Top Shot III - let's keep it about guns and shooting

[spacecoast]

It was great to see the "revolver guy" fare very well in last night's challenge conducted with a Glock 34. I'm sure his DA experience with revolvers served him very well as he dropped one deflector after the other.

What is the purpose of the slot in the top of the Glock 34 slide? I thought for a minute that it was a special "cutaway" gun, but looked at some pics online and saw that all the 34s and 35s appear to be like that.

 

[TheNocturnus]

I try to catch this show when it comes on and only saw the .500 smith and wesson episode and the ak47 episode.

 

[zincwarrior]

I think the slots are to reduce weight. The XDM has similar slots and thats the reason stated. Not sure why the barrel looked bronze colored though.

You could definitely tell the difference between the shooters from experience. One was very cool in the scenario whilst the young guy wasn't.

Age and trickery will always overcome youth and skill.

 

[microman]

I missed last nights episode. The last one I watched was with the S&W 500's and I liked it.

 

[Dino.]

I was glad to see last night's competitions focusing more on marksmanship and less on obstacle courses.
I'm just say'n.

 

[zincwarrior]

Agreed. The difficulty I have with this year is that I'm itching to try all their competitions, especially the final challenges.

 

[kraigwy]

I watched it last night, The qualification round, where they shot plates to allow the balls to roll down looked like a heck of a lot of fun.

I'd love to shoot that a couple times.

Also I saw what I always believe, a revolver shooter can shoot an auto better then an auto shooter can shoot a revolver. I was glad to see that kid win.

 

[Alaska444]

The Red team looks like they just are not coming together the way the blue team is such as their after hours practice sessions. It is about team work AND shooting at this stage of the game. The blue team looks like they are starting to settle down and get the job done. Mental preparation is a huge part of shooting in such a competitive arena.

Cliff really took it to them. He is a great handgun shooter, just don't put a long gun in his hands. Funny, I find the long guns easier to master in many ways than the hand guns as far as accuracy.

Mike was the biggest loser in the shotgun since it was his event as a young olympian. I only counted 2 hits out of ten, not the 5-6 he claimed when they were deciding who to send to the challenge. Did he just forget how badly he did?

Mike should have been in that one for sure if they were going to base their decisions on performance. Glad to see that Cliff sent the loud mouth home 18 to 8. That was an amazing shooting performance and if Cliff can begin to handle the long gun the way he handles the handguns, he has the mental skills to go all the way in this competition. In addition, he is a quiet gentleman in the way he handled this challenge. I was glad he did as well as he did, but you must confess, he didn't become world champion being a chump.

I believe the Red team just learned that they had underestimated this low key man. Great job Cliff.

 

[Superdave70_02]

I would like to try my hand at the slug gun. Would be a good hog gun in the brush. I think they should have chosen a more historic pistol than the glock. I would be more entertained with say a Mauser broomhandle.

 

[Alaska444]

Obviously, the guns used on this show are in essence advertised as well. I am sure that the show gets money for this advertisement as well. Thus, the selection of weapons is skewed I am sure by those gun manufacturers that wish for their product to be featured.

 

[Doodlebugger45]

So far this season I think I have seen the best shooting so far. Last night's pistol shooting by the older feller was phenomenal. And a couple of them were amazing in the very first shooting with the 500 SW. I start to forget some of the other competitions with time, but I have been very impressed so far by a few of the people and their shooting. Thinking back to shooting off the top of the stagecoach with a Winchester rifle was pretty impressive by the winner. The loser of that one? Well... not so impressive. But realistically, I doubt if I would do any better than she did.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'll remind everyone that the quickest way to get this thread closed down is to get away from guns and shooting and into team dynamics, intrapersonal dynamics, etc.

 

[NWPilgrim]

I thought Cliff's comment about his basic strategy to hit the plates ahead of the balls was perfect: You just have to hit plates every 8 seconds. easier said than done but he kept that laser focus on steadily knocking plates, usually in less that 8 seconds.

Seems to be a common characteristic of competitors to break the problem down into essentials and focus on that solution. The other guy got flustered when a ball rolled out and he lost any timing/rhythm he might have started with. Calm detached methodical shooting destroyed the more emotional gung ho approach. Confidence and bravado have their place but on the firing line it was cool execution to a simple plan that won. World champion competitor versus instructor.

BTW, that sure did not look like a stock G34 they were shooting. Looked like the slide was cut away quite a bit and the barrel was TiNi coated or something.

 

[44 AMP]

The shotgun kid may have won lots of events, but somehow I doubt they were much like what went on in that challenge. Shooting slugs with rifle sights is not usually a wingshooter's forte', and it showed.

I think his team expexting him to do better because it was a "shotgun" is rather...shotrtsighted.

Also note that the distance was 40 yards, one of the longer distances they have shot at so far! Most of the challenges (except the log carry & obstacle course) have been measured in feet!

Loved the rolling cannonball challenge, imagine how hard that one would be with a revolver!

Next week, the Bulldog Gatling gun!!

 

[overkill0084]

I know very little about the shotgun world. I have a question for the better informed. It seems to me that once you start using slugs and shooting with rifle sights, The typical clay pigeon shooter is not going to be at his best. You have just turned it into a competition with a short barreled, marginally accurate rifle. Am I out to lunch on this assertion?

 

[rjrivero]

It was great to see the "revolver guy" fare very well in last night's challenge conducted with a Glock 34. I'm sure his DA experience with revolvers served him very well as he dropped one deflector after the other.

What is the purpose of the slot in the top of the Glock 34 slide? I thought for a minute that it was a special "cutaway" gun, but looked at some pics online and saw that all the 34s and 35s appear to be like that.

I watched the episode on DVR. (I shoot some matches with "Phil" on the Red Team. Didn't even know he was on the show!)

Anyway, what struck me as funny is that the "Revolver Guy" in his entrance inteview described himself as a "Revolver Guy." During the exit interview from the elimination challenge he described himself as a "Pistol Guy."

The Glock 34 they were using was no factory Glock 34. It was custom done by Salient Arms. I've never seen one of their glock's up close, but I understand those who have them LOVE them.

The Glock 34 has a cut out on the top of the slide to reduce the weight of the slide. The 34 is a long slide, so they want to reduce the weight to match the recoil spring/lock up timing. The Glock 35 has a similar cut out.

 

[S_Constitutionist]

I too thought it was strange regarding the comments on Mike's performance.

Anyone who has spent much time bird hunting or shooting the clay games understands how big of a night and day difference it is to using the shotgun like a rifle (slugs).

It would be like having a bench rest guy go up against a 3 gunner with AR's and complaining that the bench rest expert was a "rifle guy".

 

[44 AMP]

Anyway, what struck me as funny is that the "Revolver Guy" in his entrance inteview described himself as a "Revolver Guy." During the exit interview from the elimination challenge he described himself as a "Pistol Guy."

Considering his winning performance in the elimination challenge ("you smoked me"), I guess its fair for him to add pistol to his resume'

 

[10-96]

I know the show is what it is, but I wonder how far of a shot it would be (pun intended) for each state, or national region to field teams and eliminations like a world series event?

 

[44 AMP]

Saw the third episode last night. 1875 Remington revolvers in a rather cool "shootin' dice" challenge, and two (count 'em TWO) lovely brass covered 1877 Gatling guns in the elimination round!

Ranges were short, 35 feet to 50 yds (I finally decided they do this to keep things in the camera view), and either I am getting immune to the drama, or it was within my tolerance this time.

Some boasting, some BS, and somebody always goes home. Guys win by just barely beating the other guy/team, but a win is a win, right?

The challenges range from cool to outrageous, so far this season we have had military style obstacle courses and some almost Rube Goldberg contraptions, and things in between. Ranges have been short, I think the longest shot so far this season has been about 75 yds (maybe 100).

I am still wondering what kind of criteria they use to choose contestants. So far, the only constant seems to be that none of the shooters is broadly experienced. Many champions in narrow disciplines, but no one this year seems to be what I would call well rounded.

The SA revolver was a mystery to some of them, and even the "revolver guy" had trouble with it. Only saw the SA being shot the traditional way once, and that was one guy on the nomination range!

Not sure if I like the added complexity of repeated reloads they added this time, on the other hand, this time the shooters did only have to reload (main challenge) if they missed.

Red team has been getting the stuffing beat out of them, and still they seem to focus on "whats best for the team", especially when choosing who goes to elimination challenge.

Wonder when they are going to wise up?