The Mad Minute Reborn

The "Mad Minute" Drill Reborn

More than a century ago now, the "Mad Minute" drill was conceived by the British.  The idea was to score at minimum, 15 hits on a 12-inch round target at 300 yards, within one minute, using a bolt-action rifle.  


Through the duration of the First World War, it was not uncommon for riflemen to exceed this benchmark, in fact many of them even scored 30+ hits.  It was not until 1914 however that Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall set the highest record, that surprisingly enough, still stands today.  He was able to manage 38 hits.  An incredible feat even by today's standards.


What does all that have to do with today?  Well, we thought we would give the "Mad Minute" a try, but with a bit of a modern spin.  We decided to allow both period correct and modern bolt-action rifles, as well as modern semi-automatic rifles.


Once we gathered a group (it wasn't that hard to find people to shoot in a fun match quite honestly) we set out to the range.  We first allowed 5 sighting shots to make sure the shooter was dialed in.  Once everything was dialed in and the shooter was on-target, we then commenced with what is known as a "McQueen Drill".  A McQueen drill is simple, a random target is presented to the shooter for a limited amount of time.  The shooter has to acquire, aim and fire, before the target disappears.  We were using 3 second windows of opportunity at 300 yards.  Immediately following the McQueen drill, we gave the shooters a short time to re-load and re-prep for the Mad Minute drill.  


People showed up with a variety of platforms to try out.  Some even showed up with period correct Lee Enfield SMLE's (one even brought period correct cordite .303 British ammo)  I personally gave it a go with 2 of my AR15's, a 20" A2 clone and a 16" "M-4gery".  Gary Eliseo showed up with one of his "tube guns", a Remington 700 based RTM Tactical model, chambered in .308, topped with US Optics glass.  He also brought out a very cool, very tricked out AR15 topped with an ACOG.  We also had an SKS and a Savage Model10 in the mix.


When it was all said and done, and the cordite fumed smoke had cleared the air, we truly realized what a feat of 38 hits in one minute at 300 yards actually is, ESPECIALLY with a bolt-action rifle.  Out of all the bolt guns that gave it a try that day, Gary Eliseo took honors with his RTM, scoring 24 hits in the minute.  I managed to score 28 hits with my A2 AR-15 clone using irons, and was feeling pretty good about my score too.  That is until Gary pulled out his second rifle to give it another go.  With his ACOG mounted AR15, Gary managed to decimate my score as he made 49 hits.  Impressive to say the least.


Most importantly though, this was set up to be a "fun match", and that's exactly what it was, load and loads of fun.  We set this up for shooters to test the limits of their abilities with their equipment and to challenge themselves, all while having a good time.  -Mission accomplished.


-LRP
(http://www.youtube.com/LongRangeProductions)


P.S. If you are interested in watching Gary's run with his RTM bolt gun, check out the video below.

M&P 9mm Long Term Test

M&P9, The real deal.

Well, it's been a while since I picked up the S&W M&P9, and I am happy to report that everything has been great with this gun, albeit with a couple of minor issues.

The stock trigger leaves a lot on the table to be desired.  There really is no way around it.  The stock triggers on these guns just suck.  You can be fast and accurate with them for sure, but with the lack of a clean, tactile reset and a long spongy trigger pull, there is a lot to be desired.  This gun however still does have the stock trigger, though it has been slightly tweaked by me, giving it a much better reset, and a slightly better break.  Not much more to improve on without stepping up to an aftermarket trigger system.

The other complaint about this gun has been the factory night sights.  Though the sights are a good "Novak style" sight, the tritium insert on the front blade actually failed not more than 1000 rounds in.  The upside to this though is the fact that it is a Smith & Wesson, and that means that there is great customer support to be had from the factory.  I briefly considered buying and installing some Trijicons or similar, but ultimately decided to send the slide back to Smith & Wesson and have them replace the sights at no cost to me.  S&W sent me a free FedEx label to cover the shipping costs to them, and they sent it back for free as well.  Turn around time was very decent, as it only took about a week total from when they received it, to when it showed back up at my house, with brand new sights.  Another upside to sending it to S&W was that they also cleaned the crap out of the slide for me.  There was no more brass transfer on the breech face and not one spec of grime anywhere to be seen.  It was like new all over again.

Overall experience would be an A+ for the level of service I have always received from S&W customer service.  Just about the only other company out there that has ever matched or bettered S&W would be Springfield Armory, those guys are a class act for sure.  To summarize, you can't go wrong with either company for after the purchase, end user support.

The finish is very resilient and has held up against holster wear as well as the usual banging around while on the range.  Even if the finish did get damaged, the slide is made from stainless so it will hold up against corrosion quite well regardless.

Ergonomics are just fantastic.  The ambidextrous slide release is a very nice touch, as well as the placement of all of the other fire controls. The different size back-straps on the grip is a great touch, something that more and more firearms manufacturers are starting to do.  It is worthy to note also however, that one of the first main-stream manufactures, that I can remember anyways, that decided to design their firearms with a tuneable grip was actually Smith & Wesson/Walther with the SW99/P99 series of firearms.  I actually own a SW99 in .40 and it too is very ergonomic and comfortable to shoot.  Something that the M&P line just seemed to improve on. 

Reliability of this firearms has been great.  I have used the M&P to shoot in competitions and in real-world type training scenarios.  It has also seen everything from dirty reloads (WW231 powder) to premium self defense loads.  It eats everything I feed it.   115gr, 124gr, 147gr, this gun doesn't care.  It just gobbles everything up and rewards you with at minimum very decent accuracy.  I have even run this gun completely devoid of any lubricant, and while you can tell the action slows a bit, it still reliably fired an entire 50ct. box of ammo.

Here is a video from one of the competitions that I have shot with this pistol.

Capacity of this platform in 9mm and .40 is also excellent for the size of the package, with mag capacity of 17 and 15 respectively.  .45ACP is another story however with a maximum factory magazine capacity of only 10 rounds.  Acceptable at the minimum. 

Aftermarket support for the M&P platform is already quite strong and is growing rapidly.  Apex already makes a lot of great internal upgrades, from their hard sear to their AEK solid triggers to their complete trigger kits, as well as many other very durable, well engineered parts.  External accessories are plentiful as well.  Everyone from Bladetech to Safariland makes holsters and there are a handful of aftermarket sight options already out there, and it just keeps growing.

The M&P9 has made its way to the top of my short list of go-to handguns for the time being, and for good reason.  This gun is very good in all respects, and makes up for its few shortcomings with excellent ergo's and superb reliability.  If you have the opportunity, check one out for yourself.