Norway Mad Minute — Shockingly Fast Bolt-Action Rifle Shooting
Think you can shoot fast with a bolt gun? Bet you can’t beat these Norwegian speed-demons. Inge Hvitås recently set a new Mad Minute World Record, putting 39 rounds inside a 16″ circle at 200 meters, all in a single minute. Another Norwegian ace fired 48 rounds in a minute, with 38 in the bullseye. Now that’s spectacular speed and accuracy.
Watch Inge Hvitås Set New Mad Minute World Record:
New Mad Minute World Record — 39 Hits in One Minute (60 seconds)
At the Haga shooting range in Norway, spectators witnessed spectacular speed shooting earlier this month. On June 4th, Norwegian shooter Inge Hvitås set a new Mad Minute Challenge World Record with 39 hits in ONE MINUTE at 200m. The target was a 40cm (15.75″) bullseye placed at 200m (218 yards). Fellow Norwegian Jesper Nilsstua also shot brilliantly, sending 48 rounds down-range in one minute. Jesper had 38 hits, missing the record by just one. Both shooters were using iron-sighted Sauer 200 STR target rifles, which are normally chambered for the 6.5×55 cartridge. For this event, magazines are limited to 5 rounds and shooters may use slings but no bipods or other support.
Amazing Bolt-Gun Cycling Speed — 48 Rounds in One Minute
Another Norwegian ace, Jesper Nilsstua, missed the Mad Minute Challenge record (by one hit), but boy was he fast. Dennis Santiago (who has done his own Mad Minute drill), was dazzled: “This dude didn’t get the new world’s record of 39 hits in 60 seconds. He ‘only’ got 38 hits after getting off an amazing 48 shots in 60 seconds. Watch the smoothness of his shooting. It’s amazing.”
For the Mad Minute Challenge in Norway, a standard 200m DFS target was used, with 1 point per hit within the black area which is 40cm (15.75″, or 6.9 MOA) in diameter.
Norwegian Mad Minute Challenge — Event Rules
The organizers of the event posted: “The Mad Minute Challenge [is] a modern edition of a old military drill. This is a place for sport shooters to … share experiences on the subject of speed shooting with bolt-action rifles. The Mad Minute Challenge is all about the sport! To make a attempt for the record everyone must follow these five simple rules:”
About the Original MAD MINUTE
“Mad Minute” was a pre-World War I term used by British Army riflemen during training at the Hythe School of Musketry to describe scoring a minimum of 15 hits on a target at 300 yards within one minute using a bolt-action rifle (usually a Lee-Enfield or Lee-Metford rifle). It was not uncommon during the First World War for riflemen to greatly exceed this score. The record, set in 1914 by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall, was 38 hits.
Listed as “Practice number 22, Rapid Fire” of The Musketry Regulations, Part I, 1909, this drill required at least 15 shots on the Second Class target at 300 yards. The exercise was just one of several annual tests to classify a soldier as a sharpshooter, first or second class shooter depending on the points achieved.
Research indicates the Second Class target was a 48″ x 48″ square with 24″ inner circle and 36″ outer circle. The sight mark was a central 12″ x 12″ shape representing a soldier. ALL hits scored points (3 for center circle, 2 for outer circle, 1 for outer square). NOTE: Though some sources say the Mad Minute drill used a 12″-diameter round target, this appears to be a mistake from Ian Hogg’s book “The Encyclopedia of Weaponry”. No other source mentions a 12″ circle, which would be a mere 3.82 MOA. In reality the true drill target was a 48″ x 48″ square, roughly 15 times larger. (From No.WikiPedia.)
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Tags: 6.5x55, Haga Range, Inge Hvitås, Mad Minute, Mad Minute Challenge, Norway, Sauer 200 STR, Speed Shooting, Stangskyting
Well practiced, and one smooth action.
Interesting facebook wont let me watch the video unless i agree to allowing “facebook.com” to use cookies and website data while browsing “accurateshooter.com”? And then track my activity.
looks like i wont be watching this one!
What were those Square things they kept putting in under the rifles? It ate up the clock!
No wonder my single feed bolt times are Faster…
Editor: They call ‘em mags. Unfortunately, you can’t single feed with the left hand when your arm is wrapped up in the sling supporting the rifle.
With the speed of these guys, the record would be higher, but the Mad Minute Challenge rules limit magazines to FIVE Rounds MAX.
With skill like that, makes a ban on semi-automatic rifles a bit superfluous
I used to be a small arms instructor and live-fire range NCO in my US Army units but I’ve retired more than a decade ago–and at my best I couldn’t do that with an M16 even if I used full 30-shot magazines. Those guys are GOOD!
I wondered that with these specialized rifles and peep sights at only 200Meters ought to routinely out do the 1914 record of 38 hits by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall at 300 meters with a standard issue arm.
I am now going to assume it is the 5 round limit on magazine capacity that slows these fellows. I am fairly certain Sergeant Instructor Snoxall was using the 10 round SMLE.
But not to diminish the Sergeant’s accomplishment, the Sergeant instructor had to load two five round clips from the top to fill that magazine.
What we will never see is Sergeant instructor Snoxall with a Sauer 200 STR target rifle.