Indyfishyak
Plinker
It seems that most rifles do best with a specific bullet weight, one that gives ample muzzle velocity and downrange performance.
From what I see, the .308 Winchester and .300 Savage do best with 150 grain, .30-06 with 165, and the .300 Magnums with 180 grain, at least if you're able to tolerate the recoil for the latter.
my 308 eats the heck out of 168's stacking near 1/2" groups on target. In my opinion you have a little bit of range with bullet weights in hunting as precision can give way to accuracy and even a minute to 2 MOA rifle is still viable to 250 because of the 5" kill zone. I agree with you on heavier bullets an recoil. A flinch can cause some major accuracy issues even at close range