The opportunities to practice shooting two revolvers at once are few and far between. Competitions that require participants to engage their targets upside down after going through the equivalent of permanent press cycle can be counted on the fingers of a boxing glove, which kind of gets to the crux of the whole Top Shot philosophy. This isn't about excelling at one particular facet of the shooting sports. It's all about survival. It's about getting through the competitions where you're weakest in order to make it to the point where you can send the other guy home, be it in the first episode or the last. When the original 16 competitors were assembled in an L.A. hotel the night before we headed off to the house, we were all ushered into a room and seated opposite roughly the same number of executives, producers and other powerbrokers. The head of the production company explained in a torrent of expletives that this wasn't going to be like any competition any of us had been in before. It took most of us a while to adjust to the idea, but he was right.

Last night again saw Brian Zins demonstrate during red team practice just why he's the guy to beat when it comes to precision shots with a handgun. It seemed like he elbowed the expert out of the way in order to impart the knowledge gained in 10 NRA Championship wins and you really can't argue with success. It came as no surprise as, yet again, he was sidelined during the team challenge by the blues, though they'll have to pick someone else to sit out next week.

What the blue team hadn't counted on however, was the composure and accuracy of Joe Serafini, who aced his part of the challenge and set the stage for red team to once again dominate, sending the four remaining blue team members to the elimination range. With only a handful of members left, the blues are running out of options when it comes to deciding who to dispatch, though Ashley saved his team one tough call by putting himself forward. It seemed as though the red team antipathy toward Jamie was more muted in this episode, though I have a feeling that was as a result of editing rather than actuality.

As the expert in the elimination challenge, Taran Butler got to demonstrate the versatility that has gained him notoriety on the national 3-gun circuit. Although known more for running a shotgun or AR-15 at phenomenal speed, he coached the two competitors to master a completely alien skill with a revolver and showed that, no matter what the situation, the fundamentals of sight alignment and trigger control can never be ignored. Next week sees the competitors go back to everyone's favorite rimfire and with just about every competitor owning a 10/22, the playing field will be as level as it's ever been.