Boy Scout Rondy Targets

[Dave Rosenthal]

I just got volunteered to run the "Sharpshooter" station at a council-wide Boy Scout Camporee that is set-up as a Rondy.

I have paper targets and clay birds for the scouts to hit. The rifle range is just 15 yards deep and I'll have scouts from 10-17 years old using my .50 cal. trade rifle cap gun with PRB's.

Does anyone else have any experience doing this? Are there any neat ideas out there in regard to target selections, etc.?

The scout merit badge book says that I can use 1 grain of 3F per caliber, and as little as 35 gr. Problem is that the merit badge was set-up for scouts that are 12-14 years old to start, not the ten year olds that may want to give it a go. I think that the smaller ones could still handle a 25 gr. charge and that the intermediate ones can handle a 35 gr. load and the scout dads can handle a 50 gr. load...what do you guys think? Am I headed in the right direction? I have plenty of pre-measured tubes and different looking cigar boxes to separate the different loads. Will be using a .490 PRB for all loads.

Appreciate any ideas,

Dave

 

[flintlock50]

Targets that react like clay pigeons are great. The loads sound good. Have a bench or place for them to shoot sitting and be prepared to stay busy. Once did over 300 in one day with one loader and myself helping them shoot.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

dixie,

Thanks for backing me up on the load data. The range just got new benches 2 summers ago, so I figured on using them, especially for the little guys.

I have 2 Eagle Scouts (both 17 and both good shots) and myself and 2 trade rifles, each with it's own range rod & acc's. One of the Eagles is my son Andy. If we get 300 scouts, all three of us will be very busy!

The Scouter running the Rondy promised us venison chili for dinner...can't wait to wash down all of that BP with the chili :rotf: .

Thanks again for the help and if you think of anything else, please let me know.

Dave

 

[Wes/Tex]

I have the pleasure of participating in a bi-annual shoot for highschool kids. We also use paper targets and sporting clays. Also had geed luck with Xeroxed pictures of Osama Bin Laden! One fall shoot we found a case of store-brand pop cans that had been sitting in a metal shed through the typical Texas summer. Nobody had the guts to try one so we shook them up good and sat them on top of the target frame. 60 grains of Pyro (what the state provides) sent huge sprays into the air. The kids had a ball.

You can also use charcoal briquets or any disintigrating target whic is more fun for them than just making holes in paper...Osama being different thing altogether! :haha: The guns we use are .50's and the 60 grain load is fine for both boys and girls. They may be a bit older than your scouts but even the tiniest girls shoot it with no problem.

 

[Many Klatch]

For fun you might start collecting litre pop bottles and plastic milk jugs. Fill them with water and set them on the target line. When they are hit with a PRB they really blow. Kind of proves a point about whether these guns are real or not too. After you are done, you can pick up the pieces and recycle them.

Many Klatch

 

[bwhoffman]

we shot 30gr 3F at summer camp in 50 cals typicly at 25 yds, great results.

 

[nchawkeye]

I have done this a few times...I used FF powder, blew up some ballons, set at 15-20 yards...Guess what...The FF will pop them, without a ball... :grin:

I made several games, one station was tick-tac-toe...Using a scoped .22 and poker chips, red, blue and white, divided the guys into 3 teams and let them take turns shooting, first team to break 3 in their color wins...You could do the same with clay pigeons and your muzzleloader.

 

[Black Hand]

We do a BSA Rendezoous each year and our standard load is 50grains for all shooters. All the guns are 50cal. The targets vary, and have included cardboard, gongs and clay pigeons. Water-filled milk jugs are good too, since there is quite a response when they get hit with a PRB.

I wouldn't worry about changing up the charge for different ages, but do make sure to load it yourself.

If you contact me with questions, I'll be happy to answer as best I can.

 

[Andy Mueller]

At our Scouting events, We have someone whose experienced watch each step and check each step of the loading process, but still let the guys load it (of course we only allow 12+ to shoot) We also don't adjust the grain for each person, its easier that way, and a round ball with 50 grains doesn't move the gun much. But if you do have 300 kids, I'd probably load it for them to speed up the process!
Scouter

 

[blacksmithman64]

Many Klatch sez plastic jugs and I agree! Real crowd pleaser.Howsumever,I like to use them 20 oz plastic soda bottles and fill 'em with colored water.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

The idea of tic-tac-toe is interesting. The scoped .22 rifle is probably not going to happen this time since it's a Rondy format, but I'll keep it on the back burner for next time. Thanks, Dave

 

[Bob Riegl]

:bow: Just a bit of advice, have one man on each gun and keep another volunteer working with him as the second set of eyes on that gun. The Scouts will be great but a kid is a kid, and the BSA is a paranoid organization, I am happy they backed the idea for the Jambo mebbe they can turn the BSA away from it's PC program to one which truly emulates the full meaning of Boy Scouts of America as I knew it as a kid. There's always hope if the left-wing PC crew don't get involved. You gents in Middle America have an advantage geographically and politically when compared the Left & Right coastal states. My hat's off to you :thumbsup:

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Boy Scouter,

My Eagles and I will be doing all of the loading. I don't usually shoot PRB's...I'm the Maxi-Ball kinda guy. Tried a 70 gr. charge of 3F and a .490 PRB today at the range, and your right, it didn't push me back that much. A 50 gr. load would of course be even softer.

I'm thinking about pre-loading all of the tubes to 50 grains and if a need arises to go with less, I can always throw a few by hand from the powder flask to the powder measure and then down the bore :hmm: .

Thanks again,

Dave

 

[Jac Spring]

First off - this is great! :thumbsup:

I'm a scoutmaster and am pretty up on the rules.

According to current BSA rules, only an NRA certified Black Powder Instructor may run an event like that.

I'm an NRA certified rifle instructor and can only teach and run .22 rifle events for BSA right now. I'm going to get my BP certification so I can run the BP events too.

Not too long ago, I could have done the BP event but they've changed the rules.

Just a heads-up as you may run into that if a council or district rep is on-hand (which is likely).

This is all to ensure insurance coverage of events. If you don't follow the rules, then the insurer doesn't have to provide coverage should the unthinkable happen.

If you'r not "qualified" then just call council and ask if they have a list of people who are and get one of em to help you out.

-----

Now, for an event suggestion - I would have "qualifying" shots at a particular target and take the top 5 closest to the center hits come back at the end of the day for a shoot-off. Maybe get some watermelons or other reactive targets for the shoot-off - or cantelopes or grapefruit... and have something cool as a
"trophy" - like a cool coonskin hat or something.

Have fun! :hatsoff:

 

[CrackStock]

Good on you for your efforts.

I was looking for some targets for kids to shoot at and used a bunch of scrap wood 2X4X6. I stapled playing cards to this and had them shoot at the characters. They were very likely to get a hit on the wood which gave the satisfaction of instant gratification while the images on the cards gave some greater challenge. I later made copies of aces for them to shoot while competing. We later turned them sideways for the highest challenge.

It is all about catching and keeping their interest.

CS

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

O.S.O.K.,

Thanks for all of the input. I'm the Charter Organization Representative for the Troop. Was told someone else was the official "qualified" Instructor, and this person doesn't shoot BP. Seems that you can qualify as an instructor using somebody else's gun :hmm: . So I'll show the instructor how we use my guns and he'll be O-K with the whole thing :winking: .

The Rondy is next Saturday the 14th...lots to do before then: buy water bottles, balloons, playing cards, staples for staplegun, etc.

Happy Easter to you and everybody else on the Forum, Dave

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

CrackStock,

Thanks for the ideas...putting them to use .

Happy Easter, Dave

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

The Eagles will be doing most of the loading and I'll do the one-on-one with the shooters.

If it gets slow enough, I'll let some of the older scouts do the loading themselves under DIRECT supervision by me.

Thanks again to all for all of the input and may you all have a happy and healthy Easter .

Dave

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Your idea about not changing loads is a good one :bow: . Thanks again and if you or anyone else has anything else to add, I'm all ears .

Happy Easter, Dave

 

[silverfox]

If you use charcold bricketts use heavy cord(burlap size is enough) and you can staple the cord to the bricketts and staple the other end to hold them on your target frame. This is fast and cheap and makes hits really showup. Another thing you might do ( we call it shooting pipes ) is get some plastic spoons bore some holes in a board and stick the handles in the holes. this leaves the spoon for the target. Like shooting pipes in a shooting gallery.
We did the same thing you are going to do about 3 months ago and had a ball. The load was 50 grs and had no complaints. Did have to help hold the rifle a couple of times for small scouts. Loading was done by Eagle Scouts and a range office carried the rifle to the fireing line capped and handed it to the shooter and stood by their side until the weapon was fired.
All had a good time we had 2 rifles and could have used 2 more. The only bad was we had to turn down about 12 scouts at the end of the day as we ran out of balls and caps.
Hope your day will be as much fun as ours was.
Fox :thumbsup:

PS We even had a dryball that slowed things up a bit.