307 Winchester

[Jack]

A friend of mine uses one- a 94 Winchester.
The chronograph tells us that his shoots 170 Nosler Partitions at 2400 + FPS from a 20" carbine barrel. (handloads)
To give you a comparison, my bolt action 308 with an 18" barrel, shoots 165's at 2600 FPS. A typical 30-30 lever, with a 20" barrel, will shoot 170's at about 2000 FPS, if you chronograph it. (most factory data is from a 26" barrel)... so the 307 isn't quite up to the 308, but it isn't far off.
My friend is very fond of the rifle, and I can see why- light and easy to carry, plenty of power for deer sized game. His shoots quite accurately, also, even with the factory open sights- 2"or less @100 yards.
If you're going to handload for 307, you use 308 dies- the external dimensions of the 308 and 307 are the same, except for the rim on the 307. 307 cases are thicker than most 308 cases, so case capacity for the 307 is a bit less than 308.
I'd say the 94 Winchester in 307 is a fine choice as a woods deer rig in the US- how it would work out in Europe, you'd know better than I would.