While stumbling around in the lore of the .303 Savage, I happened to discover that Barnes makes a 190-grain .308 flat-nose soft point for the .30-30. Their data show this bullet exceeding 2,100 fps with CFE 223 and LVR out of a 24-inch barrel. Midway has this bullet on sale, and I should have a box at hand next week. Very eager to see what it can do.
The "old dead guys" around the turn of the last century and probably up to about WWII held the .303 with the 190-grain bullet in high regard for use on bigger stuff -- moose, bears, elk.
Over the years I passed on a number of Savage 99s in .303 because of the ammo issue, but Grafs has both brass and loaded ammo for sale these days. Just amazing.

https://www.barnesbullets.com/...30-30-Winchester.pdf

All in their heads. Anything that died with a 190 grn .303 sav would have done so with a 170 grn 30-30.

You are probably right, but I like the folklore!
In the early days, it seems the .303 Savage really offered a useful increase in performance.
Ken Waters tells us in his Pet Loads profile of the .303 that it was originally loaded with a 195-grain soft-point at 1,952 fps.
He also tells us the .30-30 was originally loaded with a 160-grain bullet at 1,790. As a result, the Savage came off looking pretty good.

Don't forget that the 30-06 originally used a 220 grain bullet (the 30-03 with a slightly longer case).
It was all in their heads, but consider that their only reference was to black powder cartridges, so 190 grain bullets were, "light".
And we have guys now who for some unknown reason, want to shoot a 100 grain bullet at 2000 fps and expect to kill things. They like to call them Burrs or something like that; Nonsense. Unheard of! Sorcery. It just won't work. I do understand the part about not being able to handle recoil.
But my limit is 35 caliber. On the low end. I do have some 33s, for varmints.

Guys back then bought rifles; not velocities; they were not like we are today. So, the 303 Savage, just happened to come in the Savage package; they bought that; and the 30 WCF came in they 94. There is a reason that the 94 outsold the 95/99 by a few million pieces. And it wasn't velocity.
Everyone still killed stuff.

I still have some original 190 grain silver tips that were for the. 303 Savage.... I think I still have them, at one time I had alot of old silver tips but I've slowly shot them and sold them.

Cal30: that 190-grain Silvertip has achieved cult status in some sections.
Tom, you are of course correct. When the .30 WCF was introduced, no less a light than Theodore Roosevelt considered it a virtual laser beam compared with the heavy, lumbering black powder cartridge numbers he was so intimately familiar with.

Hawk also lists 190 gr .308 diameter flat points, though at nearly twice the price of the on-sale Barnes.

It's not hard to make a 200gr flat nose from a Sierra 220gr round nose.

Here's my test lineup when I get the new, higher front sight I ordered for the old Marlin: Speer 130 FN, Hornady 160 FTX, Lee 178-grain GC and the Barnes 190. I have loaded the jacketed slugs with various charges of CFE223, and the Lee cast over 22 grains of AA5744.

I use a 190 grain cast bullet from out of a custom mold I had made for me decades ago. Started out as a woods thumper in a .30-30 and now sees service in my .303 Savage also. Cast from an alloy soft enough to reliably expand on deer flesh I find 2000fps to be about its upper limit, with great accuracy and no leading. The same load of 28gr.3031 yields 2030fps in a 24" .30-30 Winchester M54 and 1950fps in a 20" Savage .303 carbine, right smack in the performance range of original .303 190 factory ammo.

Why the 190 and not 170? Well, why not?

Added benefit: waaaaaay cheaper than jacketed bullets, with accuracy/performance on par with jacketed stuff. What's not to like?

Th 190 gr. was a good bullet and I got hold of 5 boxes in my youth and shot a number of deer and antelope in my 30-30 and 303 savage. To my eye it did deer etc about like the 170 gr, had a lot of lead exposed and expanded well..Dad used them in his 30-30 without commitment because one bullet was just like another, he wasn't the best shot in the world but he was the best hunter Ive ever known..

I recall my old magnum as a kid, a worn out 38-55 that killed like the hammer of Thor with those big 255 gr. jacketed factory bullets, but in reality, they killed about like a 30-30 or my 25-35 with all things equal on shot placement, but those that scolded me on the subject became persona non grata dumb bastards in my young mind!!

His advise to hunters was just ride your "harse" that way until you see a deer then shoot it..