Top Shot on the History Channel

The good news is this show is mostly good PR for gun owners and shooting. I don’t like the manufactured drama but they are following a formula that has proven successful. The fact that this formula is successful and what that says about our society is an issue I’ll leave alone…

I’m more disturbed that the courses of fire are just goofy and have little resemblance to anything typically used in organized shoots. The producers seem determined to ignore a century’s worth of existing courses. What’s worse, the shooting challenges would be incredibly difficult to duplicate on a home range making it nearly impossible to test your skills against what the show’s competitors are doing.

In this regard, the Front Sight Challenge was much better. At least portions of the courses could be set up by anyone on almost any range.

http://www.frontsight.com/challenge.asp

If the goal was really to find the Top Shot it would make more sense to have the participants compete Across-The-Course, Silhouette, IPSC/Steel Challenge, on modified law enforcement and military qualification courses, etc. An aggregate of all the diverse events would truly indicate the “Top Shot.”

Use targetry with instant feedback (Sius-Ascor, steel, etc.) to maximize spectator value and emphasize that these events are held year-round throughout the US and are open to all. It would encourage gun owners to go try some of the events themselves and yield a host of new applicants for upcoming seasons.