We had our 9 mm qualification today. It was a really cold day to be out on the range so, by the time I got to shoot I was shivering pretty hard. The army issues 9 mm Barettas to officers, referred to in military parlance as the M-9.

The range consists of pop-up targets at various distances. They are pretty close because the M-9 is definately a close range weapon. My first attempt did not go well but I believe there was something wrong with the targets. I knew that I was hitting some of them but they were not going down.

Range control told me that I failed to qualify and had to go again. This was frustrating because I was getting cold and it seemed like it should have been easy. It made it worse when the Sergeant in charge of the range began to talk to me like a slow child, explaining how to aim the gun.

Luckily I redeemed myself. I shot at different targets and they all seemed to be working properly. I scored "expert", the highest possible and better than just about everyone else. No pop-up target is safe with me around.

Take care,