Stretch your budget a bit and you can get into a Seekins Element. 21” barrel and 5.5 lbs bare.
The Havak PH2 is within your budget but a little heavier at 6.9 lbs bare.
Not terrible if you modify it - I clipped a coil and a half off the spring and have it set right around 2 lbs. It isn’t a Triggertech Diamond by any means, but it’s good enough.
If you don’t like it, jard and timney make drop ins for it.
6 ARC is a great little round. I have an AR-15 and Howa Mini, both have been fun.
Alpha beat Peterson to the punch, but Peterson finally released 6 ARC brass. Decent price too.
https://geissele.com/peterson-cartridge-6mmarc-match-grade-brass.html
Yeah the price is great on the GTX. I remember reading a someone post their results with the 143 GTX out of a 6.5 PRC and it being less than desirable. I’ll use them for cheap practice and maybe send one through a deer eventually.
I have one debit card and rarely use it. I use my credit cards for everything. Like others mentioned, I prefer the security offered - if there's fraudulent activity, that's on the CC company to sort out, not me.
I have a Scheels CC and use it for most of our purchases. It didn't take long to...
A 6 PRC (based on 6.5 PRC) would likely get you the velocity you’re looking for with a shorter barrel.
As for smiths, I’d be looking at (in no particular order):
- TS Customs
- Blue Mountain Precision
- High Voltage Armory
At our family ranch, we have a group of maybe 12-15 mule deer that just hang by the houses. They are used to vehicles and people coming and going. I walked to within 5 yards of a doe a few weeks back before she decided to just walk off.
Definitely fun to watch.