Cable Gun Shows - Which is the worst?

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Five minutes of viewing these above mentioned so-called reality gun-related shows was more than enough to force a channel change. Never to return.

But there was a glimmer of something rare:
A few months ago I caught a show about gun collections and auctions. A rare Winchester was featured but turned out to be a very well done copy of the real thing. This was determined by minute examination of historical records and the Winchester.

No hammy drama, no vulgar words that needed bleeping, good informative conversation, no overboard thumping soundtrack, beautiful firearms, and nothing fake.

I wish I could remember the name of the show.
 
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I have often wondered if these "reality" gun shows are a staged attempt to persuade the vast cross-section of America that gun control is necessary, considering who they show owning and using guns.
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I wouldn't go that far. These kinds of reality shows often have the same fake drama, staged scenarios and the like, and they try to make the masses watch by tricking them into thinking they're seeing something new by simply changing the setting, people get tired of a show about a custom bike shop, make the same show but set in a gun shop, or a pawn shop, so on and so forth.

I would say the worst negative effect of shows like SOG or AG on the public is that it creates the impression that guns are something prohibitively expensive to get into. In either show, you rarely (perhaps never) see any average gun customers with typical real-world needs and preferences, you always see these over-the-top people making bizarre demands and being able to pay ludicrous amounts of money to get what they want.

For instance, in an SOG episode, a lady walks in with a Desert Eagle she was given as a gift, complaining it was too difficult for her to shoot; they have her spend thousands of dollars on an idiotic custom buttstock, and have her go through the hassle of the NFA process when any sensible store would have recommended simply adding a compensator or simpler still, trading it in for a more sensible pistol.

Where are the people who come in and say "I am looking for a good home defense gun, but only have $200 to spend?" and so on.

On AG, some cowboy action shooting enthusiast walks in, and is willing/able to drop $15,000 or some amount like that, to have them build a revolver from scratch, suggesting to an audience that mostly may not know any better, that CAS is obscenely expensive to get into.
 
I occasionally watch a few of the shows mentioned. True, maybe a little too much drama but overall, they are for entertainment. Doomsday Preppers does make that movement out to be a little crazy. But the daughter on American Guns...nice.
 
After reading this thread a while back I wrote these shows off. Tonight American Guns was on and I could see the bs. That guy charged some dude $7000 for an S&W Governor with a trigger job, and a Mossberg MVP that they tricked out a little bit. Add a little engraving, some explosions at transfer time and a sucker is born. What a joke of a show on all counts.
 
Baddarryl
Watching that ep now on DVR. Think that guys friends in fla will be laughing their butts off at him.
Why was Rich so adamant on the need for accuracy? Most gator shots are within 7 yards. Think even an intoxicated machinist at Taurus could make a gun accurate enough for a head shot.

As for the governor, I remember a hickok45 review with the judge, the .410 had issues going through AC ducting. What's it gonna do to a gator, at best make it bleed a bit?
 
Although not technically a "gun show," PAWN STARS often shows and details some fascinating firearms.

SONS OF GUNS is the worst. I've watched two episodes - that was enough.

American Guns only has one asset going for it...maybe two.:D
 
All that dumb drama... Because none of the viewers have drama in their lives... Drama is only in fictional stories, right?:rolleyes: Watch it for the guns because that is what you are interested in. Ignore the drama if you are not interested in that part.

You have no problem ignoring the Spanish you don't understand or anything else that is happening on the show when flipping through the channels and you hit the Spanish station and see hot chicks wearing next to nothing dancing around. But that represents real life in your house right? So it is OK to partake in that and not think afterward, "what was with all the drama, sheesh"?
 
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Worst?

Dunno ....... Top Shot is the only TV show I have seen in the last 4 or 5 years...... spend what little time I spend in front of a screen here or at NFOA.....

Top Shot is good- it would be better without the drama ..... just do the competitions.
 
Gun Shows

You have to remember, half of the people watching these shows know nothing about weapons. They just like reality shows. How many people watching "Ice Road Trucker" can drive a semi. It's just escapism for them. Letting their minds go blank after a hard day. Plus, realize too, they,ve got thousands of dollars backing them up. So when a guy drills a barrel wrong and then just trashes it, well I cringe and think how many of my pay checks did that guy just trash? Escapism and mind candy.
 
TV Show American Guns

Anyway, did you see the recent show where they built that sharpshooter 13 year old boy a custom, stainless, engraved, short-throw 1873 Winchester from scratch? For $18,000!!! And some of those other concoctions they build are pretty strange too.

Gunsmoke Guns is the Denver, Colorado custom gun shop and store.
 
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Got no use for a guy who pimps his wife and daughter to get viewers for his show.

His gun builds are idiotic, prices are way out of line.
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

The show, just like nearly everything else on Discovery today, is little more than a scripted drama disguised as a reality show about a gunshop. The customers aren't real, the deals aren't real, and the prices don't even attempt to reflect reality. Sons of Guns is exactly the same way.
 
I agree the prices are over the top but he doesnt force people to buy them. A gun is worth whatever someone is willing to pay. He built a man a 1866 yellowboy that was a beautiful rifle. The kids seem to be catching on to the business and are making money. I think a couple of the gunsmiths are dolts but thats just one mans opinion. I like watching just to see the cool guns.
 
He's on TV and making his business grow as the result. That's America, folks.

Do I cringe when I see one of his people holding a barrelled action with his hand over the action when proof testing? You bet! Do I call his people idiots when they miss a very basic situation in building a gun? Absolutely! Do I think the fireworks at the end of the build crazy and grandstanding? Yes, and fear that kids are going to try that and get hurt!

Are his prices high? Some are crazy high, some are more reasonable, but nobody's holding a gun to those peoples' heads to get them to buy. If they're actors, that's fine. I wouldn't want to be on the show if I bought some of those weird guns or special weapons. A person needs his/her privacy, especially when it comes to guns and other valuables!!

So, the bottom line is watch it or not. As a self-taught gunsmith-type, I really enjoy it, laugh at it, amazed by the machinery capabilities. I wouldn't put all the gunsmithing goofs his guys make on TV, since it doesn't do much for buyer confidence.
 
Charging someone seven grand for a Governor and a Mossberg bolt action should be criminal.
The buyer wasn't really that stupid, was he?
 
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