Våpenteknikk, Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, German companies Mauser, Sauer & Sohn, Heym and Krico, American company Remington, Danish company Schultz & Larsen, Finnish company Tikka, Austrian company Steyr Mannlicher, and Swedish companies FFV, Lano and Erress. Among the models considered were Steyr SSG 69, Mauser M86, what would later become the Sauer 200 STR and Sauer 205, and KV IRG-M85 with magazine wells on its sides. A prototype of the IRG-M85 today is displayed at the museum of Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk. After an evaluation in September 1985 the 6 best rifles were selected for the next test round in Copenhagen in the summer of 1986. In the meantime a winter test was conducted in the winter of 1985/86. The last test was a winter test in Norway in the winter of 1986/87. On the 4 December 1987 the commission gathered in Copenhagen, and chose the Sauer 200 STR as the new Nordic standard rifle, after changes to the stock material and some other technical details. Sauer had thus won the competition with a concept that allowed the user to perform most of the maintenance themselves without needing a gunsmith. The first production rifles were delivered in 1989, and the rifle became approved for competitions in all three organizations starting 1 January 1990. Between 2005 and 2015, the DFS tested the Sauer 200 STR rifle in the 5.56×45mm NATO chambering, since this is the new service cartridge the Norwegian Army has adopted. In 2015 the DFS decided not to introduce the 5.56×45mm NATO as a chambering for their shooting events. The 200 STR rifle is also approved by the sister organizations of the DFS, the Swedish Volunteer Sharpshooting Movement Frivilliga Skytterörelsen (FSR) that merged in 2009 into the Svenska Skyttesportförbundet and the Danish De Danske Skytteforeninger (DDS) for use in their shooting events. Nordic field biathlon use It is also used in Nordic field biathlon within Det frivillige Skyttervesen (DFS). The sport is considered a close predecessor to Olympic biathlon, with the main difference being the use of fullbore rifles and paper targets placed in the terrain with time penalties added for misses. Variants Besides the several variants of the Sauer 200 STR rifle several other variants of the basic rifle are available. A special Sauer 200 sport shooting variant is a single shot version chambered for 6mm Norma BR. The 6mm Norma BR has become a popular chambering in match rifles used in