.......will I be disappointed with a 24 inch barrel?...
Dogger: No, I doubt it.
Mine and my pal's rifles were built from a pair of Krieger #2's, both 9 twist,on M70 Classic actions.Warren Page's rifle, Old Betsy,had a 22" barrel and he got 3050 with the old 175 Nosler partition with 73 of WW II 4831.
In my barrel I get the following velocities:
73-H1000-175 Nosler Partition for 3075 fps.
75-H1000-160 Nosler partition and Bitterroot for 3175 fps.75.5 puts either bullet over 3200 fps.
Matt's rifle takes a grain or so more powder for the same velocities.The cartridge gets these velocities rather easily. I am getting data from other folks indicating these velocities are "typical".
I do not push the envelope with this cartridge as there is no need for it....there is "room" in my loads and I could go higher, but the cartridge in a 24" barrel is basically a 175 at about 3050-3075; a 160 at 3175-3250 (max).
No doubt you would get more speed from a longer barrel, but I wanted a general purpose hunting rifle weighing 8# or under with a 24" barrel.....that is what I got.
Docbill is right about using 7mm Weatherby data but from our experiences
watch out for the maximimum loads of Retumbo in the Nosler manual with 160's. In Matt's rifle 79.5 of Retumbo (Nosler max in the Weatherby)gave the 160 AB 3250.I dropped back to 78 gr in my rifle and got 3330(!)No blown primer but over the top. This is still a wildcat,so be cautious and work up.
