Scout rifle merit badge weekend

[Brown]

This past weekend I took part in our local scout group qualifying for their rifle merit badge. For those of you like me in advanced years and been a while since you did this they have to put 5 shots on target that can be covered or touch a quarter. Then repeat 4 more times. Distance of 50 feet. Not an easy task considering most of the boys had never held a gun before.Also included gun safety, handling, identification of parts,and cleaning.

By the end of Saturday all 10 had qualified and after that the adults brought out the fun toys. It did take a lot longer than we thought but it was a great day in the sun, warm weather, and a chance for these boys to experience something new to some of them.

Most of the boys at least had the chance to hold and shoot some centerfire rifles and i was pretty impressed with some of them that tried the larger guns even though they had never fired even a .22 before.

Great time overall and 10 boys were exposed to the world of firearms. hopefully they were all excited enough to continue learning more.

 

[johnb62]

That is great. One of the highlights of taking our troop to summer camps was being able to be a part of many boys first exposure to firearms. The firearms instructor at Old Ben was always top notch. He was a stickler for safety and would not let anybody get away with anything.

 

[sloughfoot]

Appleseed is a logical next step, IMO.

Appleseed Project Home

 

[SmileDocHill]

how old were these guys. That sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[Brown]

Ages ranged from 11-16. The most fun was seeing the pride they had from the first round of shots going everywhere to the final rounds with good tight groups for their experience level. Of course it was also fun seeing their eyes when they shot the AR after a .22

 

[zekedageek]

I remember participating many years ago.. I was most proud of that badge!

 

[OutaAmmo]

Appleseed is a logical next step, IMO.

Appleseed Project Home

+1

Appleseed would even be a great First step!!

 

[NWIeng]

Absolutely AWESOME.

I'm 26, grew up in the northwest indiana suburbs, and boy scouts was my first exposure to firearms.

Definite +1

 

[Bill B]

were you at camp Betz?
We were there a number of years ago and I embarassed the heck out of my son by very enthusiastically being the first to volunteer to shoot a (semi-auto) tommy gun.
We had lots of fun, but he was kind of upset that they couldn't shoot the handguns; that was for explorers only.