Anyone watch The Shooting Gallery, Personal Defense, Guns & Ammo TV?

[silent knight]

Is it me or do they need to provide more information on some of the things that are discussed on some of their shows. The other week on Shooting gallery the discussion was about ammo.. they didn't mention or suggest the type of grain to use or what they were using.

 

[fspitzdorf]

Personally the only show i REALLY like to watch is Shooting USA on Wed night.... i only watch Personal Defense TV to see what Massad Ayoob has to teach me.... Other than that i don't find any of the G&A tv shows to be much different from their magazine....

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

I watch all three, aren't DVRs great. I agree I think they could go into a little more detail and I wouldn't even mind some more of their personal opinions on the firearms, ammo, ect... that they are talking about.

 

[sctman800]

I used to but they seem to have dissappeared from Saturday evening TV. Since I work second shift that was the only evening I could watch without having to set the VCR. Jim.

 

[another okie]

They're on in a block on Wednesday afternoon, which I tape so I can fast forward through the slow parts. (Cowboys and American Rifleman are in the same block of shows, pretty much all sponsored by Midway, whom I salute by buying more stuff from.)

I also wish that they would give ballistic information, such as bullet weight and fps. Mainly I wish they would tell the distances involved in the groups they are showing, though I suspect most are about 25 yards.

As far as the firearms, a few items such as barrel length, weight, and magazine capacity would be nice.

Other than Personal Defense TV, the shows seemed to be aimed at people with short attention spans who don't really know much about guns but enjoy watching them fired.

 

[gdvan01]

I usually avoid Personal Defense TV, Massad Ayoob has that whistle talking thing going on and it drives me nutz.

 

[dmftoy1]

I have to admit I do watch "Shooting Gallery" but ONLY because the Tivo tapes it. The guy that runs that show seems to be trying a little hard to be macho for my taste. I was particularly turned off by the show where they were trying to teach you how to knife fight in 4 easy lessons

I really like Shooting USA but haven't been about to find it. Jim Scouten is about perfect for a gun show IMHO. (what channel is it on on DTV?)

G&A is really disappointing . .they say they're going to review a gun and then you get Jim Wilson saying: "I like to shoot this pistol" and then on to the next segment.

The two best shows in my opinion are Shooting USA and a series called "Guntec TV" put on by Midway. I really like Shooting USA when they had Rob Leatham on giving shooting lessons and homework assignments.

 

[fattsgalore]

I like Wednesday night cause they show three different viewing blocks so you can watch it when ever you want or watch it again. I dislike watching the shooting events though. Like any sport, I'd rather do it then watch it.

 

[panther22]

I like all the shows and appreciate the Wed. night block. I hope it stays that way for awhile. These shows have a tendency to be bounced around the schedule.
They could be more in depth, but they are only half hour shows, and they have to put on lots of commercials for the makers of the guns they are reviewing.
You should check out Micheal Bane's blog site. Sometimes it's more interesting then the show.

 

[nwilliams]

Yes all the time! Great shows!

they didn't mention or suggest the type of grain to use or what they were using.

I think they to keep it as simple as possible, theyre only half hour long shows and commercials take up most of that space. If the shows were an hour long each they would probably go into more detail. I have a DVR so I record them and often ff through a lot of the shows until I see something interesting. PDTV I tend to watch all they way through, I find that to be the most entertaining.

 

[oregonhunter]

I too like the shows, great gun tv.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Another vote for Shooting USA. In addition to Scouten's style, Shooting USA also gets my vote for the most compact commercials.

I also watch parts of Cowboy, Shooting Gallery and Rifleman and some of the G&A things.

G&A is too much good ol' boys swapping stories, too many safety infractions and too many silly comments.

 

[silent knight]

There was another show i caught, this time it was on the VS instead the Outdoor chnl. It had something to do with that training facility/range in vegas.. i forgot the name of it.. it reminded me of shooting USA.

 

[Hogfan1911]

Wish G&A TV wouldn't waste a huge chunk of their limited airtime with those idiotic "torture tests". If you've got a perfectly good gun lying around and nothing better to do than try to destroy it, GIVE IT TO ME INSTEAD!!!!!!!!!

 

[fattsgalore]

I love the torture test. It literally hurts my groin sometimes to watch.

Anything thats either product placement(new guns and gear) or something that teaches me is cool. All the cowboy and shooting events are boring. American Rifleman's new season is iffy.

 

[toivo]

Wish G&A TV wouldn't waste a huge chunk of their limited airtime with those idiotic "torture tests"

I'm with you--There are only so many ways to mess up a gun before it gets really boring. It's always the same: "We mess it up, clean it off, put it in the vise, it goes BANG."

I want them to take a Winchester '73 and have it run over by a buffalo herd. But I think that might be a bit outside their budget.

 

[QuackAddict]

I enjoy all three of these shows, especially personal defense TV. Ayoob is great, as is TiVo, because i never miss an episode, and I can watch an episode in 17 minutes by FFwding through all the commercials.

Also, the only thing I really don't like is the "torture testing". I don't know of many people who do that kinda stuff to their firearms, nor do I know anyone who goes to a gun shop to buy one of the firearms used in the torture tests based on info learned by these "tests". So therefore they are pointless, and accomplish nothing other than destroying perfectly good guns.

 

[Eagle103]

I spent Wednesday night watching all of those shows. I can't remember the last time I spent a whole evening watching TV. Yes, they could be better and are more fluff than substance but interesting nonetheless.

 

[Remander]

I did enjoy those shows until my Comcast carrier recently, without warning, made the Outdoor Channel off limits for my package. When I tune in, it tells me the number to call to subscribe. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Guess I'll have to call and see how much more $$ they want for me to see it again.

 

[Limeyfellow]

Those torture test things are a bit silly.

I also tend to turn into the incredible hulk when they call Webley revolvers and Lee Enfields guns on G&A.

They could also be a little more information and details and unfortantly quite a bit has more to do with pleasing the sponsors than real information.

I still watch them occasionally however and like the this old gun segment on one of the shows and a few other things

 

[Dr. Dickie]

I love Shooting USA, G&A is a bit hokey (IMO--I also think the torture test is silly), Shooting Gallery is okay (on Tivo you can skip the crap), I do find American Rifleman to be very interesting as they go into the history and such of unusual rifles. Personal defense TV has its highs and lows, I like Massad Ayoob (he offers some good tips) and the guy (his name escapes me) that give training tips at the end. Of course, I watch them all, what else is there (besides the History channel and Discovery).

 

[RioShooter]

I watch 'em all. Each has plusses and minuses, but I enjoy watching them. I really like the intro to American Rifleman.

 

[BBA]

I watch and enjoy most of what these shows give us. They may be alittle soft for some of the shooting/gun crowd but at least they show firearms in a positive light. I have to give Midway USA 2 thumbs up for sponsoring the block of programs. I have noticed in the credits that Mr Bane produces most of the shows, is it him that tells the camera man to pan left/right, right/left, in/out, move side to side, and tilt left/right. The goofy camera movements drives me nuts, it takes away from anything of importance. I guess I don't have add/adhd and pay attention without it. But for the most part they are pretty good for a 30min show. American Rifleman has really improved since it started, Mr Keefe use to be pretty stiff.

 

[cra2]

Personal Defense TV

I'm glad the shows are on. The "skills drill" on Personal Defense TV is the best. The guy knows what he's talking about and how to teach it. Fast and thorough.

I guess if there was a bigger audience to support these shows, they'd be longer and better produced, and contain more detail.
So, in the end, it's the audience (or lack thereof) to blame for poor quality or lack of detail.

I'm frustrated with Personal Defense TV for a number of reasons;
- the cheesy, hard rock/metal soundtrack they put in (sometimes even while the actors are talking, making it hard to discern what they're saying). I mean, that music assumes we're all low-attention span, adrenaline junkie, "extreme", teenagers or something. I don't need fake metal music and a pumping beat in the background while I'm trying to listen to important (potentially life-saving) information. This is not a music video for my garage band.
- the host, Tom Gersham. Wow, is he bad. Sometimes he stammers like he's got nothing to say. Other times he's interrupting the guest to tell them what they were about to say (if he'd have kept his mouth shut). He doesn't come off comfortable, or natural, or competent. I have to listen AROUND him to get to the good info the guests have.
- the lack of detail. They make very generic, safe, broad-sweeping statements without any specifics, detail or evidence. They point to a table full of guns and say, "these are all great defense weapons, but some are better than others," and then they pull up a few for closer examination, without ever telling us WHY that one was better than another, or why the other ones were bad. As a matter of fact, they won't even mention the caliber, or a brand name, or a model. So I'm left wondering what the heck I was just shown. Similarly, this episode, they talked about the rifle (AR-15 carbine) as being a home defense gun that won't penetrate through walls as far as a 9mm pistol. So then he says, if we compare comparable loads, such as a low-grain hollow-point .223 round to a 9mm ball, the 9mm is gonna punch through more. How is a low-grain hollowpoint comparable to ball ammo?
Why wouldn't they compare ball ammo to ball ammo?
Or hollow to hollow?
sheesh

If you're gonna cover in-home defense, why not actually demonstrate which round has the best combination of stopping power without overpenetration?

If you're gonna cover handgun models for carry, why not actually talk about failure rates and possible causes?

If you're gonna cover AR-15 carbines, why not cover the major manufacturers and what is good/bad about them?

Sorry for the rant, but the show is just too sterile.
At least it's a start in the right direction, I s'pose.
cra2

 

[Horsesense]

I would like to see reenactments of actual self defense situations, like "The Armed Citizen" stories from the NRA, and have Massad Ayoob comment on what went down. Something like this would be good for RTKABA because it would be getting out the stories the media wont and at the same time, teaching tactics.

Also, they should have a "Box of Truth" segment and, while they are at it, combine three half hour shows into one hour and a half show and save us some time watching intros.


I find the music distracting.