Rifle & Shotgun shooting for Boy Scouts?

[Basementdweller]

That is what venturing is for....we have a number of crews whose sole focus is shooting.

[sbemis1]

Great response Beav, I needed the laugh.

 

True, Philmont is the only place Boy Scouts shoot 30-06. Sorry I can't recall the source.

[HobcawChaos]

kinda random - just shot clays for the first time last week at a corporate outing @ Cabin Bluff, SC. They have a shooting clay course. It was a blast and I can totally see where teenage boys would think this would be an awesome outing. They had me use a 20 gauge and the men use 12 gauge shotguns. Yes, I got the "sissy pad". Two bullets were loaded at a time but I can see where you'd only want a teenager to load one!

 

ps be kind to calipers....

[HobcawChaos]

Cabin Bluff GA not SC - sorry

 

[OldGreyEagle]

Hey, you take a freshly dressed caliper and soak it in salt brine overnight and then fill it with cloves and bake basted with brown sugar and Honey at 325F and that my friend is good eating

 

Of course only in season, only with the correct license and having the youth follow all applicable state hunting laws and another good reason to be in a Venturing Crew as Crews may hunt as a unit activity.

 

Course they still can't play paintball(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[Pritch]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[sigh] I guess National has recruited all of those guys that used to insist that screwdrivers have "do not stab in eye" engraved on the side.

[Melgamatic]

So if this is true:

 

> For Boy Scouts, .22's is the only rifle they can shoot

 

How does anybody complete Option C, Muzzle-loading rifles for the Rifle merit badge?

[Stosh]

Not all muzzleloaders are rifles.

 

The muzzleloaders also tend to be single shot weapons.

 

Yet scouts can shoot multiple shot shotguns which are of higher caliber than .22's.

 

There's no end to questions one could raise about this policy.

 

Imagine for a moment a Venturing scout can have a brace of 4 pistols while riding a horse around at full gallop wielding a 36" saber, but a Venturing scout who holds national safety certification from an artillery school, can't fire a large bore cannon. Go figure.

 

Stosh

[JoeBob]

Is a double barrel a single shot?

 

How about a double barrel muzzle-loader?

 

Since all muzzle-loader calibers exceed .22, can we extrapolate that muzzle-loading calibers are not restricted by BSA rules?

 

If so, I've found the perfect gun for Boy Scouts:

http://www.batteryb.com/double-barreled_cannon.html

[OldGreyEagle]

Not sure what a Venturing Scout is, but then I haven't be snarky all day

 

Stosh, I thought you went through National and had your Crew approved to fire artillery pieces because of the certifications they hold

 

Did I misunderstand?

 

PS, is a brace of 4 pistols a total of 8?(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[Beavah]

LOL! Yah, forgot about muzzle loaders.

 

Just goes to show yeh that BSA program materials including G2SS don't have any continuity editing, and yeh can't treat 'em like they're holy writ.

 

Of course Boy Scouts may fire muzzle loaders in higher caliber than .22s. Da Rifle Shooting MB specifically states:

 

Using a muzzleloading rifle of .45 or .50 caliber and shooting from a benchrest or supported prone position, fire three groups (three shots per group) at 50 feet that can be covered by the base of a standard-size soft drink can.

 

Yet G2SS says "Boy Scouts may shoot single shot 22 caliber rifles only." There's a separate section for "muzzle loaders" which G2SS for some reason doesn't think of as rifles. Though I can't see any lad making da Rifle Shooting MB requirements with a blunderbuss.

 

And I'd also forgotten about da range at Philmont using .30-06's.

 

Just goes to show how hard it is to write "policy" when discretion is da better course.

 

Beavah

 

[VigilEagle04]

For Boy Scouts, .22 caliber modern rifles only (though air rifles work as well). Muzzle loaders are allowed, though I have never understood the reasoning behind that due to their size. When I ran the rifle range at the local camp, I had one around, but no one but me ever fired it. Usually it was young scouts taking the MB, and it would've bowled them over.

 

For both shotguns and rifles, they are only allowed to load one shot at a time, no matter the style. We used a variety of styles of shotguns that could hold up to 7 rounds, but only one at a time could be loaded. Our rifles were bolt actions that could hold 5 rounds if I remember correctly, but the shells were loaded individually as they shot.

[Stosh]

OGE,

 

I have dropped out of the Venturing reenactment crew. Politics and personalities got in the way. The unit was infantry, not artillery and no safety certification is required to participate. As for the cavalry, (which by nature is the most dangerous on the field), no certification/limits are placed on these units as well. The horses must be veterinarian inspect for disease, etc. but the riders are like infantry. On the other hand the safest groups on the field are the artillery. They have a national certification school/training that they annually take to unsure the maximum safety standards on the field. More than once their attention to safety kept my people safe when they reacted improperly to my commands on the field. I'll trust an artilleryman on the field over anyone else and yet Venturing crew members cannot participate with them. (they can be artillery certified so that when they turn 21 and/or drop out of Venturing they can participate) Instead, they can do the following:

 

4 braces = 8 guns - yep 4 on the horse, 4 on the man, add a Sharp's carbine and a saber and put the whole thing on a horse and ride around as fast as you can. Now an idiot 30 year old might be able to pull it off, but an idiot 16 year old? That's another whole story.

 

And for all the scouts out there that want to really have a great time, I have a side-by-side 10 gauge muzzle-loading shotgun. Perfectly acceptable on any BSA range! More Power! Let's hear it for testosterone! An 8 gauge is not allowed because it is considered a hand-cannon and thus is a large bore artillery piece.

 

Stosh(This message has been edited by jblake47)

[Eagle1973]

The G2SS recently took out the .22 bolt action only statement, so I take it to mean that if they can safely and easily load one round at a time, any modern (I take that as serviceable) .22 rifle can be used. The problem with rod fed semi-autos is that you cant easily load one round at a time. Magazine fed .22 are sometimes easier to load singly, especially bolt action mag fed.

 

As for shotguns, only the merit badge requirement of shooting a single target is the driver for loading only one shell at a time, the G2SS doesnt say you cant load two. Range rules usually dictate loading no more then two rounds. If a Scout is a natural shotgun shooter, Ill spice it up a bit and throw doubles (if on a skeet field), once they find the grove on those out-goers, its a waste of ammo and targets so why not ratchet it up a notch, they may just want to pick up the sport

 

[VigilEagle04]

"As for shotguns, only the merit badge requirement of shooting a single target is the driver for loading only one shell at a time, the G2SS doesnt say you cant load two. Range rules usually dictate loading no more then two rounds. If a Scout is a natural shotgun shooter, Ill spice it up a bit and throw doubles (if on a skeet field), once they find the grove on those out-goers, its a waste of ammo and targets so why not ratchet it up a notch, they may just want to pick up the sport"

 

All of my long guns, save my antiques, are break-opens (or rolling block in the case of my Rugers). I always laugh at the reaction when I would have two clays thrown out and hit both using my single shot 20 ga.