[denton]

Among the many sarcastic questions posted, helping lampoon eBay, was my own small contribution. So the seller favored me with an email, telling me that eBay had yanked his auction. Tried the link again, and sure enough, they pulled it.

Ridiculous.

I'll be very happy with whatever my new caliber does give me, whether it's 2800 or 3000. Jack's exactly right, the deer won't ever know the difference.

The calculation that leads me to believe that it's at least 2900 is this: In similar cartridges I have tested, adding enough powder to increase peak pressure by 2-3,000 PSI also increases MV by 100 fps. In a modern action, you could run the pressure up to 58 KPSI (or even 62 KPSI if you're crazy about getting every last ounce out of it). Listed cartridges are loaded to a max of 51 KPSI. 58 - 51 is 7 KPSI, so you should be able to safely get somewhere between roughly 250 to 350 fps above book. That is, if you instrument the rifle, so you can see the pressure. What this is indicating is, with mid-weight bullets, you might be able to get quite close to 7mm Mag performance. I'm sure that as you go to heavier bullets, there would be more difference.

Some cartridges are very underrated. My instrumented 8x57 gives me 2750 fps with a 175 grain bullet, and at very safe pressures. That result is consistent with European ammo, loaded for modern firearms. My 6.5x55 gives me 3075 fps with 120 grainers, and at measured pressures that are quite conservative.