This ammunition was sold in 2003 for a short time.  Following is the distributor's description:

"ETALON is an old European word for reference ammo.  ETALON ammo is a top lot of ammunition where all parameters like gas pressure, accuracy, velocity and dimensions show the least tolerance fluctuation possible.  The ammo is then marked as ETALON and used as reference lot to calibrate test barrels and ballistic test equipment which has to be done from time to time to compensate for wear.  The ammo is kept by the producer, by the proof houses and by military customers to provide them for adjustment during production and acceptance tests.  This ammo is considered always the top of the best, superior to sniper or match.  The ammo has been gathered from the factory and military test stations, repackaged in 20rd boxes/220rd sealed packs, and is now available for sale in the US.  This ammo is 147grn FMJ, Steel cased, Berdan Primer."

When evaluating this ammo the first thing noticed was a variety of headstamps within each 20 round box.  A total of 5 headstamps were observed in 100 rounds in quantities as low as 5 and as high as 44.  However, the physical appearance of the various cartridges is very similar and consistent with cases that have been cleaned and reloaded.  This could indicate that although different cases were used, care was taken for consistency with bullet and powder weights along with overall cartridge length.   When the charges and bullets were weighed and overall length measured it was found that this was not the case and the variation among cartridges was actually greater than some other surplus ammunition.  The extreme spread and standard deviation follow this pattern.  While it is doubtful that the distributor intentionally mislead it's customers, it's apparent that this ammo is not as advertised.  On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with it and performance is on a par with other surplus ammunition.

Ammunition and evaluation assistance provided by "Springbank" of Gunboards.com

(Reference number 005)

Package

20 rounds per cardboard box

Measured Muzzle Velocity in Feet per Second (10 shot string)
Rifle	M44	M28	M91/30	M91 (Finnish)	M91 (Russian)
Low	2525	2642	2737	2782	2653
High	2711	2827	2879	2940	2811
Average	2602	2741	2815	2852	2719
Extreme Spread	186	185	142	158	158
Standard Deviation	50	55	49	46	64
Trajectory and Drop Graph (click on the thumbnails)
Notes on the graphs  The graphs above each represent two sets of data.  The red line is the path of the bullet fired from the rifle with the sights zeroed at 200 yards.   The bullet exits the muzzle at a distance a fraction of an inch below zero inches.   This represents the height of the sight over the centerline of the bore.  The bullet rises above zero in a trajectory that then passes through zero again at 200 yards and continues downward.  The blue line is the the bullet drop in inches for the distance traveled.  This begins at the muzzle at zero inches and decreases with distance not taking sight height or zero distance into account.