The Perks of Being an Eagle Scout

[Aaryq]

Howdy folks. As you can see from the title, when I was in high school, I became an Eagle Scout...believe it or not it's quite a difficult thing to do. One of the benefits of being an Eagle Scout is that I'm automatically licensed to teach any Merit Badge class I want. I'm not too involved in Scouts out here in CA, but in my home state of ND, I make it a point to try to give a Merit Badge class to the boys every time I'm on leave so they can advance. My next leave block is coming up soon and I've started talking with the Scoutmasters for what classes they want so I can start preparing. The first things that come to my mind ar the Rifle Shooting and Shotgun Shooting Merit Badges. My home town has a free outdoor range with no RO's so we have a place to shoot. I will more than likely pay for a few bricks of .22LR out of my own pocket (so I can keep the excess) but aside from that I'll need some financial support. If I only do rifle, I'll need targets, rifles (at least 2 or 3 different types all with no scopes, and as an option, range books (it's something we do in the Marines to help you become a better shooter). If I only do shotgun, I'll need clays, a clay thrower, ammunition and shotguns (at least 2 or 3 different types).

So right now, I'm asking THR for advice. If any of you were to teach a class on shotgun shooting or rifle shooting for boys ages 12-18, you lived in a very pro-gun community, and you've never taught a class like this before but wanted to make it safe, fun, educational, and memorable how would you go about doing it? Who would you turn to so you could borrow stuff from or get to donate to the troop? Aside from the normal curriculum of: "This is a rifle. Here are the parts. Here's how to be safe. Here's how to use it. Go shoot targets." What else would you do to show these kids a heck of a good time? And what else would I need that I didn't list?

Questions, Comments, Gripes, Concerns, Anything to add?

 

[trueg50]

first off.. HUH? How you are automatically allowed to teach any merit badge? maybe most but certainly not all. Most certainly not rifle or shotgun. You need to be NRA certified for those. I will post some help later, I used to be a rifle range instuctor.

 

[hrgrisso]

NRA Range Officer

True is correct you MUST be a NRA certified Range Instructor. I was a scoutmaster (and eagle scout) and we had to get range certified to teach any firearms related merit badges AND for any firearms related activites.

 

[Aaryq]

Well then, I stand corrected. I received some bad gouge from some of the Scoutmasters then...Dang. I was looking forward to teaching those classes too. Well...back to the drawing board I guess.

 

[psyopspec]

Targets can be printed from www.mytargets.com. You can also solicit donations at local sporting goods stores. Perhaps it wouldn't be out of line to ask that each kid or parent donate a few bucks.

In addition, you can have friends or fellow instructors roleplay as students so that they can critique your teaching.

I've got a bolt action .22 you can use if I can be around to make sure it's not being abused. I can be a safety too, though I'll leave the teaching up to you. Out of curiosity, are we talking about Casselton or Bismarck?

 

[tmajors]

It used to not be that you had to be an NRA instructor to teach Rifle and Shotgun Merit badges. I know I did Rifle and Shotgun for my troop for a year or so after getting Eagle. Your Scout Master might just be misinformed. But yes you do have to be an NRA instructor now according to the BSA.

If you're really interested though you can always start working on getting that certification.

 

[Owen]

agreed, go get the NRA cert. Once you have that you get to teach some classes for pocket change too...

 

[trueg50]

well, how old are you? if you have some BSA camps in the area I am sure they will have some training some weekend (probably soon) for NRA rifle instructor training.

Just a heads up, for training you have to use bolt action rifles of the single shot variety. They can be regular bolts actions with no clips however. The best and in my opinion the only choice is a Ruger 77/22 with iron sights. They have a huge opening for the magazine, the action is wide open making it very easy for even large hands to load cartridges. They are hard to find with iron sights, so keep an eye out for them. The camp I used to work at uses 77/22's that are about 18 years old, with over 12,000 rounds fired through each of them, and they look like they are brand new. They are still very accurate, and though pricy are worth ever penny. Also the boys have to clean them, and a very large and open action makes cleaning a snap.

 

[trueg50]

Also, if you want I can just give you a general lesson plan that I have seen used for several years that works quite well in the space of a usual scout camp week (1 hour a day for 5 days).

 

[Ian Sean]

Congrats to your making Eagle and still wanting to help, just attended my friends sons Eagle Ceremony.

Aren't the Scouts a charitable org? If so, if you spend money out of pocket it would be a tax deduction wouldn't it? Keep your reciepts, that should be less of a bite in the wallet.

Get your NRA cert. and start training them youngsters...and thank you for wanting to do something for the "next generation"

 

[10 Ring Tao]

BSA guidelines on shooting activities in general:

http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/gss08.html

The important part being:

All training and shooting activities must be supervised by a currently NRA-certified [shotgun/pistol/handgun instructor or coach who is 21 years of age or older.

 

[SniperStraz]

Supervised? If you're town is as gun friendly as you say it should be no problem getting an NRA instructor to watch you teaching the kids.

 

[sojournerhome]

NRA Instructor Certification

How do you get certified?
What is the cost and time involved?

Thanks

 

[kludge]

Aaryq,

I'm also an Eagle Scout, and a merit badge counselor. (I've also been an assistance scoutmaster and cubmaster for many years.)

You are not a counselor until you have registered at the local scout office.

You have to register for specific merit badges and give your qualifications, then you are registered for those merit badges only.

Call the local office, they will walk you through it. Always good to have another Scouter, and please get involved with your local troop.