Historic SMLE “Mad Minute” at 300 yard target
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- This is Papercartridges.com’s take on the so-called Mad Minute rapid fire demonstration shot by instructors at the British Army’s School of Musketry at Hythe prior to the First World War. These instructors were just playing around: there never was a “Mad Minute” trained or taught at Hythe (or anywhere else). But it’s still a fun shoot to do! Using the 4-foot square target at 300 yards that the original so-called “Mad Minute” was shot at,, I don’t come close to breaking Sergeant-Major Wallingford’s 1908 record, but it was still a lot of fun!
Excellent shooting and outstanding bolt manipulation. I don't believe most individuals realize the skills involved in your display. Spot on!!
I do. I own my Grandfathers Rifle.
You're twice as fast with that #1 rifle than I am with my M1A, maybe more so! Great shooting and video!
I had an uncle in the Australian Army who served in the Korean war and he told me that while there was no official requirement for a soldier to attempt the mad minute, most soldiers (who were WWII vets anyway) would give their best to try and break the record - and just as well they did. During one battle when there were human waves of Chinese rushing their entrenched position he heard his NCO call out "mad minute fire - commence". Apparently the slaughter was so horrendous that the numerically superior Chinese were driven back and rounds were eventually cooking off in the chambers of the SMLEs. At this stage the order was given to fix bayonets and advance at the charge while the terrified Chinese tried to hide in long grass or behind hay stacks.
Great video that actually follows the British military standard manual.
Great video Brett and congratulations on the release of your new book.
The SMLE shows that the British did make an effective battle rifle.
Amazing, after watch many video' this one is king of them all. You got skills
I'm going to try it again, with a better set up. Shooting from the prone, at a target uphill, was very awkward. But I don't know if I'll ever approach the record, Captain Wallingford must have been half-man half-beast.
Very fine exercise. Thanks.
A minute of madness is about all you can afford with the cost and scarcity of .303 ammo…
Facts
Bloody good effort! Well done from Australia
Thanks 👍
Snoxall most certainly existed. For example, I tracked down a newspaper article where he was cited in the divorce of another instructor. Whether he held any sort of record though, well I have no idea.
Great work and very inspiring Brett.
Using the Hornady Cam-lock puller, I busted down some 1956 MKVII to make dummy rounds to practice this. I think I need to solder the bullets into the cases, as they pushed back in. But I found rapid reload and rapid fire are HARD to do well.
Impressive shooting!
this was the hell of a shooting 👍
I remember hearing a story from the early days of WW1 when British soldiers first encountered German forces they fired so quickly the Germans thought they where being shot at by machine guns.
dont tell the liberals or the UK D.O.J this or they scream to ban bolt action assault rifles
@geezerp1982 Shhhhh stop giving them tag lines "fully semi-automatic" was bad enough.
Nice shooting. You easily exceeded the rapid fire standard of 15 rds in one minute.
Something I ran across on a British Lee - Enfield site suggested that there was a problem wit some of the magazines not reliably being loadable with two full chargers. So it was suggested to load one charger, fire one or two rounds and then load another. Might be something to consider if your Lithgow has a less than mint magazine.
The difference in what you suggested is the difference between a hot barrel and a cold barrel. Something artillery and tank gunners are familiar with.
well done, first one ive seen for a long time shooting 303 corrsectly.
Solid effort, mate.
Glad you enjoyed it
Fired 50 rounds.
Killed 37 Bosche.
I'd consider that a good days work.
Fantastic effort, the Brilliant SMLE. By the way, here in Australia, Lithgow is pronounced "Lithgo". Great video
Didn’t know that, thanks! It is my favorite rifle.
Great video! Is there any chance the SGM Wallingford's rifle was in any way special? Could it have been accurized in some way, or "slicked up" to speed the action somehow?
I am not sure, those are great questions! We do know that the rifle was fast and accurate, and if he was reloading that quickly, the charger clips must have been smooth and clean.
great shooting, I'm with you guys on the Snoxall record, Wallingford was a documented combat soldier as well as shooting in the Olympics.
Only advice I can give on speed would be to learn to stop pulling your head back while working the bolt as it shouldn't be required if your buttstock is the right length for you but that would only add perhaps 1 round per minute
I have a lot of bad habits I need to fix! I’m used to shooting Mausers and they have a longer bolt throw and I have to move my head. I try to remember that I don’t have to do that with the enfield but I always forget and go back to habit. Guess I just need to shoot more! Thanks for the comment, we are definitely on the same page.
There very definitely was a "mad minute " in the british army pre ww1 and up to the present. Most soldiers could probably manage around 8 to 12 12 of course requiring a re load. I'm talking properly aimed shots on target.
39 hits inside 16'' at 200 yards bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/mad-minute-challenge/
No other rifles action comes even close to the speed and smoothness of the Lee Enfield SMLE.
It’s definitely a sweet action. The Krag is pretty dang smooth too. For being essentially a “first generation” military bolt rifle, the SMLE soldiered on for a long time!
@@papercartridges6705 I second that the Krag is a very smooth action. I love it.
@@papercartridges6705 the only rifle to beat the lee enfield is the garand - with its self loading action
You have the green cadet band on yours too
Lithgow 1941. It’s a very nice rifle.
@@papercartridges6705 I have a 1916 Enfield that found its way to Australia, probably at the end of WW1. It was FTR'd at Lithgow in 1944 and issued to the cadet corps. The green band denotes "Cadet issue, safe for ball ammunition"
Did they never just change the complete mag for a preloaded one? What is the point of a detachable mag if it's not used?
The magazine detached for cleaning and maintenance. In very early British magazine rifles, the magazines were actually connected to the rifle by a little chain! In the late 19th century and early 20th, magazines were expensive and time consuming to make. Before machine stamping was developed, each magazine was soldered together by a worker. With smaller capacities (like 5 to 10 rounds) it was just as fast, or even faster, to reload with charger clips.
@@papercartridges6705 thank you, I'd always wondered about that!
everyone doing mad minutes like they are LHO 😅 it's wasnt even meant for anything but a test and if anything the story about a bunch of guys doing the mad minute sounding like machine gun fire is more convincing than this being actually used in battle by soldiers
UA-cam SAFETY POLICE ACCEPT YOUR CLEAR WEAPON! Carry on.
Good to see someone with proper shooting technique, elbow directly under the rifle. Always bugs me to see people holding the rifle like a shotgun! 😺
I both love and hate the SMLE. Being British, I feel I have to like shooting it and I'm not that bad of a shot with mine, but there's just something that doesn't... fit when I shoulder it, maybe I need a different butt length. I've shot the Mad Minute with mine, and no, no may not ask the results 😆 though I did outshoot a guy who has a scoped 7.62mm in hitting an A4 piece of paper at 200 yards, the fact that he hadn't zerod in his scope is not a factor... 😁
My SMLE fits me naturally and perfectly which is why I think I like it so much.
My No.4 could hold 11 in the mag and 1 in the pipe. If I had known about stripper clips then I probably would have tryed doing a mad minute in a offhand position.
The trick is to polish the interior of the clips very slightly with some steel wool and light oil. The cartridges will slide through them like greased butter.
0:40 Audio is.... debateable
I know... I may have to do a voiceover eventually. Whenever there is any wind at all, my cheap microphone fails.
303Vic Australia NO4 (New)................did you grease bolt up before action..? did you put any vas on your parm.. did you make shore you loaded all stripper clips best posable. did you make shore The Lips on your MAG are best posable..If Not Dont Start.....Or else you can get very close .....OR make it...............TRY HARDER ....or low velos ammo
"Union infantry at the battle of the Somme"
That’s my US Army Ordnance Department kepi. Its what Ordnance officers would have worn in the Civil War.
I wouldn't have commented at all, but for your snotty "preemption". Shoot that well with human waves of Turks coming at you, the way Wallingford must have.