Top Shot

[Hobie1]

You know, when I watched Top Shot tonight, they were using a Barrett .50, they were supposedly shooting a mile. I saw BS. Their targets were probably only 3-400 yds. away.
I have no interest in a show that skews info to promote their own interest.
I'm checking out "Honey Boo Boo" as a reality show......

 

[rwsmith]

I like the guns and the shooting...

... and the rest of it can go hang.

And you right there is no telling what kind of camera angles/focal lengths, juxtaposition, etc. they used to put it on the TV.

 

[jmg1911]

I did not see the show, But . . .
It is impossible to establish the distance to an object in a photograph unless you know the focal length of the lens and the dimensions of the film or sensor. One can change the apparent size of the moon, or instance by changing the focal length of the lens and then moving the camera forward or back to include the desired foreground. Some of those movie and TV cameras mount some veeery long lenses.

 

[seagill]

Considering it took 3 seconds for the bullet to reach the target, I'd guess it was a tad farther than 300 yds.

 

[accessbob]

You know, when I watched Top Shot tonight, they were using a Barrett .50, they were supposedly shooting a mile. I saw BS. Their targets were probably only 3-400 yds. away.
I have no interest in a show that skews info to promote their own interest.
I'm checking out "Honey Boo Boo" as a reality show......

I think you're wrong but that's my opinion just like your opinion is that they faked it.

 

[Mcwsky09]

Not a Barrett .50 - a Barrett MRAD chambered in .338 Lapua - practice was at 1000 yards and the challenge was at 1 mile according to the commentary during the show.

At 3,000 feet per second (.338 Lapua Magnum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) a 3 second travel is 9,000 feet - and a mile is only 5,280 feet - of course the bullet would slow down over time maybe only traveling less than 1000 feet/sec at the end of 3 seconds so 5000 feet in 3 seconds sounds entirely possible.

 

[kraigwy]

I agree the show has way too much drama, (like most reality shows, all drama) and I don't know about what cameras do.

But having said that, the time of flight would make me think it was a mile. I don't shoot a 338 L but do shoot a 300 WM at long range. My 190 gr bullet @3000 fps would have a hair over 3 seconds time of flight to get to a mile.

Watching the show, I heard on guy say, "it took so long for the bullet to get there I thought I missed." Been there, 3 seconds seems like a life time between pulling the trigger and waiting for the impact.

 

[JJEH]

I like the challenges, but dislike the drama.

 

[427mach1]

All drama aside, how many of us would LOVE to be on the show just to try some of the challenges they perform? They look like a lot of fun!

 

[vigil617]

I caught Top Shot last night for the first time in a while, and was surprised at how much of the show was the shooting, and how there really wasn't any of the drama that I remembered from the shows before. Maybe the producers have taken a hint from the "reality show drama" criticism, and focused on what most of the viewers want to watch: interesting weapons, talented shooters, and lead flying downrange. I enjoyed it.

By the way: the Barrett MRAD is "Multi-Role Adaptive Design". Had to look that one up, that's for sure.

 

[Straightshooter2]

The distance a camera is from the subject, in this case the target at a mile, determines how "compressed" everything appears. "Perspective compression" which is also called "telephoto compression" makes objects at a distance seem closer together and closer to the camera than they really are. Using a very long telephoto, a mile could easily appear to be about 1500 feet.

CW

 

[sigp220.45]

Poor Top Shot just can't win with some folks.

All the "drama" that gave manly-men a case of the vapors has been removed - no more nomination range and very little interaction in the house.

Some of the camera angles and shots are recreated, but I doubt they outright faked the mile long shot.

I'm glad there is a show that is entertaining and portrays shooting sports in a positive light.

 

[pineappleshooter]

I caught Top Shot last night for the first time in a while, and was surprised at how much of the show was the shooting, and how there really wasn't any of the drama that I remembered from the shows before. Maybe the producers have taken a hint from the "reality show drama" criticism, and focused on what most of the viewers want to watch: interesting weapons, talented shooters, and lead flying downrange. I enjoyed it.

By the way: the Barrett MRAD is "Multi-Role Adaptive Design". Had to look that one up, that's for sure.

They have eliminated the drama this season. All the participants are former competitors from previous seasons. There are no teams this year. They have a shooting challenge and the bottom however many shoot off to see who the bottom two or three are and they then go to an elimination range and the loser goes home - no voting, no alliances, no deciding who goes to elimination. Way more fun to watch than previous seasons. The participants all cheer each other on and congratulate each other on good shooting or console each other on bad shooting. Haven't had to fast forward through much this season.

 

[Dave from Pa]

As a long range shooter l question the fairness to the last shooter.lt appeared they fired one after the other,over 40 rounds were fired before the last shooter.What really makes me cringe is the proliferation of bottles they shoot making it appear its the only target worth shooting. I maintain our club range,shooting any type of glass will guarantee you an escort from the range.

 

[Tom K]

....What really makes me cringe is the proliferation of bottles they shoot making it appear its the only target worth shooting. I maintain our club range,shooting any type of glass will guarantee you an escort from the range.

The range I belong to has a separate plinking range, specifically for such targets. The sign at it reads, "Any target, any gun". There are a few exceptions such as phone books - too much paper mess. But as long as you're willing to pick up your trash you can shoot pretty much whatever you want. My favorite is one-gallon cans of white hominy corn and a .460 Weatherby.

 

[wbraswell]

If you watch baseball, the camera can make a batter look like he's 20 feet from the pitcher. I would imagine that the bottles are all made of hollywood glass, and not the real stuff.

 

[Hobie1]

Here's a Savage .338 Lapua Magnum shooting at a mile: Video: Target Shooting from a Mile Away with a .338 Savage Arms BA110 | OutdoorHub
I like the show and they have pros shooting like I'll never come close to in my abilities.
Edited because my math sucks.

 

[Nframecollector]

It was a 338 Lapua.

 

[Hobie1]

Got it, read my follow up.