The war was nearly over on March 6, 1940. The enemy, propagandized as an unstoppable fighting machine, was indeed overwhelming the army of the country they’d invaded. Six days later, the aggressors would finally force an armistice, and soon grab control of much of the land they’d coveted. It had taken longer than the two weeks they’d anticipated, but conditions were harsh, the defenders far more resolute than expected. For more than three months, battlefields roared with motoring tanks, gunfire and artillery explosions, obliterating the natural beauty of the countryside. Through it all, one warrior emerged as perhaps the finest killer in military history, on a mission to serve his besieged nation by picking off foreign attackers — many, many of them — one by one with a sniper rifle.
I sincerely doubt there is anyone here reading this blog who doesn’t know the story of the Finnish version of Hathcock. But, it’s a good article, since many are written from the perspective of gun boffins and military buffs…this one, it seems, is written more objectively.
For those of you out there with Mosin’s sitting in the closet, there’s a few sentences about a drill where 16 shots at 500 feet on a target in one minute is mentioned. Possible? Not possible? Grassy-knoll level of expertise required? You decide.
Good article, worth the read.
That is one heck of a mad minute.
I’d like to see that. Would be right up there with the exhibition shooters of days gone past.
16 rounds on a target 166 yards away in one minute? It’s difficult but possible with practice.
While I don’t own a Mosin, I do have a bolt action 7.62 Ruger Scout and a .303 Lee Enfield No 4 Mk 2 and I know that with either of these two firearms, it can be done.
The secret is to (a) position the stripper clips or magazines of ammo near at hand to speed up the reload. And (b), to keep your index finger and thumb on the bolt handle to work the action while manipulation of the trigger is done with the second finger.
Here’s an example of it being done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsYpMzuArbc
I suspect the real secret is the ten round magazines of those guns.
I remember a documentary about a Finn that was that good. I forget what his actual total was but it was equal to the top Soviet and German snipers.
Remember that this was done before mechanical or electronic instrument . I just cheated, and looked him up.
Simo Hayha site goes by his name
kills over 219 iron sights!
and I used to have a problem in the 60’s at anything over a 100m
Simo Hayha iron sights kills 219
The rifle that Simo used was not technically a Mosin Nagant 91-30. It was a M39 or one of the Finn variants. I have a M39 with a Sako barrel. I guarantee you this barrel was superior to any of the Mosin barrels that the ham handed Russkies pounded out in their” you-work- da comrade or you starve “factories. This rifle shoots where you aim also unlike some Mosins I’ve shot that print very high or shoot left.
Simo was a true hero. Perhaps the greatest sniper of all time.
What a dedicated person that is familiar with their terrain, methods of stealth and a spirit of ‘You Shall Not Pass’ is capable of. His actions were patriotic to his country and for that he should be praised.
Not so sure he was the best. He knew his AO. He had mad winter woods skills. BUT (big but) he had a LOT of targets (bout a million russkis- turkey shoot!). He did have one thing perfected. His attitude, he was a killer without remorse. He only worked a month until he was injured. Outside of his area he might not have been so good. Modern snipers are trained to operate just about anywhere, at ranges he never had to even imagine.
The take away for me is the effectiveness of a bolt gun with open sights. A skilled person with a simple tool can make a big difference.
Russian women snipers killed Nazis like crazy (they did have optics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_Pavlichenko. An American soldier once said they were in a jeep, suffering 40 below cold, and came across a single Russian woman walking the road with her rifle like she was on her way to Target. Tough as nails.
IIRC, Mr. Hathcock noticed that when the action was hot and heavy his spotter with an M14 semi-auto had about the same rate of fire as his bolt gun, given recovery time, target acquisition, etc.
16 rounds in one minute is 3 seconds per shot, plus 5 seconds to fill the mag from a stripper clip (twice).
500 feet is 167 yards, 16 shots in a row without missing.
Me, no way in hell. Simo Häyhä, yes.