50/70 bullets

[Kurt]

I think the riflemen back then probably did more searching for better performance from their rifles then we do today. Not just from hunting but also for shooting matches. Proficiency of the rifle was a big thing back in those days and a lot of the ways they did things where never written down.
The gun writers and match shooters are no different back then then the keyboard shooters are now most likely. Probably the writers in the past did a lot of the field work seeing what works before they put it in writing instead of making assumptions or repeating what someone else wrote.

Kurt