Bolt Action vs. Semiautomatic

[timmy]

Here is an interesting clip of 3 different kinds of bolt action rifles vs. a semi auto in a competition. A little bit of lutefisk seems to be good for reflexes! I would have liked to see an SMLE in this competition.

[youtube][/youtube]

[aadhaulya]

Interesting, now two questions.
1. These guys were holding on to the bolt and firing with the thrid finger. Is that the correct way for competition shooters?
2. What is SMLE? Is it the name of a manufacturer or is it a type of rifle?

Regards

[timmy]

If by 3rd finger, you mean the middle or longest finger, this is the way bolt guns are shot rapid fire -- it's what the way the British BEF professional army was trained to perform rapid fire. The Germans facing them in the opening days of WW1 thought they had come under machine gun fire.

SMLE = "Short Magazine Lee Enfield."



This was the British service rifle on the eve of WW1. Among other arsenals, it was made at Ishapore. You will also recognize that the RFI 2A and RFI 2A1 look very similar, as they were pattered after the SMLE. (They were not converted from SMLEs, as some think. The SMLE was chambered in .303 British and not strong enough to handle the 7.62 x 51 NATO used in the RFI 2A and RFI 2A1.) The SMLE is also known as the No. 1 Mk III rifle. This rifle was followed by the No 4 Mk I:



These were stronger than the SMLE and some were converted to use 7.62 x 51 NATO.

Both of these rifles were known for having a very smooth and quick action, which facilitated very rapid and easy manipulation and firing.

One of the few rifles to rival the SMLE in smoothness was the Krag, which the last shooter in the video used. He gives a good example of how an old war horse with a slick action could rival even modern weapons in rapidity of fire.

In my opinion, the SMLE was the finest battle rifle of WW1, and the No. 4 Mk I was the finest bolt action battle rifle of WW2. Oddly enough, the Lee system was an old system, developed by James Paris Lee in 1879. The British were in the process of replacing it in 1914 with the Enfield P14 rifle, but the outbreak of WW1 ended that effort. War experience showed the SMLE to be a very fine weapon, indeed, and it was further developed into the No. 4 Mk I and No. 5 "Jungle Carbine." The only bolt action rifle of its era to outlive it in service was the Russian/Soviet Mosin Nagant

[xl_target]

If by 3rd finger, you mean the middle or longest finger, this is the way bolt guns are shot rapid fire -- it's what the way the British BEF professional army was trained to perform rapid fire. The Germans facing them in the opening days of WW1 thought they had come under machine gun fire.

The fast-operating Lee bolt-action and 10-round 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. Some straight-pull bolt-action rifles were thought faster, but lacked the simplicity, reliability, and generous magazine capacity of the Lee-Enfield. Several First World War accounts tell of British troops repelling German attackers who subsequently reported that they had encountered machine guns, when in fact it was simply a group of well-trained riflemen armed with SMLE Mk III rifles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield

Getting 38 hits into a 12" wide target at 300 yards in 60 seconds (with iron sights) is an incredible feat.
Most people today will have a hard time doing that with telescopic sights and a semiauto rifle.
That tells you something about the accuracy and speed that the SMLE rifle is capable of. It was and still is an amazing rifle.

[TC]

Fantastic video Timmy,

Learnt few things - observed intensely would be more appropriate - from the video.
Control, for one, is something to learn here.

And what a wonderful crowd, the cheering, the intensity et al makes it so inspiring for these competitors. Here at our club when I practice, either it is another guy waiting for his turn or the cleanup guy cursing me for getting him late for his Sunday lunch

Thanks for sharing


TC

[herb]

I have developed a new respect for bolt actions and the shooter who knows how to use it.

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing. Learned a few things about these old beauties too.

Herb

[ckkalyan]

Very interesting video - thanks for sharing timmy!

A wee drop of akvavit to go with the lutefisk no doubt enhances performance.