TV Gun Shows Go Mainstream in 2011

[Scotsgun]

I watch all 3.

Sons of guns do some stuff which whilst fun is just a waste of time, like welding 3 M16s together. They also seem very ignorant of firearms outwith the US, like the opisode in which they mount a moderator sleeve over a shotgun barrel because its never been done before ????

American Guns follows a family run gunshop and surprisingly they actually do some decent gunsmithing. It is very cheesy at times and the father never quite hides just how mercenary over money he really is but its still enjoyable. Don't watch with the wife around as you'll be constantly oggling the wife and daughter's tits.

Top Shot is more of a competition type show in which the shooters with the weakest scores (in theory) go head to head over trials. It should be required viewing for any club considering organising fun shoots. The best feature of the show is the fact that it's been won by a brit, two seasons out of three!

You can download and watch episodes here:

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/inte ... s_of_guns/

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/inte ... ican_guns/

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/internet/top_shot/

[Porcupine]

I can't watch Sons of Guns. I wish they would either go completely more-or-less scripted and be upfront about it, like Mythbusters, or genuinely be a fly on the wall, instead of trying to do a documentary style show but using scripts and concocted scenarios. Also, it's just not that interesting to me. As a gun person, I've already seen silenced shotguns and grenade launchers and accurized AKs. In a way I suspect it's actually more interesting to non-gun people.

It might be ok if they did like a two minute segment on each gun, but by covering only one or two guns in a 20 minute episode they end up padding it out and in the end it's not all that interesting when they finally show off the finished product.

Nor do they show anything interesting in the actual process of building the gun. For example in one episode they were attaching a shotgun under the barrel of an AR. They had several different potential mounts. One was disregarded on the basis that "well this won't work," but they never explained why not. They then picked one of the other mounts without explaining why this one DID work or why it was the best, and showed nothing of the manufacturing process or design, except some shots of someone using a milling machine. At least in Pimp My Ride and American Chopper they actually go into some detail of what they do and how they do it.

Top Shot is a little better, but not much. Again, it's full of scripted drama and often becomes more about the artificial spats and rivalries between the contestants than it is about the shooting. The challenges can be quite interesting though - but again, they spend far too long on each challenge. Once you've seen a guy shooting while going down a vertical zip wire you don't really need to see another five minutes of it.

American Guns, same thing. They actually have some interesting guns and projects come through (much more pedestrian than Sons of Guns so probably only interesting to gun people like original Colt Walkers, Steyr Scout Dragoon, or the Apache combi-revolver) but they are always overshadowed by awful scripted dialogue that makes me cringe and manufactured family feuds and drama.

Ultimate Weapons and Future Weapons, although more military/LE than shooting oriented, are actually quite good. They can be over-dramatic or somewhat innacurate but they have a good format: Short, informative segments guided by a presenter/narrator.

The Best Defense is one of the best shooting related shows out there. It's not exclusively shooting, they also cover open hand, knives etc, as well as core personal safety (awareness etc) and things like natural disasters.

Shooting USA is great; really in-depth reviews of guns that remind me of Motorweek (if you actually want to buy a car, this American show is miles ahead of entertainment-oriented Top Gear) as well as news and features including their 'impossible shots' segment.

On an episode this week a young single mum walked in. She had been burgled, thankfully she and her children were out. She wanted something for self defence. They asked her if she had any experience, she didn't. They gave her the details of someone who teaches novices as they don't like selling to people without experience.

Did they sell her the gun too? Imagine if the next day she got broken into again, and her and her kid were raped and tortured to death. Better to have a gun and guess how to use it when you need to than having nothing but foul language.

[Porcupine]

They also seem very ignorant of firearms outwith the US, like the opisode in which they mount a moderator sleeve over a shotgun barrel because its never been done before ????

They certainly were not the first and are certainly not the only American company (Tactical Operations made one as far back as 2000, which is used by LAPD SWAT for door breaching), let alone international company (I know at least Hushpower in the UK and Reflex in Finland make them) making suppressed shotguns, though I do believe they were the first to market a suppressed Saiga in significant numbers. I guess they were just economic with the truth to make it more of a big deal.

I'm not sure who made the first ever silenced shotgun. Reflex made theirs in 1992 but I'm certain someone must have tried it before then.

[Christel]

There is another series with this guy and the name totally escapes me now.
Very military and very gung ho.

He is always keen to get the camera on his tattoo on his arm.
I think he is ex something and never misses a chance to mention it.

Anyway, what has been mentioned about the other programs can be applied here, always time to make a cup of tea while they rerun the shooting sequence for about 4 mins. Why oh why. It just means I loose interest.

:G

[ovenpaa]

Future Weapons with Richard Machowicz? I quite like it as a series, he covers some interestings stuff.

[Christel]

Future Weapons with Richard Machowicz? I quite like it as a series, he covers some interestings stuff.

Just goggled that name and yes that is him.

[Flanker]

I saw a re-run of Tim Shaw on Guns the other night. I thought it was going to be really annoying but it turned out to be pretty well balanced. He clearly found guns were a lot more fun that he expected. Although he was disconcertingly excited when he got hold of some of them he was very honest about about this and a lot less polically correct than I expected him to be. I thought he could have come to a slightly more detailed conclusion though, his closing remarks seemed a bit watered down.

[Porcupine]

Anyone remember Jeremy Clarkson's show Inventions That Changed the World, and the episode Guns? It was quite entertaining but, like all of Clarkson's TV shows, involved a lot of fakery e.g. this segment (you can go back to the start and watch the whole hour episode if you like) where Jeremy uses a blank firing AK (letting us believe it is real) to prove how innacurate the AK is. Also I'm not sure you'd have much luck shooting an AK at 500 yards with irons!

[sandy22]

It's quite simple. You just need to understand that "Reality TV" is an oxymoron.