Dear Yankee Bill,
Here in Virginia, our whitetails are numerous, but not terribly large. My wife uses a Remington 700 BDL (small run, early 1990's) in .300 Savage for all of her deer hunting. She has had wonderful results with 150 grain factory ammo. I used my trusty Model 99 EG in .300 Savage on a black bear hunt; I preferred the 180 grain Federal factory load for that purpose, but carry 150-grainers when after deer.
With all the posters who have spoken highly of the .300 Savage's capabilities, I most firmly agree. The .300 Savage is a "sleeper" cartridge, very much underappreciated today. I believe that its combination of low recoil and very effective terminal ballistics (at its usual velocities) make it an ideal deer rifle. Nor with a scoped rifle is it a short range proposition.
My experience is that the .300 Savage and the .30-40 are essentially identical in effect on game, with bullets of equal weight, although the 30-40 handles heavy bullets (200 & 220 grainers) a bit better (again, in my experience; others' results & opinions may differ). The big bullets are for heavier game than deer, however.
Good shooting to you!
Redcoat
