For those that think bolt action is slow! Rapid fire K98K

Kar98s and most mausers are designed for single shot accuracy, not rapid fire. It is neat get an idea how fast it can be done but I wont be forcing my kar98k to do it anytime soon.
 
Pre-WW1, the British Army trained every soldier to be able to perform on that level with their SMLE - and to hit the target, too. I had an old-timer show me the technique at Connaught many years ago - he pulled the trigger with his middle finger, manipulating the bolt with thumb and trigger finger, neither of which ever left contact with it. Amazing performance.

The record (still standing a century later) was set by a British sergeant who put 38 rounds into a 12" bull at 300 yards.

The firepower produced was such that the German Army, running into the Brits for the first time at Mons, is supposed to have estimated that they had 28 Vickers guns per battalion. They actually had two.

They were men in those days.

EDIT - Chance to get at the book I was thinking of.

It was Sergeant-Instructor Snoxall shooting in 1914. Further, the target was four-foot in size with a 12" bulls-eye. All rounds were within 'the inner ring', but the size of that ring is unknown. (A different source says the inner ring was 36".) Details from yet another source state the feat was done from the prone, no sling, iron sights only (the latter not surprising at the time).

British Army standards of the day required all infantrymen to be able to hit the same target 15 times a minute and those who could not were generally released from the Army.
 
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Pre-WW1, the British Army trained every soldier to be able to perform on that level with their SMLE - and to hit the target, too. I had an old-timer show me the technique at Connaught many years ago - he pulled the trigger with his middle finger, manipulating the bolt with thumb and trigger finger, neither of which ever left contact with it. Amazing performance.

The record (still standing a century later) was set by a British sergeant who put 38 rounds into a 12" bull at 300 yards.

The firepower produced was such that the German Army, running into the Brits for the first time at Mons, is supposed to have estimated that they had 28 Vickers guns per battalion. They actually had two.

They were men in those days.
Totally agree, and the Lee Enfield,with his short throw,very smooth action was great for this role. Another rifle too, the Ross with his straight line action,in proper hands,must be the hell off a beast:D
Jocelyn
 
Of all the tools in the toolbox nothing makes it out on my hunting trips more than my '42 No4 Mk1. Because it always gets the job done.

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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 current world record for aimed bolt-action fire was set in 1914 by a musketry instructor in the British Army—Sergeant Instructor Snoxall—who placed 38 rounds into a 12-inch-wide (300 mm) target at 300 yards (270 m) in one minute.


.. take this K98 kid.

[youtube]6m1yN-3n0FU[/youtube]
 
A K98 can be quite fast after someone that knows how to polish them correctly has done their bit. That kid was just making smoke though.

I'm a little slower in my rapid fire serials however I usually hit what I'm aiming at. I'd still rather run my CNo4Mk1* than a K98k though. However the K98k sure feels better when carrying in the field. More comfortable one hand hold than a No4. A No1 has the balance point just forward of the magazine which is nice too.
 
The British Expeditionary Force in 1914(that "contemptible little army" , as the Kaiser called it) was reputed to have been the finest ever fielded by any nation in WW1. They were professional soldiers not draftees, who had trained for years, and they held up huge German attacks for days while French and Belgian units crumpled. They even referred to themselves as "old contemptibles", unfortunately their stubborn defense had a heavy toll, most of that 100,000 man unit never returned to Great Britain.


Pre-WW1, the British Army trained every soldier to be able to perform on that level with their SMLE - and to hit the target, too. I had an old-timer show me the technique at Connaught many years ago - he pulled the trigger with his middle finger, manipulating the bolt with thumb and trigger finger, neither of which ever left contact with it. Amazing performance.

The record (still standing a century later) was set by a British sergeant who put 38 rounds into a 12" bull at 300 yards.

The firepower produced was such that the German Army, running into the Brits for the first time at Mons, is supposed to have estimated that they had 28 Vickers guns per battalion. They actually had two.

They were men in those days.

EDIT - Chance to get at the book I was thinking of.

It was Sergeant-Instructor Snoxall shooting in 1914. Further, the target was four-foot in size with a 12" bulls-eye. All rounds were within 'the inner ring', but the size of that ring is unknown. (A different source says the inner ring was 36".) Details from yet another source state the feat was done from the prone, no sling, iron sights only (the latter not surprising at the time).

British Army standards of the day required all infantrymen to be able to hit the same target 15 times a minute and those who could not were generally released from the Army.
 
That's nothing fancy. I've cycled my enfield's or M1917 just as fast, or fast. The difference is that I take the time to aim between shots. I can usually keep them to minute of nazi.
 
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