7 rem mag velocity expectation

[GrayCreed]

Hello all this year I got into Shooting and reloading 7 rem mag for the purpose of Hunting western big game. My goal is long range accuracy and good terminal effect for bullets at long range. The rifle I chose is a Tikka T3X light hunter stainless. While I did not find satisfactory accuracy with any of the factory rounds I tried (federal power shock and fusion) I quickly found not one but (2) very accurate loads for my gun. Load 1. Nosler brass, 7977 powder (I can substitute h1000) and fusion 175g bullets. Approximately .5-.6 moa (if I do my part)
Supposed to be 2840 fps. The "balisic truing" done through the applied ballistics app seems to suggest they are flying faster. (I have a chronograph but it took a dump right after I finished the saterllee ladders for these two loads). COAL is mag length for the Tikka and it really seems to like them there.
Load 2. Nosler brass, Reloader23 powder and Barnes 140g TTSX. These are "supposedly" flying around 3208fps. The balisics on these seem to be very true to what ever the applied ballistics calculate. Coal a little under mag length

Question, am I underloading at these velocities? A gentleman at a LGS seemed to think my 175 load was slow. Should I just rock it where it's at cuz that's where she likes it? At 2840 for the 175s I still have 1500ft/lb and 2000fps to 650 yards (at 8000 ft where I hunt) also both of these loads are very comfortable for me to shoot and this rifle has really been helping me build confidence in my ability to make accurate hits on game out to the 500yard make and beyond. Does anyone think that I may find another accurate load even higher?. I really could live with either of these loads being my forever hunting load.
Other bullets I have in limited quantity (100 or less)

150g GMX
150g Partition
162g ELDX
162g AMax (not a-tip)

175g ABLR I have alot of these but she doesn't like them!

 

[badthirtyone]

I'm no hot-rodder, and I rarely chase 3k simply to get higher velocity. I always, always chase accuracy - and hope to be in a reasonable ballpark for effective velocity.

Having said that, I have worked up several loads recently with Berger 180 Hybrids in 7RM that provided exceptional accuracy (in the .3 MOA range) with a final velocity of 2835 fps.

All things being equal, this is very close to your fps & bullet weight, so - if it were me - I'd be quite happy with where you are at. Again, I know that many will weigh in and say that it should "be easy to get 3000" with your combo, if you are willing to push it, but if you like where you are and are happy with the accuracy, do you need that much more?