Not quite the poop 6.5X55 Swedish has despite the larger case, that being said they are close enough that anything you shoot won't know the difference.. On the other hand the larger case lends it's self to some great velocity up-grading due to the larger case and strong Mauser action. If you don't mind paying a bit more for brass and dies, you can't go wrong IMO.. It's my understanding that these were quite popular around the old East African territories, specialy (naturaly) colonial Portuguese territories..