200 M deer cartridge.

Gatehouse

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The 243 vs 6.5 Creed thread asks which is better for deer to 200 yards. Most game is shot within 200 or so yards so instead of one or the other- what is your pick?

ONLY hunting deer and the range will not exceed 200 yards. You can pick your existing favorite or a cartridge you don't own but think would be ideal for the task at hand.

Have fun! :)

My pick would be 6.5 Grendel. Little recoil, cheap to load and an excellent killer.
 
I hunt deer with my 7mm rem mag as it is my go to "do all rifle" but my favorite for the 200M and under hunting is the .303 brit 180g. Usually from a custom, shortened lee enfield no1 mk3. I dunno, maybe it's nostalgia on 2 fronts.... my first deer and also later my biggest deer.... and my first moose were all taken with the .303 brit so for short to moderate range deer hunting it is my overall favorite. It has always performed very well for me.
 
At that range between the 243 and the 6.5cm there isn't much of a difference for deer, however I prefer my deer rifle to perform double duty for bigger game so I would go with the 6.5 cm. My deer rifles are 270 and 284win.
 
6.5 Grendel in a Howa mini action carbon would be sweet, top it with a lightweight Leupold in a 2-7 or 2.5-8, whole thing could be under 6lb.

Although, 200yds really opens the door for lever action rifles. I don't normally hunt with one but if we're gonna limit things to 200yds it would be a perfect time to bust out a 30-30 or even better a 444.
 
My 6mm creedmoor or 6.5 PRC either will get the job done, but then again my 270, 7mm PRC or the 300 RUM would also, lot's of choices just depends on which one I grab.
 
For just deer and under 200 meters it doesn’t matter all that much. Its tempting to pick a 50 caliber muzzleloader because that would double the length of my season. I could probably pick a rifle out of the safes that has the nicest checkering and not be wrong. Since trajectory and wind drift and mechanical accuracy are non issues at powder burn ranges like that about all thats left is a rifle you like and terminal performance. I do have a strong preference for a high percentage of instant kills, and I just can’t see carrying a 10 or 11 pound rifle around to shoot a couple hundred yards. I prefer bolt actions, so with those criteria in mind I might just pick my Kimber Select grade in 300 WSM. Or the same thing in 7mm Rem mag. Or if the weather is crap, maybe my Kimber Montana in 270 WSM. Two of them even pass the checkering test.
 
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