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Today we’re looking at another exercise for your marksmanship training. I call this the Modified Jason drill. For a bit of history, the original version of this drill comes from my friend John Simpson, who wrote about it in his book, The Sniper’s Notebook. He developed the drill while stationed in Germany and named it after his son, Jason. The version I’m discussing with you today is nearly identical.
Marksman Drill #1 was about an emphasis on speed while being “accurate enough” to keep all hits on a 10″ circle. Drill #2, on the other hand, is about balancing speed against a higher demand for precision. This drill utilizes five strings of fire, five shots each. Each string uses a progressively shorter par time to test where your limit of balancing speed and precision is.
Setting Up Drill #2
To set up this drill, we again need an NRA TQ-4 target. However, we’re going to use the blank back side of it. On this blank side, draw five individual targets, each a 3″ x 5″ box (like an index card). This box represents the “brain box” of a threat and a need for higher precision.
Making the Target
The quickest way to do this is to grab a 3″ x 5″ index card and a marker. On the blank side of the TQ-4, trace one box centered near the top of the paper. Mark a large number “1” to the side of the box.
Next, make four more boxes, evenly spaced in two columns below the first one. Label each one 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the space next to the box. The numbers should be bold enough to identify when the target is at 100 yards. The 14″ x 14″ paper of the TQ-4 is more than enough to contain all five boxes and labels.
While you’re at it, you might as well make several of these targets for future use.
Target Placement and Shooting Position
Drill #2 may be run anywhere from contact distance up to 100 yards. Naturally, the distance depends a lot on the chosen weapon platform, with handguns being more appropriate for close distances and rifles for longer. You may choose any shooting position you want. Note that if you shoot the drill at 10 yards or less, then you should cut the par times in half.
Executing Drill #2
Here we go, the important part. This drill consists of five strings of fire, five shots each. That’s a total of 25 rounds for each run.
Once you’ve set up your target, begin the sequence. Do not go down and review targets until the entire drill is complete.
String 1
Start from the standing ready position. If using a handgun, it shall be holstered and loaded with five shots. With a long gun, it shall be held in the low ready with five shots loaded.
On start, assume the desired position and fire five shots at box #1. There is no time limit on this string.
Once complete with all five shots, stand up and prepare for String 2.
String 2
Set a par timer for 30 seconds if shooting at more than 10 yards, or 15 seconds if less than 10 yards.
Repeat the drill as described for String 1, firing at box #2. All five shots must be fired before the time expires.
String 3
Set the par timer for 25 seconds or 12.5 seconds (for 10 yards or less). Repeat the drill, firing at box #3. Again, all five shots must be fired before the 25 second par timer expires.
String 4
Reduce par time to 20 seconds or 10 seconds (for less than 10 yards). Repeat the drill, firing at box #4.
String 5
Reduce par time to 15 seconds or 7.5 seconds (for less than 10 yards). Repeat the drill, firing at box #5.
Evaluating Results
Evaluate your targets and observe what happens to the group sizes as the time limit decreased. When writing about this in his book, John points out that many shooters will see their group sizes stay the same or even shrink up to a point. When they reach the “critical time limit,” there is a reversal of the trend and group sizes start to grow again. This critical time limit is important to keep track of, as it shows what your personal maximum cadence is for maintaining a balance of precision and speed for that combination of weapon, position, and distance.
Keep in mind that this only counts if the center of the impact is within the box. No “edging” with broken paper or any of that competition scoring stuff. The center of the bullet must be within the box or else it’s a miss. Any miss or failure to fire all five shots is a failure for that string.
Initial Testing
MLC4570 and I got together for a bit of range time and tested this drill out with a few pistols and even my bolt action Tikka T1x. All from the standing position. The distance wasn’t very far, but the drill still proved to be a challenge. Often there was plenty of time left on the clock, but we might throw a shot out of the box because we needlessly rushed ourselves.
My advice is to take full advantage of the time available. If you find that you’re doing well with a particular weapon system and distance, increase the challenge by using a less stable position.
Drill 2A: Upping the Challenge
Tom Givens is known for the famous 5-5-5 Old West Test. The goal is placing five hits on a playing card placed at 5 yards within 5 seconds. The test requires old fashioned playing cards that were about 3 x 5, not the new standard (and smaller) playing cards. People who were able to do this test at a Tom Givens class kept the target with a signature and date from Tom himself.
Drill 2A uses this structure. The fastest par time on the drill is is 7.5 seconds for less than 10 yards. The 5-5-5 test is for 5 seconds, so it’s a natural “next step.”
Using the same setup as before, with five 3×5 boxes drawn on the back of a TQ-4 target, set the target at a desired distance. With your weapon of choice, perform five strings of five shots- that’s a total of 25 shots. Each string should be done as quickly as possible while keeping your hits in the box.
Your score is the total time for all five strings, plus two seconds for every hit that fell outside of the boxes. As with golf, lower is better.
When you log your score, make sure to document the distance, weapon platform, shooting position, as well as any other notes about the drill (like starting from standing, using a holster, etc.).
As you practice this drill, try to beat your score (by getting it lower and lower) with the same weapon, distance, and conditions.
There is no set par time here, simply try and beat your score from session to session.
Room on the paper for a sixth card.
30 rounds in a magazine.
I’d add five single shots from slung ready to up to warm up.
Yeah, that’s not what it’s for. I always tell people who want to “improve” an exercise of mine to actually try it first. Tacking on a sixth target that has nothing to do with the drill kind of loses the intent. It was originally to show snipers that sniper marksmanship is indeed rapid fire marksmanship even if one round is fired rapidly. The measurement of how fast is too fast is the increase in dispersion of the shot groups on the target. Yeah, adding on single shots has nothing to do with the purpose of the drill.