  We propose a semi-analytical method of calculating the timing fluctuations in
mode-locked semiconductor lasers and apply it to study the effect of delayed
coherent optical feedback on pulse timing jitter in these lasers. The proposed
method greatly reduces computation times and therefore allows for the
investigation of the dependence of timing fluctuations over greater parameter
domains. We show that resonant feedback leads to a reduction in the timing
jitter and that a frequency-pulling region forms about the main resonances,
within which a timing jitter reduction is observed. The width of these
frequency-pulling regions increases linearly with short feedback delay times.
We derive an analytic expression for the timing jitter, which predicts a
monotonous decrease in the timing jitter for resonant feedback of increasing
delay lengths, when timing jitter effects are fully separated from amplitude
jitter effects. For long feedback cavities the decrease in timing jitter scales
approximately as $1/\tau$ with the increase of the feedback delay time $\tau$.
