The Test with No Name | Skills and Drills

The Test with No Name is not only a mouthful, but is also a great challenge. With four reps under my belt with this, I’m batting .500 with two solid and two awful runs. It seems simple at first, but gets challenging quickly.

Setting Up The Test with No Name

For this drill you’ll need a single LTT-1 target, a pistol loaded with 12 rounds, a timer, and holster. The only provision for a reduced round count is a 10 round version. Instead you fire four rounds at each B8, and add a 0.5 second penalty to your time.

This test is meant to be fired from concealment. If you’re using an OWB holster, add 0.5 seconds to your total time.

Place your target at five yards to begin. On the timer, draw, fire five rounds in one of the B8s, a single round into a one inch square, five rounds into the other B8, and a single round in the other one inch square. Essentially you’ll be firing in a diamond pattern. All of this is done in one go–you’re not resetting for each target.

Scoring this Drill

Scoring is fairly straightforward with The Test with No Name. For scoring purposes, anything causing a DQ is a 1 second penalty. Grease rings count toward the higher point value.

Any shots in the black of the B8s give you full points. Anything in the 8 ring is a 0.5 second penalty. Anything outside the 8 ring is a DQ.

Anywhere touching the one inch squares is full value. Missing the squares is a DQ. This means that the small circles surrounding the one inch squares count for nothing.

The par time is a clean run shot in under six seconds, which is considered an Expert score. Doing this twice, consecutively, during John’s class will grant you a serialized coin. As of the time of this writing, coin #00 is still up for grabs.

For closer goals, 10 seconds or less is considered an Advanced score. 15 Seconds or less is Intermediate. Greater than 15 seconds would be Novice. Each level still requires a clean run.

Range Time with The Test with No Name

This is a tough drill. John puts it very well, calling it a test of emotional control. Multiple hits on a relatively large target, followed by single hits to a small target, under a short par time across multiple targets. Getting a solid grip out of the holster, having a good presentation, making your transitions, and maintaining trigger control are all paramount.

I first fired the Test with No Name. during John’s class in October 2019. My first run I got a raw time of 6.63 with 0.5 in penalties for a total of 7.13 clean. My second run I managed 5.86 for raw time, with 1.5 in penalties for a total of 7.36 clean. This was shot from concealment using a Glock 34 with Aimpoint ACRO. I fully expected to crash and burn, so I stayed totally cool, completely surpassing my expectations.

The next time I shot this was during John’s class in August 2020. This time things went very differently. More competitive shooters, paired with my own expectations for my performance amped up my stress levels. I don’t know what my scores were, but I know they were both DQs with multiple shots thrown per run. Look back a few paragraphs. The phrase “emotional control” should stand out here.

Think you have what it takes to pass the The Test with No Name? Try shooting it for yourself and let us see how you did. Post your results to Discord or Facebook! Want to learn more about the drill? Check out Citizens Defense Research, who came up with The Test with No Name.

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