Back then, maybe even now?? They studied the effects of massed fire... everyone shooting as much as they can, as fast as they can, down range in hopes of less people to fight in close!! (worked with arrows too?) It has been borne out in WW1, WW2, and Korea... don't know about the rest... I find 800 meters pretty optimistic, as I've never had much luck with the 9mm at over 25 yards?? (exception, one unlucky duck on a stock dam at 100yds on a windy day??)
But, the fact remains, ballistically, they would perform, and probably were tested at some point in time to make the designers think this way... combat guys could enlighten us more on this then historians... Best to all, til...lat'r...GT