If it's any consolation Waterrat, I'm allways late to the party. I bought my M77RS Ruger 30 plus years a go in 35 Whelen. the dealer had 2 dozen of them he let me pick the wood I wanted,only looked 4 or as recall.I wanted good straight grain thru the wrist for strength and stability. He was selling new Remington factory 250 gr loads at $7 a box ,should have bought a case. I put a 2.5 x 8 Vari X lll on it and never had a problem. Long story short 56 gr 4320 gave me 2550 fps and good groups with the 225 NPT. 2 elk and some deer later the Whelen rep is on the money for me. That load works in my gun ,it is 1 grain over the max in the Nosler reloading guide but it works. Somewhere between Nosler #5 and Nosler # 6 the 300 fps increase max velocity with 225 gr bullets happened. Simply amazing.. Wasn't until the interval between Nosler#6 and Nosler# 7 that the top loads for 250 gr bullets went up 100-125 fps. Some barrel difference for sure as the test barrel for #5 & #6 was a 24" Lilja while they used a 26" Pac Nor for data in #7 & #8. Things change all the time my Whelen still is good and can allways rely on it to hold up it's end with a properly placed shot as well as more recoil than you really need. That Ruger don't weigh much and a joy to carry which a guy does a lot more than pull the trigger if you bought it to hunt. One other thing, just like Elmer Keith said " you can eat right up to the hole" I've found to be true it doesn't blow the hell out of the meat. Be awhile before I let go of mine.MB
" Cheapest velocity in the world comes from a long barrel and I sure do like them. MB "
