History Channel's "Top Shot" on Sunday night

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It's not my idea of "Top Shot" or anything and I can't stand the reality show drama stuff. I can tell ya one thing though, my wife isn't a big fan of guns (or me blowing all my money on guns and ammo) but she sure as heck will watch that show all day long if she could. Just the other night she said to me out of the blue "Hey, let's watch top shot" (she had taped it). I think it's fantastic because it brings up guns in a good light during normal conversation and makes people more aware that guns can be used for friendly competition and how it takes actual skill to put a bullet on a target. I think that's just great. If I can get my wife to watch stuff about shooting, ask questions about guns and just shoot the breeze with her over that kinda stuff, I'm all about it. It puts it into context for me.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.
 
Unistat said:
I disagree, it added an element of strategy. Shoot for your own hand or block your opponant's. On the tie breaker, Kelly was able to block and made very hard for Andrew to get a good hand. The fact that Andrew didn't know what would be the best poker hand available to him after the block affected the outcome very little, imo.
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IIRC, Andre had a 2 of spades and a 6 of spades. Kelly was shooting for a pair of 5s. All Andre had to do was shoot a 6 and he'd have won with a pair of 6s to Kelly's 5-5. So it would have changed the outcome.

That said, it didn't require any more knowledge of poker other than to look at the quick cheat sheet and a little bit of common sense. Whether he'd played poker or not, the way he approached the tiebreaker was completely nonsensical. Like I said before, he mentally broke down.
 
Going into the show, did you do any special training? You’re going to get a kick out of my answer. Here it comes. {laughs} I hadn’t shot live ammo in about 10 years before I went on the show. I literally hadn’t shot anything other than a little bit of .22 rimfire just fooling around.
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LOL. Well now his reverting to old ways makes perfect sense then.
 
So in mounted shooting competitions they shoot blanks? That is the dumbest thing that I have ever heard. He got on the show because he is a professional actor not shooter.
 
If I can get my wife to watch stuff about shooting, ask questions about guns and just shoot the breeze with her over that kinda stuff, I'm all about it. It puts it into context for me.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.
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You're not. My wife can't stand any of the other gun shows I have on our DVR, but she'll watch Top Shot with me.

And my two sons (ages 4 and 6) love it as well.
 
That is the dumbest thing that I have ever heard.
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They ride around a course shooting in every direction. Blanks make it safer for everybody involved, including the horses.

I didn't want to generalize but I figured Denny's mounted shooting would figure into it. I wasn't at all impressed with his gun handling. So it would appear as though mounted shooting is all the shooting he does. What a ripoff!
 
I'm going to venture a guess adding him to the show was something like this.

Producer #1: When I think of guns, I think cowboys!
Producer #2: Yes! Me too! Lets find a guy who dresses and acts like a stereotypical cowboy to fulfill the expectations of the audience!
 
I missed the last few episodes, but saw the latest one. I'm not a big fan of Cowboy Shooting, but this episode has been the best one I've seen so far. The shooting gallery was a blast! And the elimination challenge was great fun and in keeping with the Old West theme. The fact that neither guy knew poker made it more entertaining. Otherwise, it would have been guys picking off aces then kings etc. until the deck was gone. ZZZZZ.

Keep in mind, this is a game show. The fact that the contestants shoot instead of sing or guess prices is just a detail. Kelly is proving to be the best competitor on the show. When the challenge plays to his strength he presses his advantage. When it doesn't, he learns as much as he can, gets as good as he can and uses strategy to barely win. TV producers love that.
 
I knew Denny was a fraud when I saw him shoot. The thing that bothers me now is number 1 he should have had to go elimination round and 2- he stated in this episode that he had been shooting the colt up until the day before he left for the show. That conflicts with what he told ctd.

Personally I think the whole thing is a scripted poc now.
 
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If I can get my wife to watch stuff about shooting, ask questions about guns and just shoot the breeze with her over that kinda stuff, I'm all about it. It puts it into context for me.
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I'm sure I'm not the only one.

You're not. My wife can't stand any of the other gun shows I have on our DVR, but she'll watch Top Shot with me.

And my two sons (ages 4 and 6) love it as well.
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This is exactly why I support this TV show. Your wives vote, your children will vote and when they are spoon fed the antigun garbage by the media they will be able to form their own opinions based on their own knowledge of firearms.

I hope this show continues, and I hope it spaws others. When the MEDIA supports our cause we are making real progress. Huge success in my opinion.
 
I think this notion that mounted shooters are just riding around shooting blanks and not having to hit anything is wrong. They do shoot "blanks" in the fact there is no lead, but the rounds are capped with wax or plastic so when they shoot at the balloons or what ever else they have to shoot at, they still have to hit the target while mooving.
 
The TV show does show people other than criminals with guns, doing something with guns besides kill people. Some TV watchers have seen nothing about sports shooting which is the majority use of ammo, in addition to military and police training. Most TV watchers see only negative things about guns. Showing a group of sport shooters, military and police shooting guns at targets in a mental and physical challenge would be a revelation for many.

And no matter how some get mad at each other (Adam and Caleb) they only shoot off their mouths. If it was scripted by Brady Campaign, there would have been shoot outs over parking spaces on day one with blood overflowing the gutters.
 
The guest "gun guy" that was coaching the contenders is a cowboy shooter. Spencer Hoglund aka Lead Dispencer.
2006 Overall World Champion
2003 Overall World Champion
2004 Overall W3G World Champion
2005 Overall W3G World Champion
2003 Overall National Champion
2004 Overall National Champion
2005 Overall National Champion
2006 Overall National Champion
2006 World Traditional Champion
2004 World Traditional Champion
2003 World Traditional Champion
2003 National Traditional Champion
2004 National Traditional Champion
2005 National Traditional Champion
2006 National Traditional Champion
2006 Overall Western Regional Champion
2005 Overall Western Regional Champion
2002 Overall Western Regional Champion
2003 Overall Western Regional Champion
2003 Overall California State Champion
2004 Overall California State Champion
2005 Overall California State Champion
2004 Overall Florida State Champion
2005 Overall Florida State Champion
2003 Overall Oregon State Champion
2001 Junior World Champion
2004 Runner Up World Champion
2002 Overall Winner Stampede
2003 Overall Winner Stampede
2004 Overall Winner Stampede
2003 Overall CRPA State Champion
2004 Overall CRPA State Champion

http://www.spencerhoglund.com/
 
atomd said:
Just the other night she said to me out of the blue "Hey, let's watch top shot" (she had taped it). I think it's fantastic because it brings up guns in a good light during normal conversation and makes people more aware that guns can be used for friendly competition and how it takes actual skill to put a bullet on a target. I think that's just great. If I can get my wife to watch stuff about shooting, ask questions about guns and just shoot the breeze with her over that kinda stuff, I'm all about it. It puts it into context for me.
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Bingo! Here we have the great benefit of the show. Something for us and something for others who weren't interested in shooting. Those others may develop a better understanding through this media than all our efforts to open their eyes to the shooting sports and the basic reliability of people who participate in them.
 
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The first time I even realized there was a Cowboy Mounted Shooting anything was riding with my girlfriend on the way to the archery ranges at a shooting range. They had this fenced off area on the side of the road opposite the actual ranges where a Cowboy event was going on. Didn't think anything of it until somebody came riding out into the fenced area and started shooting...

Brain immediately went "***? There's no backstop. We need to clear this area FAST!" but then realized it was blanks.

Yeah, I can see where accuracy might be a factor in that sport, but more shotgun/grenade launcher accuracy than rifle/pistol accuracy.

BTW, I like the fact the show isn't a straight A vs. B vs. C and everyone for themselves. Mostly because, with the little military experience I had, I realize that most real-world armed situations are often "team sports". (At least when you have a choice.)
 
I don't know about Poker being more important...

...but you could argue that the challenge was thinking "tactically" on your feet, making decisions, AND shooting.

I mean, Andre shot great...

...he just didn't shoot the right targets.

Kelly shot decently...

...and got the right targets. (In spite of not being Poker-savvy).

In the real world, excellent shooting prowess + bad target selection = fratricide, collateral damage, and/or (LEO's) criminal charges and civil charges.
 
If you check out the Anatomy of a Shot on the History Channel's website you will see that Andre wasn't the only one with a negligent discharge. JJ was taken by surprise by one as well. Additionally, you'll see more details about the blue team's shooting than shown in the episode.
 
I think this notion that mounted shooters are just riding around shooting blanks and not having to hit anything is wrong. They do shoot "blanks" in the fact there is no lead, but the rounds are capped with wax or plastic so when they shoot at the balloons or what ever else they have to shoot at, they still have to hit the target while mooving.
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Actually in this type of shooting sport, they will sometimes use wax bullets for quick draw shooting, but they still only shoot them with a backstop behind the target. When they are doing exhibition shooting where they are popping balloons for the crowd, they will simply shoot blanks. They are close enough that the gun powder will pop the balloon.
 
Here is what I love about this show.... The following was written by Robert Lloyd, TV Critic for the LA Times (Ya think they are a little anti-gun?)

Viewers who know their blunderbuss from a Winchester and who understand the technical elements obviously will be more richly rewarded here, but it's easy enough to get into the spirit of the thing — even if you (as I) harbor no particular or even general affection for firearms — because what the players are doing is patently difficult, and they do it well. (Some of them are famous in their world.) And given a cast of even moderately differing characters, a little back story and a contest, it is nearly impossible not to root for some of them against others.
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Full Article Here...
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/05/entertainment/la-et-top-shot-20100603

And to put it in perspective this is a quote from Mr. Lloyd on another review of another show

As one who has never spent any time in a gun shop, and indeed would be happy to see all your Glocks beaten into plowshares
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So, sure... the show has a crappy format, and many of you are just too cool for TV anyway but you cannot deny, that THC, Top Shot and other shows coming out like it are GOOD FOR OUR CAUSE and we should support it.
 
I understand that at this point there are four episodes remaining, but ten contestants remain. Sounds like there will be some multiple eliminations coming up.

Wonder how they will structure the four remaining episodes to get rid of enough shooters to arrive at (what we would expect to be) a one-on-one final show? Friendly fire? Collateral damage?

I am told by insiders that it should get interesting.
 
I actually liked it.

I watched the first 3 episodes on HULU, so not a lot of ads. Sure there were some drama (few looked intentional) but hey it's mainly for folks who watched reality TVs. I HATE reality shows btw but just watching it to see the challenges that these guys have to go through. Here's the thing, if you watched it online, it seems like the pace is faster, not a lot of BS in the mansion before going into the challenges and elimination. I think it somewhat helps bringing firearm into a better light in public's eye.

what surprises me is JJ Racaza. I remembered seeing him like 8-9 yrs ago on the OLN American Shooter. They were featuring Rob Leatham and JJ was in the same tournament with him. They showed his footage for a bit and told the viewers that he is an upcoming contender/ champion. Fast forward a bit and BAM, he's double Grand Master today. Man, so far he;s good.


EDIT: I think Jim Watson is referring to : COMBAT MISSIONS, it was on USA. I recently saw the whole show again on youtube. I LOVE IT !
(i don't know if this was mentioned as i was still on page 15)
 
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