriver side is larger than the outlet and on one other it's the reverse. So I doubt that's the problem. L

If the plug looks good, what happens if you try to give it gas with the choke out one notch?

You have to assume it was running good when it was parked. Don't start to modify anything now and get into more problems than what you have now. If it appears to be stock jetting etc, and hasn't been hacked, get it running right first, then mod it later, and then only if needed, and only where needed.

Make sure the bowl is staying full to the gasket, or else it won't take much throttle, just as you're having trouble w/. If it is full, then you are back into the carb, for finding the problem.
If the bowl isn't full, then check for blockage upstream to the tank.

Smeone said you can check the fuel level w/ a clear hose connected to the nipple on the bottom of the bowl, and then open the drain plug.

Ok, I assume it ran well when put up 10 years ago, but I don't know for sure. It's is all stock. I did not remove the needle from the slide but I will check that. I will also check the float level again, I did replace the spark plug. The smaller end of the pilot jet is so small my wife's sewing needle wont fit thru. Only other question I can think of right now is will it run okay with the boot between the carb and air cleaner removed or does it need to be there? it's off right now for ease of removal of the carb again and again, will be reinstalled when done messing with it. Thanks for all the help!

Here's how it runs now, click picture for video

Carb body is spotless, I agree it's lean, today I brought the carb to work and removed the white spacer and replaced it with one of exactly half the thickness, this should richen it up a bit, also looked at the jets with a magnifying glass it"s got a 47.5 pilot and a 152 main jet, I'm heading out to the garage to reinstall the carb in a bit, will report back.

"Sounds good to me.....ready to ride"    I second that LeadFoot!