New shooter thanks to "Top Shot"

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bobmcd

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Alexandria Virginia
A friend and neighbor (who is the LAST person I would expect) asked me to teach her to shoot.

Over the last few weeks, she has chatted me up about the "Top Shot" show (which I don't watch -- I saw one episode and could not handle the "Survivor"-style elimination faux drama); and then about when was the last time we (me, wife, and son) went to the range, etc.

Then last week, she dropped the bomb -- and asked me to take her along next time.

When I relayed this to my son, his reaction was one of those priceless jaw-drop moments.

So today we took her out to our favorite three-gun range (Clark's in Warrenton, VA) and introduced her to the wonders of the Ruger Mk III. Several of her shots actually hit the paper :evil:

The sure sign of someone who is totally hooked: when she said "Wow, that really stunk -- I gotta get more practice!" :D

So it looks like "Top Shot" is not the waste of time that I used to think it was.
 
That's one thing all of the various guns shows are good for - getting the shooting sports into the mainstream.
 
Eeh, I like Top Shot. It does a good job of giving the basic info and history of the weapon. The drama is like a shotgun effect, you spread your influence out to get a good coverage area but choke it where its still effective.

Any more realistic and they'd have to go into the thunderdome.
 
There is enough bad TV. At least Top Shot is getting more people interested in shooting. Stop hating on the show.
 
With the people that I associate with, only one other person is in to shooting, so out of all the people I have contact with I have been labeled as the "gun guy". Since Top Shot has come out, a lot of people have been more willing to talk about firearms with me than before the show started, which I think is a good thing because the show does portray shooting as a sport and somewhat eliminates the image of firearms hurting people, at least in my experience with the people I know.

That being said, I have had quite a few people ask me if they can tag along when I go to the range the next time, which for me is a good thing.

Best story I have to share is a former boss of mine wanted to go shoot and so I took her to an actual range, normally I am off in the desert shooting. I only have 1 .22, a rifle, and the next smallest caliber I have would be 7.62x39 then .38, then my .45. I took all four of my calibers and started her on the .22. She was the first woman I have taken shooting whose first shot was not in what I would consider to be "below the belt" and turns out she can shoot well. After shooting the .22 for a while she wanted to try something bigger so I let her shoot my SKS, again she was thrilled at how well she was shooting so she wanted to try pistols. My .38's are old reloads for CAS so they are very low in power and she enjoyed them quite a bit but the best part of that trip was with the .45.

Being her first time and having no real experience I loaded on round in to the magazine and explained the function of the pistol. She chambered the round, aimed and shot. Her was her reaction and I wish I had video of it, "WHOA! More please, hurry load this for me."

So shows like Top Shot that present a better image of shooting as a sport has had a positive effect on some with whom I have contact with and for that I think it is a worthy show.
 
This would be a good show without the elimination BS. If they kept a point system for each person and had them ALL run this gauntlet, without teams, for the entire season, and THEN added up the points, I'd like it better. But I have to (+1) for it putting shooting in the light as a sport and not a terror. I'm the 'gun guy' to most of my friends and they keep asking questions about the show. I only watched the 1st season, so I have no idea whats happening on the show now. I DO like the variety of weapons used, keeps 'specialists' from dominating the scoreboard. When the zombies come, you might just HAVE to use the crossbow. :)
 
I like MyGreenGuns' idea of making everyone run the same challenges and keeping track of it all on a point-based system, but that might make every show extremely long!

A hybrid system involving people getting voted off but with the "accrued points" still weighing in to influence the outcome might be better. It could still be done in teams - those with the fewest points would always be the ones who'd go up to the elimination challenge. It would also counteract the specialists - you'd have to be well-rounded to get the consistently high scores and you'd be able to "catch up" if you just did poorly on one challenge. I don't know if this could work out though - math has never been my strongest subject.

Overall, it's on TV and it's a bunch of people shooting stuff. I'm a supporter.
 
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Yes, Top Shot is a drama llama petting zoo. It's a reality show though, and not a sports show. It gets over two million viewers per episode. Two million people watch everyday people (not just military or law enforcement) shoot guns and shoot them well. I don't have access to the Neilsen ratings, but I'm willing to bet that less than two million people watch all the other hunting/shooting shows on all the other networks in an entire week.

The target audience (pun not intended. Much.) isn't the people on this board or most of the hardcore "gun culture", it's for the casual shooter or the non-shooter, and it suits that audience very well.
 
The sure sign of someone who is totally hooked: when she said "Wow, that really stunk -- I gotta get more practice!"

Sorry bud but, after I get the tears outta my eyes from laughing and seeing the same picture in my head from an ex girlfriend I'll finish this response.
 
One of our granddaughters is a total fan. She wants to shoot the same the targets they do... Practicing to be the youngest competitor? (at 12) She is a good shot already.

Maybe that would be a really new twist for Top Shot...a teen compitition???
 
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