Clark I'm not offended by optimization theories. The problem with them is that they say..."Well that case goes slower but it's more efficient per grain of powder."
Well so what? If you want velocity (performance) you may have to leave some "efficiency" on the table.
I simply don't agree that nirvana in a 7mm magnum case lies with the 7 Rem Mag. It starts to stall with 7mm bullets from 160 gr and up,where the real advantage to 7mm bore size exists.
I've found the 7mm Dakota/Mashburn cases to be more "optimum" with those bullet weights, without reaching for crazy capacity,because we still have to make rifles we can carry, and shoot accurately with barrels of moderate weight and length.
All the Mashburn does, is provide a longer neck and increased capacity for more velocity without going overboard.
Since you have the tooling,you could grab a Mashburn reamer and try for yourself. That's always more interesting .
One thing that frequently makes me chuckle are the calls I get from new Mashburn users who say...."I just dumped 75-78 gr of (whatever) H1000 in there and there's still lots of room!. This thing holds a lot of powder!"
I tell them that's the reason it will make a 160 gr bullet go 3250 fps., or a 175 gr almost 3100....if you want.
It's hard to get all excited about 7 Rem Mags after that....to me anyway. I have to ask,with todays better powders and super LR bullets 160 gr and up, what is "optimum"?
