The details and technical specs are at my buddy Steve’s place at the Firearm Blog. This looks awesome, and is something that will probably get tested in the crucible of 3-gun competition. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if 3-gun competition was the genesis for this idea, since those guys are always looking for a way to carry more ammo in their rifles.
The Quest for Master Class
Today is a great day for Gun Nuts and our fans. In addition to the premiere of Top Shot, the new sponsors for the HAVA auction, I’m incredibly pleased to bring you the following news item regarding the continuing series “The Quest for Master Class”. The goal of the series is to demonstrate to shooters that you can take actual concealed carry firearms and use them in IDPA (and other) competitions and not only gain valuable skills, but also be successful at the competitions themselves.
That’s why today I’m pleased to announce that the next phase of The Quest for Master Class, chosen by readers of Gun Nuts to be in Stock Service Pistol and Enhanced Service Pistol will be appearing exclusively on Downrange.TV and sponsored by Ruger Firearms. Ruger will be providing the SR9c for the test – a compact, concealed carry firearm that we’ll be using to reach for Master class in Stock Service and Enhanced Service Pistol divisions.
I’m excited to work with the team at Downrage.TV and Ruger to get The Quest for Master Class moving forward. The Quest officially starts on July 1st, and the SSP/ESP chapter should wrap up in October(ish). Each week on DRTV we’ll have updates, shooting skill tests, and evaluations of the continued performance of a compact, concealed carry firearm being used heavily in all types of simulated defensive shooting situations. The SR9c will be shot in IDPA, but will also see trigger time in Steel Challenge, USPSA, and any other shooting sport I can get trigger time in; with the goal being to achieve Master Class in 2 divisions in no longer than 4 months.
Hats are off to DRTV and Ruger for getting on board with this project, and check back here as we get closer to July for the official launch!
HAVA Charity Auction
Since last year, I’ve been talking about the charity auction Gun Nuts is hosting to benefit the warriors served by Honored American Veterans Afield. A couple of weeks back, I posted a teaser of one of the auction items that we’re going to have, and today I’m proud to announce that we have two new companies joining us to support HAVA and the auction.
Mossberg has donated a firearm which is waiting at my friendly neighborhood FFL for me to pick up – a huge “thank you” goes out to them for getting product our for this event.
Also donating a firearm to the HAVA Charity Auction is Sig Sauer, makers of the Sig P226, 1911-style firearms, and several lines of tactical rifles will be donating a pistol to the auction as well.
I’m not going to tell you what the guns are, you’re going to have to wait until July 1st when the auction starts to see what will be available! Suffice to say, it’s going to be great!
Again, thank you to Mossberg and Sig Sauer for their support of HAVA and our nation’s heroes.
Top Shot Thought
A lot of people have asked me what I think the big benefit of Top Shot is to the shooting community at large. Honestly, Sebastian sums it up pretty well right here:
It presents shooting in an interesting and non-threatening way to new shooters. NSSF couldn’t buy shooting sports coverage this good!
People that have no interest in the shooting sports were watching last night, and enjoying it because 1) stuff blows up and 2) the people are compelling. Sure, I’d love to have a show that shows people running USPSA courses, but that show already exists and it’s called Shooting USA. As much as I enjoy the programming on Outdoor Channel, it doesn’t hit nearly as wide a target as Top Shot will.
That’s really why I’m trying to encourage people to embrace the show and use it as an opportunity to evangelize the shooting sports to their non-shooting friends. Some people have used the phrase “Survivor with guns” in a derogatory fashion to describe Top Shot. If you ask me, that’s a huge compliment! Survivor is one of the longest running and most popular reality franchises on TV, and if we can attract 1/4 the viewing audience of Survivor then Top Shot will be a hit. Think about that – people that have no interest whatsoever in the shooting sports are watching J.J. Racaza, one of the best Steel Challenge shooters in the galaxy on national TV and they’re enjoying it because it’s being presented in a familiar, non-threatening format.
You can watch all of the first episode of Top Shot on Hulu.
Top Shot Episode 1: The Long Shot
If you haven’t yet seen the series premiere of Top Shot, you can watch the entire episode on Hulu. Go watch it now, then click below the jump for my recap of the episode – if you hadn’t already figured it out, there are major league spoilers in the recap!
The people have spoken
The next gun I shoot in the Quest for Master Class will be in the Stock Service Pistol and Enhanced Service Pistol divisions. We’ll be shooting the same 9mm pistol for both divisions, and will have an exciting announcement about The Quest for Master Class on Monday morning!
Today
66 years ago today, an army of young men parachuted, shelled, and rode small boats on to a beach on the coast of France. Though we had officially entered the war 3 years prior, the invasion of Normandy on D-Day marked the point in the war where we truly went on the offensive against Nazi Germany.
66 years later, the Normandy landings, the subsequent battles, and even the men that fought them have been granted a kind of immortality through their depictions in countless media from the big screen to HBO. And yet I find each year we have a few less men that stood in those boats, or felt their boots hit the soil of France from a parachute; and I believe that we are made poorer by the loss of those men.
D-Day doesn’t recieve the same recognition as Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day, but in many ways is more culturally significant to the life we now enjoy. If you are so lucky as to know a veteran of Normandy, thank them today.
Top Shot Video Bios
History has posted video bios of all the Top Shot contestants, and they’re all pretty awesome. Mine is here, and there’s no slingshot or little giant nonsense in any of the actual video!
Can you practice too much?
Question for you, especially my training/practical shooting friends: is it possible to practice too much? I actually think it is, especially when dry firing. If I’m dry firing a DA revolver for example, there is a point where I start to get tired and my trigger work gets sloppy and sluggish. If I keep practicing past that point, I’m only creating BAD habits and not training the good ones. Similarly, I feel like if I start “chasing” whatever it is I’m trying to accomplish, then it’s time to stop. Note though that “chasing” is different from pushing your envelope. Pushing the envelope is trying to see how fast you can perform – chasing is when you’re trying to force something that isn’t going to happen.
So, thoughts? Can you practice too much? Can practice become detrimental if done past certain physical limits?
Interview with Cam Edwards
You can download an .mp3 of last night’s NRA News broadcast where I talk to Cam Edwards about the upcoming series premiere of Top Shot. The segment with me starts right at the 45 minute mark so you can skip right to it if you want; or you could also listen to the whole show since Cam is a great listen!