The Range II

My pre-qual at the M16 range was miserable. I scored 99 points out of a possible 200 (140 is what it takes to qualify). It was my lowest score ever by a margin of 43 points. When I first settled into position I asked my range coach to keep an eye on me and let me know if anything looked wonky. He was with me in Alaska last summer so I had some (what turned out to be misplaced) faith in him. He kept telling me that I looked good. “You look good… I can’t see anything wrong… You look good… You should be fine...” I wasn’t fine. A score of 99 is anything but fine: it’s embarrassing. My coach today watched me fire off my first three rounds, tapped me on the shoulder, and instructed me to keep my finger on the trigger in between shots. I followed his advice and scored a 152.