History Channel - "Top Shot" show premieres Sun, 6/6/2010.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

It would be easier to believe the sight loose excuse if he had not missed the targets in the elimination round as well.

There is that.

What happened to your sense of charity?

And to top it off, he almost missed the target with Kelley's name on it, barely making it on the edge of the outter most ring. I had to rewind just to see his point of impact. Guy was lucky to get on the show.

[kragluver]

I can understand how someone unfamiliar with the operation of the rear sight on the '03 Spngfld could make the mistake of leaving the rear sight leaf down and trying to shoot through the battle sight (which is set for about 500 yds). I can also see how someone unfamiliar with the '03 not realizing the the front sight cover is not to be kept on when shooting - but EVERY contestant they had video of - including the "expert SEAL sniper coach" did so. Its amazing anyone hit anything with the '03 on that show. I read where the shooters were only given about 10 minutes familiarization with each rifle during the practice session. I would have thought the guy on the Blue team that was touted as a vintage rifle expert would have explained to his team-mates how the sight system on the '03 worked. Maybe he wasn't an '03 expert.

I'll cut the "Mike" guy on the show some slack. I've read on other forums that he is an excellent shot and a top-notch competitor. I guess he just had a bad day - which happens to all of us from time-to-time.

[KFP]

I vote that we form two Texas teams from this forum and pitch it to the History Channel for season two.

I'm in

Add me. I just want them to provide me a free opportunity to shoot with all those weapons and that house is pretty cool. However, the $100K isn't a bad incentive either.

Believe it or not, I hadn't even considered the prize money. There are 100,000 more reasons!

[USA1]

Episode 2 was great ! Contestants competed in accuracy and speed using a Beretta 92F. The elimination round consisted of riding down a zip line at 15mph while engaging stationary targets on both sides...looked fun.

Next weeks show will be all about archery skills.

[Teamless]

I really enjoyed the show as well, and my wife is getting her CHL also enjoyed watching.

She was commenting how she saw them gripping the Beretta, which was good that she noticed the small stuff

[The Annoyed Man]

Wish I knew where they were shooting. Terrain was very hilly and thoroughly covered with brush and ground cover. Might be Arizona after the rainy season.

Based solely on my own experience shooting in the foothills of Southern California, the location looked instantly familiar to me.

According to THIS LINK:

When I talked to him yesterday, Colby told me that the series “shares a lot of the same [production] team with Survivor,” including executive producer Craig Piligian, who worked on Survivor for its first few seasons. Top Shot also borrows Survivor’s three-day-per-episode format (though this show has just 10 episodes instead of 13; it filmed over 30 days in Santa Clarita earlier this spring) and has two tribes—er, teams. Colby said that the show “quickly becomes very strategic,” which is the part that I liked best. He said that in later episodes, there’s “conspiring to get rid of some of the top shooters” so that competition will be out of the way.

The Santa Clarita hills is exactly what the property looks like.

[CrimsonSoul]

I want to ride one a zipline chair while shooting a pistol....

[cougartex]

I want to ride one a zipline chair while shooting a pistol....

[kragluver]

I cringed when I saw them shooting from the zipline. I wonder how many times they swept their legs and feet with the muzzle. Yikes. It certainly looked challenging though!

[muleman]

I think we should open an amusement park with shooting......roller coasters + targets......

[pbwalker]

Now a zipline IDPA course would be the coolest thing ever! I'd drive all over TX for that opportunity!

[skub]

Based on what I have seen, that would more likely show up as an IPSC course.
And I would love a chance to shoot it!

[Skiprr]

The Santa Clarita hills is exactly what the property looks like.

You thinkin' it might be the Stevenson Ranch? That's my bet now that you've uncovered it to be Santa Clarita.

I suppose my decade-long tenure in SoCal has left me biased, and thinking nothing there could be even remotely as gun-friendly as the setting for the program.

And to those who, understandably, hate the reality-show Survivor-like format, I understand completely.

I'd posit, though, any (reasonable) format that has the best chance of appealing to the broadest possible audience is a very good thing for RKBA. The History Channel has committed to Top Shot; we can tell because there are several reruns in various time slots the week following each new episode. And, yeah, HC certainly ain't perfect.

But I'll reiterate that this exposure is better (i.e., more mainstream) than what we get on the Outdoor Channel or the Sportsman Channel. I watch 'em and love 'em, but you never see a "mainstream" sponsor.

And even with the Survivor-like format, it could have been done much, much worse. The participants were selected for a level of knowledge and proven skill. There is no Survivor-like mix of random people. Obviously the show's liability insurance is better off this way but still, kudos to them for selecting serious participants.

It could have been very ugly. Can you imagine a similar format with a random cross section of inexperienced shooters? If you will, hearken back to the Dianne Sawyer ABC travesty about school shootings where, to a network broadcast audience, untrained students were pitted against a LEO instructor as evidence of why guns are useless...not to mention, bad.

The contests on Top Shot are skills-based. At least there are no hidden immunity idols and people in skimpy swimsuits wrestling in the mud for some kind of dubious reward. There is an element of social interaction and competition, but the producers, to their credit, seem to be keeping this one at a much more respectful level.

Also, so far, the competitors are maintaining a level of professionalism that I'll bet the producers didn't expect. Compared to every other "reality" show I've had the dubious "opportunity" to watch, no one has made any on-air excuse for being voted into an elimination round, or for being eliminated. And I think the producers struggled to find/interject more interpersonal drama. For the most part, all the competitors seem to have a high degree of mutual respect.

All in all, I think this is a pretty well-executed concept to attempt crossover, popular appeal with reasonably serious shooting. I still say it's worth a thumbs-up and support for the History Channel (which I believe is owned by the parent of A&E) and for the show's sponsors.

[The Annoyed Man]

The Santa Clarita hills is exactly what the property looks like.

You thinkin' it might be the Stevenson Ranch? That's my bet now that you've uncovered it to be Santa Clarita.

Most of my time in that area was either further north in the Hungry Valley off road recreational vehicle area, or on the east side of the 5 along Soledad Canyon Road, so I'm not really familiar with the Stevenson Ranch specifically. But I just now googled it, and it looks like it could be one or two isolated homes on the south side of Pico Canyon Road, a few miles west of the Stevenson Ranch development. That would be my probable guess.

[USA1]

The archery competition. I didn't think I'd enjoy it much but I found it very interesting. The competition consisted of shooting longbows to see which team could get closest to the target. The elimination round was even better. The two contestants used a crossbow to shoot apples at increasingly longer distances. The first one to shoot all three apples remained in the competition.

Next episode...Shooting an AR15. Should be fun!