Originally Posted by
hunters_life
Just trying to figure this out. I understand it has better external ballistics for longer ranges. But in all sincerity, how many of us hunters ever shoot past 400 yards? Even the western hunters don't really take many shots on live game past 400. 400 and closer, the .308 hits harder. Very simple there. To be honest, the .30tc, what the creedmoor parent case is, hits harder out to 400 as well. Now for paper punchers, yes the 6.5 is a shooters dream. Low recoil, very flat, seems to buck the wind very well. But from a hunters aspect, factory ammo is about twice the cost of .308, it has little to no advantage over .308 until after 400 yards, and the .308 is just historically proven beyond any doubts. I just don't see the attraction that it has gathered. It's almost cult like.
IMHO, I think your above question covers it. The vast majority of hunters don't shoot past 400 yards and most of the time, it's less than 200 yards. For most hunters shooting black bear, deer or smaller game, the standard cartridges like 30-06, 308, 270, 243 and 223 pretty much cover everything. The gun mags have written extensively about the 6.5CM and that creates interest in the round. But for the vast majority of hunters, the standard cartridges work just fine and are more available and cheaper.