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Bolt manipulation was practiced religiously in the pre-1914 British Army. A well trained soldier was expected to be able to fire 15 aimed rounds a minute, and most could fire 20 or more. You worked the bolt with the thumb and forefinger, and used the second finger to slap the trigger.
As mentioned, it was a technique designed to give massive firepower at very close ranges, that is, when the nasty old Enemy was climbing over your wire intending to stick a spear or bayonet into you.
I was taught this over 50 years ago, back in the late 1950s, by the Caretaker at the local Armouries. However, this Caretaker was a retired Sergeant-Major who just happened, during his military career, to be an Instructor at the School of Musketry, in Hythe, England. He could, on a good day, get 39 to 40 rounds off in one minute, at a 25 yard target. The last time I tried it seriously was back in the 1990s when I was in my mid-50s of age, and I got off 38 rounds with 37 hits and one round off the Figure 11 target by about 2 inches. We video taped it, but with some moves since, I am not exactly sure where the video tape is now.
We did, however, spend hours selecting and polishing our Chargers, and treated them with kid gloves. We were also taught the Hawkins Position for very accurate shooting with the Lee Enfield at extremely long ranges. Last Spring, SMELLIE and I were playing around at the range, and I fired 10 rounds in less than 15 seconds at a 200 yard target, and had all hits. Not too bad for an old fart of almost 72 years old.
There is a faster way of getting a lot of lead downrange, but not as effective as the original military concept. You load 10 and fire 6 rounds. You then load 5 and fire another 6 rounds, and continue to load 5 and fire 6 until you get to the empty magazine or time (in the case of one minute) runs out. While this might give more firepower, the idea is to hit something and get a lot of bullets into the air. While this technique works on the range, in a serious combat situation it is a stupid way of doing it.
Imagine a Company of 100 men faced with an oncoming horde of natives or enemy. Those 100 men have 1000 rounds available. Why would you fire 600 and keep 400 rounds unfired before loading another 500 rounds. Even at 50% hits, possible because the enemy is very, very, close, that would mean another 200 enemy casualties before you had to reload.
And, you did NOT do a full 10 round reload. You put one 5 round charger into the charger guide, pushed the cartridges into the magazine, then closed the bolt, thus kicking the steel charger out of the guides, chambering a round, and firing the 5 rounds ( or the 500 for the Company) at the enemy. If you had time for another 5 round reload, you did it, but if not, that bayonet on the end of the rifle was then put into use, along with that shovel, club, or entrenching tool that you had placed on the Parapet for "just in case" use.
What we were taught was practical marksmanship, things that worked, and how to stay alive, by people who had experienced just that approximately 15 years before.
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