trendy craze that is likely to decline and fizzle out to the point that used gun racks are going to be full of slightly used Creedmoor chambered rifles that will languish under a layer of dust
I don't think so. I believe the 6.5 Creedmoor is here for the long haul. As a big game round at close to moderate ranges it only offers some recoil reduction compared to 308. But as ranges increase, or for the guys who are target shooting the 6.5 starts to show some real advantages.
Gun and ammo makers aren't just selling to hunters right now. In fact the hunting rifle market is in decline as more and more shooters are buying guns to shoot at the range. It makes sense to offer guns and cartridges that fill that role. And there is a lot of interest to shoot at longer ranges than most hunters would normally shoot. To get close to the same long range performance as a 6.5 with a 140-147 gr bullet you have to start shooting 175-180 gr 308 bullets. When comparing those bullet weights there is a very noticeable difference in recoil. I own both, and while the 308 isn't a hard kicker, after 20-30 rounds through each the 6.5 is certainly more pleasant.
For guys buying a rifle to shoot lots of rounds down range at targets the 6.5 makes a lot of sense. That after all is what it was designed for. It just happens to also be a good choice for hunting too. It may well level off off as a hunting cartridge, but I think it will still be selling well for the target shooters and as a dual purpose hunting/target round.
