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To the OP, sorry I do not have the time to go through every posts and comment on them, but there is some good and some bad in every thread.
I own a 6.5CM, a .260, sold the 7mms and rarely shoot the .30s. I own 5 .243Wins and for purely target shooting, will take those every day over the 6.5s. The 6.5s get grabbed when I need a little more energy on target.
At the American Marksman finals, I gave the three finalists RPRs in .243Win with Burris XTRII 3-15s on top. They were 3 to 4 inches off bullseye at 200 yards and I gave them 30 minutes to set up and shoot 10 rounds to get their dope before they started competing. None of them had shot precision nor mil optics. Armed with a dope chart and a little help from a coach, these three shoot all 10s and Xs at 200, 300 and 600 yards until we had a winner. The ammo was Hornady 87 SSTs at 2710 fps (about 500 fps below normal speed). Wind was variable from 3-9 mph. Those three rifles chrono'd within 5 fps of each other and my personal RPR in .243Win. They all shot the same groups too. Low recoil is a benefit to shooting targets!
.243Win is soft shooting, widely available, cheaper than the "sexy 6.5CM or 6CM" and every bit as accurate, if not more so. Twist rate to bullet weight is a key element in precision shooting. Anyone who says a .260Rem is purely a hunting cartridge does not understand what they are talking about. Those 6.5mm bullets care about twist rate more than a few degrees different shoulder angle. I prefer the .260 over the 6.5CM in bolt guns and the 6.5CM over the .260 Rem in gas guns. There are reasons, but irrelevant to your question.
I would certainly suggest a good .22 trainer if that is possible. But for a centerfire to shoot targets from 100 to 1200, the .243Win has some great appeal and several decent rifles in that chambering. When you go to 6.5, you have a little more cost, a little more recoil and, depending on load, have to be a little more precise on the wind calls.
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