I remember reading when the Norwegians and Swedes where developing the 6,5x55 together, they would fire into mounds of snow, to see how much propellant was left.. that way they determined how long the barrels should be to get optimum performance.
These days with better powders shorter and shorter barrels are an option.
These days they call it 6,5x55 Skan to indicate full power loads.
300-400.000 active competition shooters use 6,5x55 each week in Scandinavia.. with a standard rifle.
And here is an old video, showing how they where shooting with the Krag rifle.
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The US in the last 40 years:
Socialism for big corporations and military industrial complex
