Reliving History — Dennis Does “Mad Minute” with Lee-Enfield
British Lee-Enfield Model SHT’22/IV Rifle, courtesy www.iCollector.com.
Our friend Dennis Santiago was a technical advisor for History Channel’s Top SHOT TV show. One of the notable Top Shot episodes involved the “Mad Minute”, a marksmanship drill practiced by the British Army in the decades preceding World War I. Dennis observed that the Top Shot competitors didn’t fare too well in their “Mad Minute” attempts, not scoring many hits in the allotted one-minute time period. That prompted Dennis to give it a try himself — seeing how many hits he could score in one minute with an authentic Lee-Enfield rifle. So, a while back, Dennis ran the drill at a range in California. One of the notable Top Shot episodes involved the “Mad Minute”, a marksman
Dennis Does the Mad Minute:
Dennis, an active high power rifle competitor and instructor, enjoyed his “Mad Minute” exercise, though he assures us that this takes practice to perfect. Dennis tells us: “Here is a ‘Mad Minute’ drill, done using a period correct Lee-Enfield (SMLE) No.1 Mk III rifle and Mk VII ammo. I got to the Queen’s Regulations (15 hits in one minute) on the second run and put a good group on the target at 200 yards. This is ‘jolly good fun’ to do every once in a while. This is ‘living history’ — experiencing a skill from a time when the sun never set on the British Empire.”
Lee-Enfield No. 4 Rifle (1943), courtesy Arundel Militaria.
“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 onto a 12″ round 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. (From WikiPedia.)
History of the Mad Minute
Commentary by Laurie Holland
The original military requirement of the “Mad Minute” saw the soldier ready to fire with a round in the chamber, nine in the magazine, safety on. This course of fire is still followed by the GB Historic Breechloading Arms Association and other bodies in their recreated “Mad Minute” competitions.The first 10 would go quickly, but reloads were critical, this not done by a magazine change as in a modern tactical or semi-auto rifle, but through slick use of ‘chargers’. It is this aspect which fouls so many of my colleagues up as it is very easy to cause a jam and a large part of 60 seconds can go in sorting it out!
Charger clips were selected for those that just held the rounds firmly enough to stop then falling out, were sand-papered and polished with a stove / fireplace polish called ‘Zebrite’ so that the rimmed rounds would slip through the clips like corn through a goose.
If you’re unfamiliar with the cock-on-closing Enfield action, it seems clumsy. With intensive practice it is very smooth and can be operated incredibly quickly. The trick is to whip the bolt back onto its stop and initiate a rebound movement that takes it and the cartridge well into the chamber thereby reducing the effort required to close the bolt and chamber the round.
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Tags: Dennis Santiago, History Channel, Lee Enfield, Mad Minute, Rifle Drill, Santiago, Top Shot
You can go a bit faster if you are STANDING and if you manipulate the bolt wit the thumb and forefinger ( and pull the trigger with the index finger. You still have to move your head a bit, but not as much as with competing products.
MUCH harder to do with a Mauser type action, or a Ross or Mosin Nagant.
The ergonomics of the Lee Enfield whereby the bolt handle is BEHIND the trigger and the lift is, from memory about 67 degrees is a huge bonus.
Note that the “other” Enfields (P-14 and M-17) have that dog-legged bolt handle to get the bolt knob back into a location similar to a Lee Enfield.
Whatever bolt-gun you are using, dry practice with dummy rounds and chargers involves the whole same suite of moves and skills as live fire, but without all the noise, recoil and expense. Hard to “simulate” the whole cycle on a gas-gun.
The ‘Mad Minute’ (Practice 22) rules stipulated starting with 5 rounds loaded and not using a sling or any other rest.
There was also a Practice 11 shot at 300 yards, 10 rounds in a minute but starting with the rifle empty.
All need a lot of practice!