Mike,

I would think you could get close to 2550 fps with this bullet if you wanted to. That's where I'm hoping to get to. My Tikka barrel is something like 22 7/8" I can't remember though.

I'd like to use it as an elk bullet in the heavy timber.

Similar thread over on Medium bore rifles- it's titled "7x57 which 175 grain bullet for deer".

I was thinking of trying some 175 grain Hornady RN bullets in my Tikka 7mm-08. You can seat them out pretty far and lose less case capacity. Something to try out. Should be a VERY heavy hitter!

Well, I did some load testing this weekend. I used the "Barnes" method of load development, whereby you first check a number of powders (in my case 4) for pressure by loading 3 rounds in increments up to the max listed load. You shoot these (12 in all) and make sure no high pressure signs are seen. Then, you load batches (I did 3 each) of each powder at full-house hunting loads (premise being you're looking for a full-power load for hunting, not a target load). I deducted one powder after the pressure tests, so I was left with 3. Results:

Varget: good group (less than 1")
H380: good-decent (2 shots less than 1", 1 flyer)
RL15: bad group (about 3")

So, I'll load up a larger sample of the Varget and H380 (5 each), and whichever shoots best, is my new hunting load.

Thus, in 31 rounds I've tested 4 powders and found the most accurate hunting load among them. This is a lot better than my old method (3-or 5-shot groups with each load starting at recommended level and working up by 1/2 or 1 gr each, plus changing powders and bullets, primers, etc. It used to take me 100 or more rounds to find a hunting load for a gun.

Thanks for the info...