dave951
07-25-2019, 09:27 AM
I shoot as a competitor in the North South Skirmish Association. We're a black powder competitive shooting group that focuses on Civil War firearms. In a campfire discussion last February, we were discussing the 2nd Amendment, chili recipes, and the state of black powder shooting in general and a couple of us in the Carolina Region decided to do something about it. What we found was there is a serious lack of NRA/NMLRA certified instructors in muzzleloading qualified to work with youth shooting sports programs. There's lots of guys for rifle, pistol and shotgun, but one with the muzzleloading cert, that is also a serious muzzleloading shooter, an extremely rare bird indeed. Our little group decided to get certified and work this summer at a local Scout camp. This camp is a very well known one in the Southeast and of the entire staff in shooting sports, there were 2 guys certified to teach muzzleloading, one shoots quite often in centerfire and 22lr but isn't a muzzleloading guy. The other isn't a shooter at all. He just took the course to be certified in the primitive camp area. Not to say they aren't great guys, but rather they're not muzzleloading shooters.
Our little effort, go to camp one day each session and help teach the Rifle Shooting Merit Badge with muzzleloaders in the primitive camp area for morning and afternoon. Go back to the main camp for dinner and conduct an open shoot for the rest of the camp in the evening giving Scouts a chance to shoot a Civil War musket with live ammo. It's been quite successful so far and we've already scheduled muzzleloading events this fall with other troops after the camp closes.
So far, we've instructed about 100 Scouts in muzzleloading marksmanship and safe handling of black powder firearms. We've had about 150 come through the open shoots and had the chance to speak to even more as we move around the camp. The Scouts are interested in muzzleloading, but the camp rifles have issues. We brought 5 Zouave muskets complete with live ammunition for them to shoot. Those guns were dialed in before we started going to camp and the worst one shoots 3moa. We end each merit badge session with the "Cracker Challenge", a Ritz type cracker suspended on a wire at 25yd. Try it sometime, it's about an 8moa target. It's not unusual for a Scout to not be able to hit a 12" target at 25yd when we start. After about an hour of instruction, they find the Civil War muskets quite capable of "cracker busting" and then the competition starts between them. We monitor for safety and keep score.
The thing to take away from what we've done is, if you want the shooting sports to continue, if you want to protect the 2nd Amendment, if you want to make a positive lasting impression, take a kid to the range and teach them to shoot properly and make sure they're having fun in the process. They'll never forget it, and neither will you.
Our little effort, go to camp one day each session and help teach the Rifle Shooting Merit Badge with muzzleloaders in the primitive camp area for morning and afternoon. Go back to the main camp for dinner and conduct an open shoot for the rest of the camp in the evening giving Scouts a chance to shoot a Civil War musket with live ammo. It's been quite successful so far and we've already scheduled muzzleloading events this fall with other troops after the camp closes.
So far, we've instructed about 100 Scouts in muzzleloading marksmanship and safe handling of black powder firearms. We've had about 150 come through the open shoots and had the chance to speak to even more as we move around the camp. The Scouts are interested in muzzleloading, but the camp rifles have issues. We brought 5 Zouave muskets complete with live ammunition for them to shoot. Those guns were dialed in before we started going to camp and the worst one shoots 3moa. We end each merit badge session with the "Cracker Challenge", a Ritz type cracker suspended on a wire at 25yd. Try it sometime, it's about an 8moa target. It's not unusual for a Scout to not be able to hit a 12" target at 25yd when we start. After about an hour of instruction, they find the Civil War muskets quite capable of "cracker busting" and then the competition starts between them. We monitor for safety and keep score.
The thing to take away from what we've done is, if you want the shooting sports to continue, if you want to protect the 2nd Amendment, if you want to make a positive lasting impression, take a kid to the range and teach them to shoot properly and make sure they're having fun in the process. They'll never forget it, and neither will you.