Ash Hess

A competitive shooter and Gov Sales Specialist at Knight's Armament Company. Co-Founder of Quantified Performance, LLC. I am also a Retired US Army Senior NCO. My last assignments included serving as the Senior Writer for Small Arms in the Weapons and Gunnery Branch and the US Army Infantry School Marksmanship Program developer at the Maneuver Center of Excellence Fort Benning, Georgia. Army Schools include US Army Master Marksmanship Trainer Course, Rifle Marksmanship Instructor Course, Urban Combat Leaders Course, Air Assault, Rappelmaster, Senior Leaders Course, Army Basic Instructor course, High Angle Marksmanship Course, and Unit Armorer course. I also attended the TigerSwan Basic Carbine course, Defoor Proformance One day Carbine Refresher, Advanced Carbine and Scoped Rifle courses, Sionics Weapon Systems M4 Armorer course, Modern Samurai Red Dot Pistol, and the MDTS Practical Small Knife 1course. Four combat tours totaling fifty-two months overseas.

Howdy All

October 19, 2020 by Ash Hess

Greetings Primary and Secondary. As some of you may have noticed, and probably enjoyed, I took a hiatus from posting here. I have been building Quantified Performance, LLC. This has soaked up most of my free time and even harder to find than time is things to say. As the company built, matches were conducted, … Read more

Tribe

May 1, 2020 by Ash Hess

A few weeks ago, on my Facebook feed, I made a statement that was not received well by some. In the follow up conversations, one word really drew the ire of the loudest detractor. That word was tribe. During an interview, the interviewer put a special tone on it every time he mentioned it. The … Read more

Fixing the Follow up Shot.

August 12, 2019 by Ash Hess

There are many reasons for having to take a follow up shot. The stage could require two or more hits on a single target, a miss, or real-world effects. What some fail to recognize is the time required for the follow up shot. Using quantifiable metrics, we can see how much time it will take … Read more

Accuracy and Precision, Part 3: Quantifiable

September 7, 2026July 10, 2019 by Ash Hess

Ash Hess uses Mantis X10 recoil data to identify inconsistent rifle movement, establish a focused training objective, and measure subsequent improvement.

Mindset

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 by Ash Hess

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome when trying to improve performance is mindset. When I say mindset, I am not talking about the “If not you, who” mindset talks. I am referring to a growth or fixed mindset. In my years of dealing with students and internet folk, the most common is fixed. Current … Read more

Accuracy and Precision- The Test

June 20, 2019 by Ash Hess

To understand any of this you need to read parts one and two. There I laid out what we are trying to accomplish and why. The short version is using testing to find where the gaps are in your equipment. For this example I am attempting to find the inherent accuracy of a rifle and … Read more

Accuracy and Precision, Part 2: Avoiding the Ego Chase

September 7, 2026June 11, 2019 by Ash Hess

Ash Hess explains how to separate shooter performance from mechanical accuracy using honest baselines, group measurements, velocity data, and movement analysis.

Accuracy and Precision, Part 1: Start With Data

September 7, 2026June 8, 2019 by Ash Hess

Ash Hess explains how defining the requirement, establishing a baseline, and collecting performance data lead to better firearms and equipment decisions.

Baselines #4 Reload Drills

May 13, 2019 by Ash Hess

If you are following this series, you have seen that I lay out some baselines then some drills on how to gauge or establish that baseline. In the last article, I wrote about reloads so this one is some thoughts on how to learn or test reloads. First, let me tell you all I am … Read more

Baselines #3

April 30, 2019 by Ash Hess

Once we have our first baselines as laid out (see parts one and two) there are a ton of other skills that need to be trained, practiced and tested. Having the ability to group, zero and fire at a stationary target from a few positions does not a gunslinger make. One needs to be able … Read more