A lot depends on the barrel. I have owned a couple of 7mm RMs with custom barrels that would, with equivalent charges, equal or exceed the velocities listed in the Nosler manuals. I briefly owned a No. 1 stainless/synthetic that would exceed the book velocities with virtually any bullet and powder charge in any manual. I had a tang-safety Ruger 77 that would not get within 200 fps of book velocities with any of the bullet/powder combinations that I tried. My nephew has a box stock post-64 Model 70 Classic with a 24-inch barrel that matches up with the book velocities achieved with 26-inch custom barrels.
Unfortunately, there are enough variables involved that it basically works out to be the proverbial "crap shoot". What's important is how well a rifle groups with a given bullet/ powder combination--you can use a chronograph and a ballistic calculator to figure out how to use it.
Last edited by mudhen; 11/11/09.
