The Future of Muzzle Loading Shooting

[dave951]

I've been shooting the holy black for over 40 years and one thing I've noticed is that there are very, very few young people getting into shooting traditional muzzle loaders. A group of us North South Skirmish Association competitors have banded together to take a crack at how to solve this problem. We found that nearly every youth organization with a shooting sports program mandates an NRA certified Muzzleloading Instructor. We also found that the NRA certification is a very rare one and not only that, many with that certification weren't even active muzzleloading enthusiasts. So we got certified, obtained support from Schuetzen for powder and caps and we worked in a couple Scout camps with kids through the summer. We had an interruption thanks to Covid but in the last summer, we worked two camps. The Covid thing made NRA certified muzzleloading instructors even harder to find and as a result, had we not been volunteering in those two camps, there would have been no muzzleloading shooting going on at all for those kids. Here's a couple links to what we did-

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/so-heres-what-weve-been-up-to.115764/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/were-back-at-it.133586/

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures from our sessions

[dave951]

So to expand our efforts, we are needing more adults to get involved as certified Muzzleloading Instructors. We've formed a Charter Club within the NMLRA that is dedicated to education and instruction. We welcome NMLRA members who support our mission to join our Charter Club- the Yadkin Valley Rangers. So an announcement about our first training session aimed at starting adults on the path to becoming a certified instructor-

The NRA Basic Muzzleloading Course is going to be offered on 10/9 by the Yadkin Valley Rangers, a National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association Charter Club dedicated to instruction and education. This is the first course on the path to becoming an NRA Muzzleloading Instructor. Location of the course is Camp Raven Knob in NC. Scouters are encouraged to take this course as a step towards becoming a Certified Instructor who can organize or hold a Scouting muzzle loading event. Course duration is one day and will begin at 8a in the training center at Camp Raven Knob. Cost for the Course is $60 for NMLRA members and $85 for non NMLRA members. Included in this cost- NMLRA members lunch, ammo, course materials. For non NMLRA members, the cost includes lunch, ammo, course materials and a 1yr digital membership to the NMLRA. Prepayment is required to reserve a seat. For more information please contact-

YadkinValleyRangers@gmail.com subject- Course Info.

The rest of the Instructor course series is being planned for late November. To be a certified NRA Muzzleloading Instructor, you must take the Basic Course, Basic Instructor Training and Muzzleloading Instructor courses.

[Yazel.xring]

I love seeing these initatives Dave. Mind if I share on ILoveMuzzleloading.com? I'd love to help get the word out about what you are doing.

[Levy]

Great work, it's what's needed.  I've only taken part in 3 such shoots/demonstrations with the public and the Boy Scouts.  I have a very small muzzleloader (think BB Gun size) that I made for my son when he was 6 years old (now 38 years, 6'2") and that is what I used.  At one shoot, a very young man came up, obviously feeling peer pressure, and took his place at the front of the line.  I got him all ready with the shooting glasses and the ML and he looked around at me and said, "I don't think I'm quite ready for this yet".  I said, "That's okay, let's wait until next time and see how you feel about it then".  On another occasion,  there was a long line of kids waiting to shoot and the person a the front of the line was a little girl with long blond curls.  I got her ready with the shooting glasses and getting her arms in the right places to hold the rifle.  She fired and went to the back of the line for another shot.  When she came up again, I got her ready with the glasses and handed her the rifle, assuming that she had it from there.  After aiming it downrange for a moment, she lowered the gun, looked around at me and said, "Aren't you going to hold me".  I cracked up.  It spoke volumes from one so young.  James Levy

[dave951]

I love seeing these initatives Dave. Mind if I share on ILoveMuzzleloading.com? I'd love to help get the word out about what you are doing.

Please do. We're working to expand traditional muzzleloading and it will take tons of work and many hands helping

[bluenoser]

You are to be commended for taking the initiative to introduce the younger generation to BP shooting.  The future of our sport is doomed if it doesn't see an infusion of new blood.

The cap in the first photo appears to be a Black Watch Glengarry.  The Black Watch were, at one time, posted in my home town.

[Clark Badgett]

Kids these days did not grow up watching the movies and TV programs that we did. That being said, bring out a flintlock at a public range sometime and see how much attention you will get from younger people (and their parents too). Unfortunately there is this thing called reality and youth spend about their first 30 years of adulthood getting everything to the point where they can think about affording this particular niche of the shooting sports. A couple of months ago I gave a Kibler Colonial to a friends youngest son, complete with bag and horn I made with everything he needs to shoot and clean it. That 13 year old is now a flintlock fanatic. He even tell his dad that he'll only hunt deer with a flintlock now. Sometimes kids just need a nudge out the door.

[Bill Raby]

   If you want to bring new people into the sport, spend more time at the public shooting ranges. Flintlocks draw a lot of attention. It is very common that most people there will have never actually seen a flintlock before. Lots of people have this idea that flintlocks are something from the past and do not realize you can still get one and shoot it.

[Jeff Murray]

Congratulations on your efforts and success to date.   You might want to contact both organizations (NMLRA/NRA) to see if they can offer some support, or publicity in their magazines.  The event would make a good article for both.  It seems like the shooting press is too focused on new technology which has little historic or visual appeal to non muzzleloaders.

[dave951]

Congratulations on your efforts and success to date.   You might want to contact both organizations (NMLRA/NRA) to see if they can offer some support, or publicity in their magazines.  The event would make a good article for both.  It seems like the shooting press is too focused on new technology which has little historic or visual appeal to non muzzleloaders.

We are working mainly with the NMLRA and we've organized as a Charter Club. I have several of their bigwigs cell numbers. We've also had an article published in Muzzle Blasts and a couple other traditional BP oriented magazines.

This originally started out when we were working a N-SSA recruiting table at a gunshow. A Scout leader stopped by and told us about the problems getting certified instructors in muzzleloading for Scout programs. Since I'm a former Asst Scoutmaster and both my sons are Eagle Scouts, I checked into it and yup, he wasn't kidding. Fast forward a bit, we got certified. Schuetzen donated powder and caps, N-SSA member PJ Kelly donated 5 "Zouave" muskets, Lodgewood and S&S provided logistic support for the muskets, and one of our group has been doing presentations on the CW and using his honorariums to purchase lead which we then cast and use with the Scouts.

In the chaos of Covid, no summer camps shot BP the summer after the first effort. They resumed last summer. Like I said, last summer, we worked 2 camps in NC and neither of those camps would have had BP shooting had we not been there. The shortage of certified volunteers is THAT BAD.

Our sessions are unusual. A standard BP session by a non-BP shooter "instructor" is a lackluster "this is a round ball muzzleloader" blah blah blah followed by at most 3-5 shots per Scout and it takes all day. Ours start with a quick safety brief and a history lesson with a show n tell where we let the Scouts handle the guns and ask questions. And our history lesson will be from flintlocks to early breech loaders used in the Civil War and of course, we focus on muzzleloaders. Then it's on to shooting. Scouts will get to fire the round ball camp craptastic plastic guns 3-5 times in the first relay. Then we move to muskets and minies in the second relay where they fire another 3-5 shots. Next relay is dealer choice, whatever the Scout wants to shoot for another 3-5 shots. Then we break for lunch. Shooting resumes after lunch with another 4 relays. So with us on site, the Scouts each get to fire a minimum of 20+ shots during the day and all the while, we are working on their marksmanship cuz, hey we're competition shooters after all. The day ends with Civil War style volley fire. We modify the Civil War manual of arms for safety and brevity and then let the Scouts shoot a 2ft square piece of drywall in a blast of musket fire.  That's a huge change from just 3-5 shots. Any wonder our program is so popular?

The Scout in Federal uniform in the following pix heard we were shooting Civil War guns in addition to the usual suspects and since he's getting into reenacting, he wore his "blue suit"

READY



AIM



FIRE

[dave951]

   If you want to bring new people into the sport, spend more time at the public shooting ranges. Flintlocks draw a lot of attention. It is very common that most people there will have never actually seen a flintlock before. Lots of people have this idea that flintlocks are something from the past and do not realize you can still get one and shoot it.

I do spend time at ranges. At the moment, most ranges aren't seeing much attendance cause of the ammo shortages. Folks I do see are fellow muzzle loading shooters as we do have ammo and haven't slowed down a bit.

While shooting at a public range is good publicity in a way, working directly with kids who WANT to be there is very very different. The key is to have a program that is very popular and kids will want to participate. This builds a groundswell of popularity as those kids age. It's a long ball approach, but we feel that working with kids is the best long term solution to the decline in muzzleloading popularity.

[dave951]

You are to be commended for taking the initiative to introduce the younger generation to BP shooting.  The future of our sport is doomed if it doesn't see an infusion of new blood.

The cap in the first photo appears to be a Black Watch Glengarry.  The Black Watch were, at one time, posted in my home town.

The mug in the Glengarry is me. Even though I'm an N-SSA competitor, I wear it when I'm shooting muzzleloading competition or instructing in honor of my family heritage. My family is heavily Scottish with a good dose of German. My mother's side is Clan Rose and dad's is Clan McFarlane. And yes, even though its technically, not Civil War, mom was an educator and as such I wear it with a Clan Rose badge while instructing in her memory.

[dave951]

Some more pix-

Explaining sight alignment v sight picture for marksmanship












One of our guys is a former Rev War reenactor. We let him spearhead the flintlock part of our sessions. Unfortunately, Scouting policy does not allow the Scouts to actually fire a flintlock. We do shoot them in demonstrations though.

[dave951]

Kicking this one back to the top.

My observation on the shooting community at large- we often complain about the state of affairs when we get together at our ranges, but not many are going to take the time to do anything. There's lots of talk but no walk. Excuses are rampant and a dime a dozen as to why, but be realistic, how do we budget a precious and finite resource, the time we have on this rock. Do we choose to spend it chasing a bigger house, a newer car, bigger bank account, personal pleasure, all of which are fleeting. Or do we invest it into those who will be here when we leave. To me, it's a choice that speaks far louder than any words.

I'll end this with this story- I was an Asst Scoutmaster. We adults in my son's troop worked hard to make sure any kid who wanted could be successful. We didn't hand anything out, it was always hard earned by the boy and as such valued. Recently at a restaurant with my elderly dad, a man with a baby in his arms came up to our table and addressed me by name. Racking my memory banks, I couldn't place him. So I asked who he was. He told me. Suddenly the years vanished and he was one of the kids from the troop, now fully grown with a beautiful family and a great engineering career. We talked for a bit as if we had just parted a couple days ago. He's getting involved with Scouting where he lives and I'm sure I'll see him again. Time invested in kids is never time wasted.

[yellowhousejake]

Kicking this one back to the top.

My observation on the shooting community at large- we often complain about the state of affairs when we get together at our ranges, but not many are going to take the time to do anything. There's lots of talk but no walk. Excuses are rampant and a dime a dozen as to why, but be realistic, how do we budget a precious and finite resource, the time we have on this rock. Do we choose to spend it chasing a bigger house, a newer car, bigger bank account, personal pleasure, all of which are fleeting. Or do we invest it into those who will be here when we leave. To me, it's a choice that speaks far louder than any words.

I'll end this with this story- I was an Asst Scoutmaster. We adults in my son's troop worked hard to make sure any kid who wanted could be successful. We didn't hand anything out, it was always hard earned by the boy and as such valued. Recently at a restaurant with my elderly dad, a man with a baby in his arms came up to our table and addressed me by name. Racking my memory banks, I couldn't place him. So I asked who he was. He told me. Suddenly the years vanished and he was one of the kids from the troop, now fully grown with a beautiful family and a great engineering career. We talked for a bit as if we had just parted a couple days ago. He's getting involved with Scouting where he lives and I'm sure I'll see him again. Time invested in kids is never time wasted.

Dave,

That is the kinda of story that wells up in my eyes. I too have had kids I taught to shoot years ago remember me, and I can't help but think that the discipline and character the use of arms teaches carries on through to adult life. Thank you for taking the time with the kids.

It's boots on the ground that makes the difference and you may not know the difference you make for years afterward.

DAve

[Bob Roller]

"Excuses are a dime a dozen".I was told early in my life that an excuse is frequently the skin from a reason that was stuffed with a lie
Bob Roller.

[Jeff Murray]

I just returned from the Ft. Bridger Rendezvous.  There were kids everywhere in the campground, playing in the creek with wooden swords and guns, imaginations in high gear.  Their parents brought them and turned them loose to play but it is likely having fun that will bring them back in the future. 

[dave951]

I just returned from the Ft. Bridger Rendezvous.  There were kids everywhere in the campground, playing in the creek with wooden swords and guns, imaginations in high gear.  Their parents brought them and turned them loose to play but it is likely having fun that will bring them back in the future.

While I don't do the rendezvous thing, I'd like to encourage you guys who do to have a very frank conversation amongst yourselves around the campfire. Be honest. Is what you do really growing? Has Rendezvous grown or shrunk over the past 20 years? Do the vast majority of the participants have "snow on roof"? Then ask yourselves "Why" to each question and here's where it's vitally important to be brutally honest. What is a barrier to someone wanting to participate? What are you willing to do to get someone over that barrier? How are you going to reach those people?

We've had that very discussion and still hash through it. That's why we focus on kids. They are the future.