#mad minute

This was probably the only "sport" I was ever good at :x

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Mad Minute Printable PDFs Enhance Math Proficiency with Mad Minute Worksheets – Mad Minute worksheets provide a structured and time-efficient way to enhance basic math fluency. The timed nature of these exercises challenges students to recall facts rapidly, promoting quick mental calculation and automaticity. This not only strengthens their arithmetic skills but also contributes to overall…

The Rifle That Help Make America a Superpower

Nice article in National Interest about a classic Norwegian-designed American issue rifle.

Krags are still used in the Norwegian practical rifle competitive shooting event called Stangskyting (Stang shooting, named after Colonel Georg Stang) Competitors in that sport also developed speed loaders as well.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC4_g6N…

Bolt Action Rapid Fire

From John Tate.

I found these videos when looking for reloading techniques for the Krag. Below are two videos of a practical rifle competitive shooting event in Norway called Stangskyting (Stang shooting, named after Colonel Georg Stang) with a relevant article. Things to notice:

This is clearly a spectator sport!

In the first video (and later, in the others, notice the technique of using the…

South Vietnam, January 21, 1968: Illumination rounds fill the sky over Landing Zone Ross, a staging area for U.S. operations in South Vietnam's Que Son Valley. The rounds were fired during a "mad minute," in which the area outside the perimeter was lit up in anticipation of an enemy attack.

Major C.H.B Pridham, writing about the British Army’s decision not to adopt more than two machine guns per infantry battalion during the early 1910s. In response to this a balance was sought by training troops to pour aimed fire onto distant enemies rapidly.  

Famously the ‘Mad Minute’ was developed training men to fire 15+ aimed shots at a man sized target 300 yards away. The result was that by August 1914, the British Army had the best level of marksmanship man for man of any army in Europe.

Ahh cool!  Well the original challenge was to put 15 rounds on paper 300 yards away in a minute - which doesn’t sound too difficult until you see what 300 yards looks like and how big the target appears (it was 36 inches at its outer ring, with a 12” figure bull) at that range. 

If you’re going for period accurate you can shoot either prone or sat.  I believe they started with 5 rounds in the magazine and the first round in the chamber before beginning.  If you want to be fast then you’re going to need to put your ammunition in stripper clips because single loading after you’ve fired your first 5 rounds will slow you down significantly. 

The main tips are: 

Maintain your cheek weld, don’t drop the rifle from your shoulder or look at the action while you’re cycling it.  This will allow you to keep target reacquisition fast.

When loading from stripper clips don’t worry about taking the empty clip from the guide once you’ve loaded just run the bolt forward and the clip will be knocked clear

The third tip is probably the hardest to get used to as a shooter.  You need to cycle the action with your right hand but instead of gripping the stock fully as you normally would you need to only grip with your 3rd and 4th fingers while you pull the trigger with your 2nd finger and keep your thumb and 1st finger on the bolt.  This feels unnatural but it is reportedly what the men did. Alternatively you can 'palm' the bolt cycling the action with the flat of your hand.

I hope that helps, you’ll have to message again and let me us know how you got on.  The famous 38 hit (unconfirmed) record was originally set in I believe 1914 Sergeant Alfred Snoxall a musketry instructor.