One thing I think we should all be able to agree on is bullets will stay together better at lower velocities.

Fellows I'm not talking about some dreamed up theory here. Bullets will break up. As I suggested earlier. Take a target and set it up behind brush then shoot at it. Some will go through then some will hit the paper with a shotgun like splatter. Match and varmint bullets will of course come apart fairly easy. Sierra Blitz-Kings will blow up on a blade of grass at a quarter mile. They are supposed to do that. As far as shooting steel plate. Well coming out the back side of that plate is a mist of lead dust isn't it.

Your in-laws 30-30 suggestion reflects that rounds well deserved reputation as a brush gun. Lower velocity is what helps it out. Which is why I mentioned 180 grain bullets for your 308.

Federal makes some good ammo. The box you have says power shock right on the cover. That's a deer and small game bullet. It would be nice if the add men would let the boys print that on the box wouldn't it. Remington used to sell green and white boxed bullets labeled High Shock. They meant it.
Federal sells 308's loaded with 180 grain Nosler partition bullets and there Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. Moose class bullets for sure. They are labeled Vital-Shoke. And yes the spelling must have something to do with others copy-write? Federal also sells Sierra Game-Kings and Nosler ballistic tip bullets under that same label. Neither of which are tough bullets. But you'd never know that from there advertisements. So it's a typical mess. NRA magazine writer Fin Agard (sp) spent a decade or so trashing the performance of Sierra Game Kings. They've not changed a bit since then. Issue is core separation. There is nothing to hold the core to the jacket. Probably not much difference with Nosler BT bullets. In Noslers own advertising they state “immediate energy transfer”. Next to a photo of a bullet with only a short stub left intact under a mushroom. Half the bullet has cracked off. In large animals most of your energy will get dumped in the hide fat and ribs before it gets in the chest.
Here is a link to Federal ammo. http://www.federalpremium.com/products/rifle.aspx

Moose are notorious for taking a hit then not even showing signs of it. They are known to not even stop eating right up to when they fall over dead. Rounds like 300 win mag are also notorious for failing on these big animals when loaded with light high velocity bullets. Take the same 150 grain bullet your 308 is shooting and hand load it on a 300 mag at 3,300 fps and it will come apart on short range shots. 270 Win gets a bad reputation of Elk and up sized game since many shoot a 130 gain bullet at 3,100 fps and they will frag on close shots under a couple hundred yards. I have a 270 and shoot Honady 150 SP and Nosler 160 partitions. The H-150's hit like a hammer. With a SD of .279 they compare to a 30 caliber 180 grain with SD of .271. Still I'd Chose a 30 caliber and up for really big stuff like moose. But with a 30 caliber 150 grain your SD (sectional density) is less than the 130 grain .277” bullet. Plus the heavier bullets are aimed at heavier game so most manufactures build them stronger. Lead core alloys will be hardened a bit with tin and or antimony to slow expansion and jackets may be thicker. Speer explains on there web site there boat tail bullets are designed for reliable expansion on long range shots. They mean out past 400 yards. While there flat base bullets are heavier constructed for deep penetration. BTW a Speer 180 grain Grand Slam would be one of the best bullets you could use on moose. With a 30-06 you can send 200 grain bullets but you almost need to hand load them for a modern rifle as most off the shelf ammo is loaded to 1906 Springfield pressure levels. I just checked that Federal web page and they list the same 180 grain bullet in a 308 at 2,620 fps then 30-06 at 2,700 fps. You can hand load a 30-06 180 grain to 2,840 fps. With an Ackley Imp. 30-06 you can run 180's at 3,000 fps. Or 220 grain round nosed bullets at 2,600 fps. Who needs a 300 win mag? You can see that with factory ammo everything you've heard of a 30-06 doing you can do with a 308 win. 80 fps spread on a 180 grain bullet is nothing. A 308 runs out of powder capacity with 200 gain bullets which is why you don't see them loaded much. That's where a 30-06 comes into its own. After all the 1903 was designed to shoot 220 grain lead bullets. You can hand load a 200 grain Speer grand Slam onto a 24” barrel 30-06 modern rifle at 2,650 fps with an out of the book load. Or the 220 grain Hornady RN at 2,583 fps. Can't do that with a 308! You can run a 200 grain bullet at 2,450 fps from a 308 win but as far as I know you'd need to hand load it plus have a 24 inch barrel. But 180's are about as heavy as a 308 likes. US Army 7.62 ball ammo for the MG's is around 177 grains and Sierra makes the 175gr MK to shoot next to them.

You probably hit that moose with bullet pieces. Or even a whole bullet sideways. I've never seen it but have heard moose just don't get to upset about being hit. You won't have a blood trail generally unless you make an exit wound. You said you held center of mass. Well if he's of been in the open that's not a good strategy. Hit them to far back and they'll take a couple days to die.

I've mad a mess of shots myself. Back when I was a teenager here In Illinois. We can't sue modern rifles in Illinois so I had a 45 caliber black powder muzzle loader. I though 110 grains of BP under a .440” pure lead round ball at 2,000 fps would be dandy. After about the third deer that just ran off I finally figured out they were blowing up on the hide. That's been forty years ago and I still feel bad.

As far as optic go. Lat year I bought a weaver 1 x 3X scope. Just love it set on 1X. You can snap the gun to your shoulder and leave both eyes open. Track a rabbit on the run if you want. In the dark if you can see it with your naked eye you can see it through the scope. As far as I can tell. I use in on a 223 for yotes over a call at night.

Well I see I've lived up to my handle with this post. Could have said it in four lines if I was good.
Heavy tough bullets that will go all the way through to leave a blood trail and have an aim point before taking a shot.