“Sledgehammer” RunNGun Intro Pt 3: Nutnfancy Testing Drill

“The Sledgehammer” Nutnfancy RunNGun drill is an attempt to create a repeatable testing drill for both pistol and tactial carbine systems (mostly carbine shooting). A system works together to give the shooter capabilities and that’s what I like testing and reviewing in TNP. The drill will test both the shooter and their chosen systems in all kinds of weather and conditions. There are many variables at work (like shooter skill) and lots of subjectivity comes into play. But real data points are generated by this challenging drill that you can apply to your own systems and gear acquisitions. I also designed this course to increase the stress levels of the shooters by requiring physical exertion while being carefully scored. Ensuring FUN is also an important element of the SH and good natured smack talk and yelling at the shooter is encouraged. It is possible through the “Sledgehammer” of SH (and perhaps my future courses of fire) to accomplish these goals and more. To ensure accurate feedback on shooter and gun system performance, the SH is ran as a single shooter (not teams like in “Breaking Contact;” that muddles the scores too much for testing purposes). In this Part 1 Sledgehammer Intro, I show the course of fire stages and discuss some philosophy behind them as we do a course walk through. For the first time, I incorporate the TNP Barricades (or TNPBs and yes I know that’s a silly acronym!) I built to allow the shooter to practice and incorporate cover in his run. Several shooting positions are possible through the Barricade as shown and I leave the choice in SH up to the shooter, although extra points are awarded for Roll Over Prone shooting since it’s tougher! Pistol shots are done from 15 to 20 yards, rifle shots are done from about 70 to 200 yards. It asks a lot from both shooter and gun systems for these wide-ranging engagements (great test). Magnified optics are recommended by me as zero magnified or iron sight users usually get dominated in a huge way in SH (just like in Armed Serenity). Shooters will genrally run the course in a light DL2 (Defensive Loadout level incorporating a mid-level ammo and weapons loadout) but its their decision. Having to run SH in a DL3 or more loadout (approx 50 lbs or more) would be exhausting and would defeat the all-day long time line of the drill. As it stands, running The Sledgehammer multiple times in all four seasons, in the gear shown, uphill, while being scored (and watched by the world), and after a multi-hour course setup and gun sight in requires much effort. I find dudes can do it about three times before their performance drops off (and it takes a long time to score each run too so you run out of time as well). Practicing the SH will increase performance in all tactical shooting scenarios and your fitness WILL increase. Mental toughness also comes into play. That allows you to shrug off discomfort (like in snow, cold, heat) and dig deep to make the hits when its tough to do so. The SH tests that too. In this intro vid series, TNP Crew Members “Yebache” and “PFIDude” help me break in and introduce The Sledgehammer in these sometimes snowy conditions shown. They are stalwart and dependable TNPrs that shoot well and that’s why I used them for SH. Some corrections to the scoring process are annotated but I expect the SH Drill to stay fairly standard so I can use the scores as a means of systems reference in my reviews. So man up and gear up….it’s time The Sledgehammer! /////////// Music: Derek Audette, Torley Wong, and TNPrs El Dudio (youtube.com/user/eldudio)