Where can I find the rules for the British 'mad minute match' stating rifles, target dimensions and course of fire details?
So glad you asked here's the dope.
Many assume the mad minute is just flinging 10-rounds towards the general direction of the berm quickly. That is wrong, the drill lasts an entire minute & requires reasonable accuracy as well.
In 1905 the man who was to save the small British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) from annihilation in 1914 was posted as Chief Instructor to the Musketry School at Hythe in Kent. He was Lt. Col. N.R. McMahon of the Royal Fusiliers. Although an ardent believer and foremost expert on the machine gun, McMahon knew something had to be done about the lack of this type of weapon. His answer was simple but would take time. He would take the ordinary British Soldier with his Lee Enfield Rifle and teach him to use it to such a high standard that no army had ever, or would ever, again reach. So fanatical was this man about implementing his ideas, that he became known as the "Musketry Maniac". His goal was that each man should become a "Human Machine Gun" . The final part of the soldier's qualification test was the crucial element in the new training system. This was to be known as the "Mad Minute". The soldier must, in one minute, be able to fire fifteen rounds into the inner scoring ring (14" in diameter) of a standard military four-foot target at 300 yards.
The Lee Enfield mad minute.
“Mad minute” was a term used by British riflemen during training to describe scoring 15 hits onto a target at 300 yd (274.3 m) within one minute using a bolt-action rifle. It was not uncommon during the First World War for riflemen to greatly exceed this score. Many riflemen could average 30+ shots, while the record, set in 1914 by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall was 38 hits.
[ Ian V. Hogg, The Encyclopedia of Weaponry, Sterling Publishing, New York 2006.]
The magazine and repeating bolt action of the Lee Enfield, adopted at the very dawn of the 20th century, allowed for an unprecedented volume of fire. The fast-operating Lee bolt-action and large magazine capacity enabled a well-trained rifleman to perform the "Mad minute" firing 20 to 30 aimed rounds in 60 seconds, making the Lee-Enfield the fastest military bolt-action rifle of the day. The Lee-Enfield Resource website has a video of 15 rounds in one minute, aimed, but no reference to the methodology & techniques used originally. It was not uncommon during the First World War for British Empire servicemen to beat this record! On average a rifleman could fire twenty-five shots, and some could even make it to forty shots.”
Supposedly there is a formal “Mad Minute reenactment” annually in the U.K.
During the 'mad minute' British riflemen were required to hit a target 300 meters away, with at least fifteen rounds fired in sixty seconds; one round every four seconds. A modern-day, semi-trained guerrilla soldier with a semi, or fully automatic assault rifle can easily top that, although not with the same accuracy, but the Lee-Enfield was a bolt action rifle, requiring the soldier to rotate and cycle a bolt with his hand between each shot. The rifle fired the powerful .303 British cartridge, which had a hefty recoil, and the magazine could only hold ten rounds, requiring several reloads during the minute.
Reloading a bolt-action rifle of the time involved sliding bullets from 5-round Chargers (stripper clips) down into the magazine from above. The Lee Enfield required two five-round clips, and debate still rages as to the best method for ensuring high-speed fire; polishing the clip guides, flipping the bolt with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand whilst firing with the middle finger, or even reloading with the Lee-Enfield's detachable magazine (not usually recommended).
The mad minute turned out to be extremely useful in the early stages of the Great War, when the lightly-armed British Expeditionary Force was on the defensive; the BEF's soldiers could put up a tremendous, murderous volume of fire against advancing close-formation German troops, many of whom reported that they were facing machine-guns. The upper limits of aimed fire in the mad minute were 30-35 rounds per minute, slightly more than one round every two seconds, including the time taken to cycle the bolt and stuff several clips into the rifle.
Here is probably the best-documented methodology available, but most of the documents & records from the period are destroyed so even this is speculative! Remember this was a "set up" World Record attempt, so there was a lot of manipulation & setup involved!
Targets
On military ranges, where most full-bore shoots take place, targets are chosen according to the distance and course of fire. The most commonly used target is known as a Figure 11. This is 44 inches high by 17 inches wide and depicts a charging infantry soldier. A good second choice would be the regulation 4' square "tin hat" target, with its Bull, Inner, Magpie, Outer setup much like a modern bullseye target with a piece of typing paper covering the bottom half of the bullseye.
The drill happened during WW1 so we can assume it was done from a trench standing with the rifle supported on a sandbag. A bench & bag is a reasonable substitute if you don't feel like digging a bloody great hole in the range firing line!
Load up at least 8 chargers with 5 rounds each!
The rifle is slung & (this is vital) the butt-stock never leaves the shoulder. Resist the temptation to "look at the bullets going in". Use tension from the sling with the left forearm wrapped in it to keep the butt-plate in position firmly pressed into the shoulder pocket throughout. Try to keep the muzzle pointed at the bullseye as well, this is why the positioning setup is so important, the rifle should recover from recoil almost naturally if you do it right.
The bolt operation is done by butting the bolt knob in the bent right hand's "trigger finger" & held in place by the right thumb. That finger/thumb never leave the bolt handle, except when grabbing another loaded charger from the right front of the shooter's position. The second finger is used for the trigger operation exclusively. If you get it set up just right (which needs practice) you'll find as the bolt is "whipped sharply" into the closed & locked position the second finger presses the trigger without you doing anything except keeping it rigid. This takes a bit of practice but is almost instinctive when you get it down pat.
Now you're set up here's the actual firing drill.
Get prone or benched slug & bagged & set up position so you naturally point at the life sized silhouette target at 300yds. (You can use a reduced size one at 100yds if you like.)
LOAD 11 rounds. (2 chargers & one "up the spout").
Fire 6 rounds as quickly as you can re-acquire the target. Time (1 Minute) starts here at the sound of the first shot.
Breathe!
You have fired 6 rounds & have 5 rounds left, DO NOT close the bolt on round #7, just whack in a charger with 5 more rounds & snap the bolt forward to eject the empty clip.
You have 10 rounds loaded.
Fire 6 rounds as quickly as you can re-acquire the target.
Breathe.
Keep repeating the "fire 6, charge 5" until either the minute is up or you run out of bullets after 38 rounds fired! Once you’ve fully emptied the magazine (assuming you’re still going) just dump in 5-round chargers & fire them off to complete the one minute time frame.
If you fire 38 congratulations you beat Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall’s World Record! Most can fire 15~20 aimed shots in a minute with just a day or two's practice, but the world record set in 1914 was 38!
In reality when it cocked was less important than the skills of the marksman & the unique relationship between the trigger & the bolt handle of the Lee Enfield rifle.
