I love these threads. "My .338 Magnum (200-225gr rounds?) puts bigger holes in elk than my .223 (55-70gr rounds?), so nobody but me should ever hunt with anything smaller than a .338 Ackley-Improved Ultra-Mag."
I haven't drank the Kool-Aide yet, but I'm a little jealous of my hunting buddy that has. His 6.5CM sure flings them 143-grain pills pretty good! The targets that others posted above don't surprise me; I've seen my buddy shoot some amazing 5 round groups from the 200 yard line with his inexpensive TC Compass (isn't the 100 yard line sort of like the red tees in golf?). I'm not sure if it's the caliber or the 5R rifling, but I can't seem to get anything I own to group quite as well his "Creed."
I've picked up a strange affliction that causes me to enjoy having to decide which caliber I'm going to carry on any given hunt based on the target species and terrain; however, if I were going to go back to only 1 hunting rifle for the lower 48, the 6.5CM would be on the short list. I started out as a 1-rifle guy, but my .300WM seemed like overkill on smaller game. There are a lot of cool rounds out there these days (and I'd love to have one of each - I'm getting close...), but I think either the 6.5CM or a 7mm Rem Mag are about the most versatile options for a general purpose rifle, and the 6.5 is more fun to shoot.
My vote is that you buy it, but maybe keep a .30 cal of some variety around in case you feel under-gunned for elk (I don't think the 6.5 is "under-gunned for elk inside 350yds, but confidence is as important as the actual caliber performance).
I haven't drank the Kool-Aide yet, but I'm a little jealous of my hunting buddy that has. His 6.5CM sure flings them 143-grain pills pretty good! The targets that others posted above don't surprise me; I've seen my buddy shoot some amazing 5 round groups from the 200 yard line with his inexpensive TC Compass (isn't the 100 yard line sort of like the red tees in golf?). I'm not sure if it's the caliber or the 5R rifling, but I can't seem to get anything I own to group quite as well his "Creed."
I've picked up a strange affliction that causes me to enjoy having to decide which caliber I'm going to carry on any given hunt based on the target species and terrain; however, if I were going to go back to only 1 hunting rifle for the lower 48, the 6.5CM would be on the short list. I started out as a 1-rifle guy, but my .300WM seemed like overkill on smaller game. There are a lot of cool rounds out there these days (and I'd love to have one of each - I'm getting close...), but I think either the 6.5CM or a 7mm Rem Mag are about the most versatile options for a general purpose rifle, and the 6.5 is more fun to shoot.
My vote is that you buy it, but maybe keep a .30 cal of some variety around in case you feel under-gunned for elk (I don't think the 6.5 is "under-gunned for elk inside 350yds, but confidence is as important as the actual caliber performance).