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I know of a few lads here, from Vancouver to Fort St. John who or used to use 200gr. Silver Tip RN's for moose and deer, right here in BC. I don't know if those guys hunting elk.
Another bunch that I shot 3-position with in the lower mainland, used to pull military 147's and insert 150gr. RN's for Van. Island & Queen Charlotte Island deer. That practice was called a "Mexican Handload" in the 70's and 80's. For 100 and 200 yard prone practice, we used to pull the 147's and seat 130gr. Speers. These 'cobbled loads' would usually shoot close to an inch in our match rifles, so we called everything inside the 9ring, a 10 - practice only.
6.5's are nice - recently even bought a 6.5x55 myself - the Swedish Varberger that is in my safe right now. I had a choice between 2 rifles that caught my eye, one was a BSA .308, the other the 6.5x55 Varberger.
Since I do not shoot the largest of our big game at long range, I do prefer the .308 bore. Since I am unlikely to shoot elk or moose again (too much bloody work) and my 'sights' are more concentrated on deer, mulies and whitetails, the 6.5x55 was my preference.
I could easily have chosen the .308, but know the 6.5 will work just fine.
Yes - the 6.5x55 did fine on moose and yes, I agree that moose are not as tough as elk. I've seen that time and again, however I still have more trust in the 200gr. RN from a .308 than even a 160gr. RN from a 6.5 if used on moose or elk. Call it a large-bore preference. I also know that moose, elk, deer and grizzlies have been killed by far smaller than 6.5 cal. ctgs. They are not my choice for large game, either.
You won't change my mind, and I won't change yours.
Each to his own.

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Just so there is NO confusion, I also prefer larger calibers for elk.. have mainly used 300Win or 300RUM for most in the past 40 years... having said that, I have no problem using a 6.5 on them or any other big game animal... they do the job just fine.. But if you get them (elk), all worked up and are chasing them, hard to beat a 30 or 338 caliber for elk.. I have never lost an elk with a rifle.. but again, mostly used the 30 calibers.. and yes, prefer 200GR A-Frames.. out of my RUM... it numbs them..