NRA Muzzleloading Instructor classes

[Dave951]

To work in Scouting muzzleloading, you must hold the NRA Muzzleloading Instructor Certification. Some of you got it at camp school but I bet my last dollar on my dying breath you did not get the education you really need to be effective. A group of us black powder competition shooters have gotten the certification. We've seen "instructors" who were shake n baked at camp school. To have a truly effective, fun and safe program, the instructor must be extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject and that's probably not happening in a day at camp school. So our group is organized not only around providing quality instruction when we come to a camp but we're also focused on training the best instructors possible. So here's our announcement for a training session to be held at Camp Raven Knob in NC.

 

 

Time is getting near for the Basic Muzzleloading Class to be held at Camp Raven Knob in NC by the Yadkin Valley Rangers.

 

To become a NRA certified Muzzleloading Instructor, you must complete 3 classes- Basic Muzzleloading, Basic Instructor,  Muzzleloading Instructor. There is no shortcut to this certification, hence it's not a commonly found one. If you want to ever work with most youth organizations in black powder, you must have this certification. I can't stress enough how important it is for adults to get involved with kids. Many on this and other black powder boards whine about the status of our sport, but the real question is what do you plan to do about it?

 

Even if you are already a long time muzzleloading/black powder person, you still have to go through the courses to be certified. The course is interesting, shooting is fun, and you'll meet other black powder enthusiasts and have opportunities to network you would otherwise not have.

 

Please reply by email as time is getting short and we have logistics to get settled soon.

 

Course Date/Time-  10/9 at 8a

Email- YadkinValleyRangers@gmail.com

 

Place- Camp Raven Knob, NC  https://www.ravenknob.com/

 

Duration- 1 day

 

Cost-  $60 NMLRA members $85 non NMLRA members

included in the cost- free lodging at Camp Raven Knob on Friday night for those having to travel. Lunch and refreshments on Saturday. Ammo and course materials. For non-NMLRA members also will receive a 1 year digital membership to the NMLRA.

 

 

[livitup]

Which course are you offering?  I'm going through the process in getting NRA instructor certified in shotgun, but as I understand it, there's a total of 30 hours of training between Discipline Basic, Instructor Basic, and Discipline Instructor.  How long is your course?

Just thinking out loud... would you have better luck recruiting black powder enthusiasts to become instructor certified than you would have with recruiting Scouters to become black powder instructors? 

[Dave951]

17 hours ago, livitup said:

Which course are you offering?  I'm going through the process in getting NRA instructor certified in shotgun, but as I understand it, there's a total of 30 hours of training between Discipline Basic, Instructor Basic, and Discipline Instructor.  How long is your course?

Just thinking out loud... would you have better luck recruiting black powder enthusiasts to become instructor certified than you would have with recruiting Scouters to become black powder instructors? 

Thanks for the reply. We're going to offer the entire 3 courses starting with Basic Muzzleloading on 10/9 at Camp Raven Knob. The next two will be on the weekend of 11/20 and last all day Saturday and Sunday, also at CRK. The process as you've outlined is correct for a single discipline like Rifle. In the world of Muzzleloading, it's different. First is Basic Muzzleloading and it will cover safety, history and how to load and shoot BP rifles, handguns, and shotguns. In short, it covers 3 guns where the other courses cover only one. The Basic Instructor Training is the same for every discipline. It's learning how to teach. The Muzzleloading Instructor Course has a shooting qualification component for Rifle, Pistol AND Shotgun. Again, 3 different guns to deal with. No other course has this. In addition to the issues of 3 different arms, then there's the entire issue of dealing with Black Powder and the different types of loading procedures for the different types of guns. It can get quite complicated and somewhat overwhelming to the new instructor who isn't a Black Powder enthusiast.

 

As to where to get instructor candidates, I'll fish in any pond that might have fish in it. Ideally I'd like Scouters to be the instructors as they are already "inside" Scouting and familiar with it. I'm also working to get folks involved from outside who are BP enthusiasts. Our current group has been told by a Scouter who has National connections in the Shooting Sports that we are extremely rare not only in the world of instructors, but especially in the world of instructors working in Scouting because we are all active BP competition shooters. In the current class enrollment, I have folks from both worlds. It's interesting to see the reaction of the guys who've never been involved in Scouting when they get involved with us in this way. Conversely, the Scouters I have signed up thus far are not "gun guys" when it comes to Black Powder. The mix will be interesting and I'm sure there will be some synergy between the groups. On the current Scouters in BP, I've heard enough horror stories about the "shake n bake" so called "instructors" from camp school to be concerned that there will be an accident at some point. Couple that sketchy knowledge with a lack of enthusiasm and you have a recipe for a program failure. When it comes to adults in Scouting or working with kids in general, the real issue is the same across all demographics. It's not easy getting folks to get involved with youth. Lots of people talk a good game, but when it comes time to do something, they'll leave it to somebody else. I know, I was an Asst. Scoutmaster for about 10yr. Hey, it's only 1 night a week........yeah, about that.

[livitup]

On 9/28/2021 at 9:23 PM, Dave951 said:

The Muzzleloading Instructor Course has a shooting qualification component for Rifle, Pistol AND Shotgun. Again, 3 different guns to deal with. No other course has this.

Wow, I had no idea.  I'm (obviously) not a BP guy myself.

Absent any real advice, I'll thank you for your service to Scouting and wish you good luck.  I think anyone that tries to increase participation in an under-served area (like BP firearms) gets a special gold star.  ⭐