Nosler's data goes up to 2900 with 8208 in a 26" bbl. I couldn't get near that before I hit pressure in a 24". H4895 has a slower burn rate. I don't mind stepping beyond 60K psi. The same brass in 270 Win is loaded to 65K. I think much of the data for the Whelen is conservative, and uses older powders that are not optimal. I didn't feel like I was stretching anything outside of any safe limitation. The H4895 in my gun didn't produce a steep pressure curve.
I'm getting prepped for a move right now, and can't find that particular load notebook, or I would tell you exactly what charges I shot of which powders, and what my results were. I use a Shaw 24" Midway special barrel, tightly headspaced, new Hornady brass which caused a small amount of resistance upon closing the bolt, CCI 200's. When the primers started cratering, I was too warm. That was the "pressure" standard I chose.
If you look at the new Speer data, 180's are loaded to 3172 fps and the 220's are loaded to 2826. Given that, with the right powder, 3000fps with a 200 should be possible within pressure spec for the Whelen.
