Well, buying a copy of quick load is a start. And I don't have any problems with the simulations you ran, although there's no reason I can see to avoid compressed loads. 120% is insane for a small bore though - 110% is a reasonable limit. Now, if we do that in .308, we get a max velocity with RL-17 of 2779 ft/s in a 24" barrel. Great.
Of course, if you look at the Nosler data you'll see every single powder they list for the 180 BT in .30-06 is SLOWER than that, except one (RL-22) which is 33 ft/s faster. The .308 beats nearly all the ,.30-06 data.
So what we find is that .308 loaded with modern techniques and Quick Load will safely give you what you THOUGHT was .30-06 max until you bought your own copy of QL. If you liked what you thought was .30-06 when you started this thread, then guess what - .308 is a ballistic twin. Now it's true that the same techniques can be used to push .30-06 too. But all the .30-06 round that supposedly made it such a versatile cartridge didn't use those techniques. You were unaware of them yourself until a few days ago.
The reality is the .308 is the ballistic equal or superior of all the .30-06 loads everyone gets excited about. If you think .30-06 is good, you have to acknowledge that .308 is exactly the same.
