Trooper
Shooter
Trooper I like the 6.5. I think it is a great round and hope that the military picks it up as their new round. With that said I don't want it for hunting bear or other large game. I want something larger, like a 358 Winchester or bigger.
As far as the 338 replacing the 50 BMG. I don't see how you are going to get any where near the same results out of a 338 that you get with a 50 BMG. First off you have the size of the rouond then the weight of the round. Yes the 338 can be pushed faster. That is just because it is much lighter and smaller.
I understand that you can carry more, but isn't that idea what got us stuck with the 5.56? Some one makes a 40 that competes with the 50 that moves even faster than the 50 and only gives up 100gr of bullet weight. Then that is why it is faster, it's smaller and lighter than the 50. No making things faster with out giving up something. Now you could reduce the size of bullet and put it in the same case and push it faster, but it would eat up barrels faster than the 220 swift goes through them. So yes you can reduce the size of the case and reduce the size of the bullet and reduce the weight of the bullet. It will move faster, but there is no way it is going to do the same thing as the 50, because it is missing all those things. Before the fifty ever had the specialty rounds it was known for is ability to take things out. Like a building, plains and armored vehicles and such. I can't see a 338 doing that.
Given the .338 (8.59mm) BC (similar to the 6.5mm at .600), it delivers more energy down range than does the .50 cal. It is the same problem that the 7.62x51 has when compared to the 6.5mm rounds. The bigger round loses too much energy. Thus a smaller round does better.
For large game, look at the .338LM (8.59x70) or the .338NM (8.59x64). One would only need two rounds, a 6.5mm and a .338 cartridge.