Distributor help please

[MEDIK418]

This is the first totally mechanical advance distributor and it's causing me grief. I installed a MSD billet distributor on the Cleveland I'm building. The problem is seting the static timing. The distributor gives a total of 25 degrees mechanical advance. I have it set to come in at about 2000 rpm. The problem is that setting the static timing to 10-15 degrees gives me a lethargic off-idle take off. The higher I raise it the better it gets but when do I reach that point of diminishing returns? The way it looks, I'll have to go somewhere around 20-24 degrees of static advance to get the stumble out of it. I'm not concerned about the total advance as I can bush it down to 15 degrees of mechanical if need be. Is this high of a timing set normal for these things? Total timing on my engine should be 35-38 degrees