Just a couple of thoughts:
1) I bought a Chrony F1 in order to do this sort of playing around. It was $100+-. Folks laugh at it around here, but it helped me figure out things that I would have otherwise been guessing on.
2) To get it to 356 WIN levels, we calculated 10% off-MAX. Remember that even a load that's 5% off MAX will be easier on the shoulder. Felt recoil is not following a linear curve in this situation.
3) 350 RM is very close to my 35 Whelen. What I found was that 200 grainers were better performers-- just saying YMMV.
4) Bullet strength matters. My first try on a buck was with 200 grain REM PSPCL's. I shot 4 into a buck at 80 yards and he stood there and looked at me. I then went to the SPCL's (round-nosed) and got a reasonable expansion. The PSPCL's were just too strong to open up well on a whitetail. I took at least one deer a year for the next decade with that load.
5) My GOTO deer rifle is a 308 WIN downloaded to 300 Savage levels. I highly recommend this kind of downloading. Done right, you can end up with very accurate loads, and the brass lasts forever.
