This is the beginning of a series of short articles focused on the nine stages of fire that make up “the test” at Rogers Shooting School. The test is administered six times during a typical week long class and the student’s best score (out of 125 possible) from those six tries determines his rank: minimum 70 points for Basic, 90 points for Intermediate, and 110 points for Advanced.
Like any complicated standardized shooting problem, there are little pointers that can help you earn your best possible score. Some people will not want to learn these “tricks” … and that’s certainly all right. If you’re one of those people, don’t read these posts. But in my experience having attended Rogers four times now, everyone wants the highest score he can achieve. Having watched a number of Rogers School instructors shoot various portions of the test, I can also tell you that they take advantage of many of these pointers even if they’re not aware of it. For example, when an instructor knocks over a plate and transitions to the next target before it even begins to appear, he is taking advantage of knowing the sequence even if he’s not trying to.
Stage 1: two-handed, from extended ready, 1.5 seconds per string
Maximum possible points: 9
One round to body plate of T1 (at ~7yd), knock over the head of T1, then knock over the T5 plate atop the wall (at ~9yd).
These are nine easy points as long as you don’t make a mental mistake. You begin locked out and aimed in at the bottom of the closest target’s base. As soon as the T1 head plate begins to rise, you fire one shot into the giant (14×24) steel chest plate followed by the T1 falling plate and the T5 falling plate.
Tip #1: any hit on the giant chest plate counts; don’t slow yourself down trying to shoot the little red paint spot.
Tip #2: don’t go so fast on the first shot that you miss the body plate altogether. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve even done it myself. Fire a fast but visually verified shot onto the chest before moving to the head.
Tip #3: Don’t leave the T1 head plate before it’s knocked down. If you miss on your first shot keep shooting at the closer, easier plate rather than driving to the wall for T5. If you edge T1 but it doesn’t fall down, a second hit on T1 will count as two points and you’ll max the string of fire without ever needing to take the harder shot at T5.
Tip #4: There is very little time between each 3-shot string of fire. If you check out mentally after one string, the targets may pop up before you’re ready and you’ll waste some of that precious 1.5 seconds getting back into gear.
Here is a video of me shooting it clean:
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Todd, thanks for doing this series. Attending RSS is a significant financial and time commitment, and having such instructive tips can make quite a bit of difference for some of us contemplating the trip.
Todd, I will be waiting for how to game stage 7 and 8.
GJM — 7 in particular is easy to game, or at least there are some common mistakes that can be avoided. 8 is a little tougher but there are some things to keep in mind (and some memorization) that help.
Todd, sorry I was pulling your leg. I have my notes for each stage plus video of many.
George