Hey Brinky,
180 grain Win PowerPoint, or maybe now, the Deep Curl, moving @ 2500-2550, is what I'll hunt elk with. It's way more than needed/desired to take deer with, though you'll get plenty of dispute with that last statement.
I loaded and shot some 150 30-30 bullets, loaded to 2400 fps this wknd,, but was rushed and the bbl was hot, after shooting elk loads, so didn't get much of a read. If ya want to PM me sometime in the future, I'll have more data (predicted, not measured velocities).
The 125 grain Sierra flat points were loaded to 2074 fps, according to Seafire. The youth load for this bullet is 2094 fps. With my 18.5" bbl, I may be getting a little less velocity, but at close range, it doesn't matter. I may load them slightly hotter, but they're a joy to shoot and very accurate!
Here's the Midway link to these bullets. They're hollow points, so will expand at lower velocities.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=491932 I've had people give me advice 'bout 125 grain bullets, but either they were running these bullets way too hot,, or they were talking about standard .308, 125 grainers.
With the 150 grain, you can get 2500 fps out of IMR 4198, but for the factory 30-30 load @ 2365fps, it uses a top load of SR/IMR4759. Again, that's the factory load for shooting deer way out there. If you're brush hunting/trail hunting, you could load that puppy way down and get good/great performance.
PostScript edit... You'll find plenty of people who kill deer in close, using an M1Carbine/Short 30-06, with a soft point 110 grain bullet. Many people will speak out loudly against this. The 125 grain is fine and so is the 150 grain. You can kill elk and moose with the 170 grainers at 50 yds.
PostPostScript edit:... If you really want to shoot 170gr, Google "30.06 reduced loads 180 grain" and you'll find tons of stuff. As it was stated earlier, you're looking at 2000-2200fps for that bullet,, not the 2500 fps listed for the .308 bullet. For short range, you'll have way over penetration and for "longer" ranges, you'll lose trajectory.
Good luck!.... Ken
