SBHooper, - you asked why I thought I'd have struggled to make a good long shot with a 30-06.
I guess I could talk about recoil and trajectories, and so on, but the bottom line is confidence.
Confidence in a gun that I can shoot inside 1/2 MOA in field conditions, and in a bullet with a Sectional Density comparable to a 190gr .308 bullet.
The mid-sized 6.5s (Creedmoor/Swede/6.5-284/SAUM) give you that, which is why they are such versatile hunting calibres.
Makes sense.
