There's been a lot of experimenting done by benchrest shooters using short-bodied cases, like the PPC's. Several 'smiths and shooters have even shortened the PPC case by .1" or more to come up with a shorter powder column. This carries over into hunter benchrest, where one of the most popular cartridges is a shortened .308 Win. This trend is all the rage, as evidenced by many 1000yd. shooters going to the .284 Win. case necked down to 6.5mm. This idea is well proven, just go to a benchrest match and see how many of the top shooters are using PPC's or variations of it. This makes Gale's .222 group all the more rare and special. Must have been one fine shooter, rifle, bullets, cases, and the conditions must have been very good the day it was shot.