It needs to be remembered that an increase in muzzle velocity does not translate into an equivalent increase in velocity (and energy) downrange. The natural laws of physics dictate that the faster a projectile leaves the muzzle the faster it sheds velocity. IOW, increasing the velocity of your load by 75 fps will not yield a 75 fps increase at 30 yards. The increase will be considerably less than that. I can't put my hands on the ballistics chart that has the appropriate data, but it exists, and is eye opening to many who never learned this before.
I have a hunting/shooting buddy that has been a "master" with a shotgun for much of his life. He has patterned thousands of loads in his development of his proprietary choke tubes. He loves to say that "The shot can leave the muzzle at 1150 fps or at 1300 fps and at 40 yards both loads are going the same speed." He's not quite right about that, but the loads are a lot closer in velocity at distance than most think, and get closer and closer as the distance increases. The reason modern day steel shot loads kill as well as they do, driven at phenomenal muzzle velocities, is that the shot is not misshapen by setback or bore scrubbing, even at hot rod muzzle velocities. That translates into denser patterns, which in turn translates into more shot on the bird (more terminal energy).
