The honor of getting a new guy out...

[Daryl Crawford]

I had a good few hours today taking a new bp shooter out to a public range on a local state game land. He bought a used T/C Renegade, .50 cal flint with a single trigger. It is a nice gun, nothing fancy but well cared for over the years. He'd never shot a muzzleloader. I took ball, patch, powder and a tool/attachment card I got for him (so he'd have a scraper, jag, touch hole pick, etc) and we set up on a 50yd bench. The fellow did pretty well. After a shot to get over the jitters, he put 5 of 6 in a 3" circle at about a half inch low and 5" to the left of the bull. We used 60 gr 2f, .490 roundball, and approx. .13 linen patch lubed with Olive Oil/Bee Wax mixture. It loaded pretty stiff with that ball/patch combo but he shot well. We didn't mess with the adjustable rear site today. We expect to get together in a week or so to shoot again. It will be a longer session and we will mess with the sights.
He kept asking me if I wanted to shoot and I said "no, I'm enjoying watching you." I meant it. It certainly was pleasant to get someone new out and watch them have fun with a flintlock. He even enjoyed disassembling and cleaning the gun. It looked remarkable when he was done with it.
I'll get this young man out again, but am already thinking of others that I might try to show the fun of BP with.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Way to go Daryl!!

We need more young blood. There are a lot of young men and women too that would enjoy muzzleloading if they just had a chance and place to try it.
Flintlocklar

 

[ord sgt]

My gun club hosts an event for women. The range is closed for the day to members so we can spend time showing the ladies different firearms. This includes muzzleloaders. A good friend and I will explain the rifles and do the loading. The women get the joy of firing the shots. We usually have clay birds attached to a backboard at 30 yards. Any hits are plain to see. For a few, one shot is enough but there are many more than want a second and third and sometimes more shots. The smiles are a great payment for the experience.

 

[Bob McBride]

Way to go Daryl! It's what I enjoy most about doing what I do with BP. Nothing like introducing the old ways, no matter what that is. Three Cheers!

Bob

 

[Eterry]

That's great Daryl, over the years I've introduced many to shooting black powder, I can think of 2 that became serious shooters and took game with them.
Just like Freemasonry...2B1ASK1

 

[Grenadier1758]

Way to go @Daryl Crawford and @ord sgt

 

[dave951]

Good job Daryl.

Far too many go to the range and don't take time to work with the new guys or to introduce folks to the fun of muzzleloading and black powder.