Pathfinder...
I love you, man.
You said it all.
But, of course, I must expound:
I grew up with .270 Win (which I still love), .220 Swift, .30-06, .300 WM, .338 WM, various Weatherby cartridges, .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, .458 WM, .450 Nitro, and more...
My life was built around "bigger is better" and/or "faster is better". (More "bigger and faster" than anything else.)
I do own a few of those, along with comparables...
But when I developed a mind of my own (and an appreciation for my "slow" 2,790 fps .270 Win load that's lights-out precise), everything changed.
My three most favorite cartridges at this time are .30-30, .307 Win, and .444 Marlin. They're all lever-gun cartridges, and that does come back to my personality a bit, but they're more than anyone should ever need for hunting 99% of the world's game. ...Or even punching paper, for that matter.
If I can't get it done with .30-30, it means I'm too far away and/or not trying hard enough.
The .307 came about simply because I got a very good deal on a .30-30 barrel that had a .307 reamer shoved into it, and put the rest of the rifle together from the parts box. It's a theoretical upgrade from .30-30, but not by much. I love it more for the fact that it's an obsolete [*fatherless child*], than for the theoretical performance increase. ...And, well, it shoots incredibly well.
If I laid out my top five primary hunting rifles, at least one would be a .30-30.
If I laid out my top five most accurate rifles, at least one would be a .30-30. (And this is a class where my .30-06 has proven itself as being able to repeat 0.330" 5-shot groups!)
.30-30 is no slouch.
Under-appreciated.
Underestimated.
And disrespected.
The only reason I don't want to keep its magic a secret is because I need more 180 gr bullets for the .307 Win, via spill-over!