CMP,
"But seriously I don't quite understand the hate directed at the 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC and Hornady in general?". For me personally there isn't hate, I think that it is more about the fact that the 6.5s are being cherished and worshiped as the "
do all", "
shoot all",
long range cartridge of the shooting market today. Then we're reading that someone shot an elk at 1750 yards and flop, bang, DRT results. And....that's being held as gospel and then we hear more stories of the same nature supporting the caliber. It seems like every shooting and gun magazine that you pick up and read has a new article about the 6.5 performance, or another gun company is coming out with a "new" rifle in the 6.5 caliber. There are numerous posts from reliable guides and hunters, who are stating that the 6.5 CM (in their opinion) is not an adequate elk caliber, yet there are posts where people argue against those opinions. I feel like the shooting public has swallowed the shooting industry's advertising hype (drank their Koolaid) for the promotion of the caliber. I firmly believe in having the right tool for the job, as well as having an adequate caliber/bullet to get the job done ethically for the animal being hunted/pursued. I like the older calibers, personally like the .270 Winchester for nostalgic reasons as well as performance reasons. There is a lot to be said about the .270 Winchester and a lot more to be said about the performance of the .270WSM.
I'll go out on a limb here and probably get beat up pretty bad, but I will state that
"any caliber that is sub 30 caliber" (.257 to .284) will be hard pressed to beat the performance of the .270WSM; I suspect that I'll get some flack from the 26-28 Nosler crowd here
! This doesn't mean that it is the catch all, do all caliber, just that it is a pretty good performer for just about any long range shooting on game. The older calibers 25-06, 7mm-06 (.280/.280AI), 6.5-06 also are really great performers. The 338-06 and the 35 Whelen are two great rounds that
don't really get enough acknowledgement from the shooting public. I'm not saying that the Whelen is a great long range cartridge, just stating that it really does not get the acknowledgement it deserves. I recently read a post about elk hunting where a guy wrote that he always uses and has successfully shot many elk with his 35 Whelen. I had to read that post twice to make sure I didn't read incorrectly. The 338-06A-Square is a decent round, not as good as the .338Winmag, however is a lot more manageable for the recoil sensitive shooter and it uses a whole lot less powder to get the job done. It's very accurate and really don't beat you up with recoil, yet there's not a whole lot written about the round! I like the Ackley calibers, presently having two of them built. I just think that many of the readers are getting tired about the 6.5s and how great killing machines they are for everything that walks the face of the earth. I believe this is just the point that the OP is making with this post!
No hate.