By Iain Harrison

There is so much that goes on behind the scenes when the filming an episode of Top Shot, such as obtaining experts to train the competitors. When Kelly was first approached by History to return as an expert on long range shooting, he naturally wanted to know what would be expected of him in order to put in the necessary research. Being the good engineering student that he is, his first order of business was to get some time behind an Accuracy International rifle, which meant a trip down from Seattle to see me. I’ve occasionally mentioned the unofficial TS alumni network—this was one of those instances where it came into play.

Running the given load data, elevation and environmental conditions through a ballistic calculator provided a range card out to the expected distance of 1,200 yards. It wasn’t until the day of the challenge that the producers casually announced that they’d moved the target out another 900 feet—no big deal, right? According to the charts, the bullet would enter the transonic zone about 50 yards from the target, which caused no small amount of trepidation in the experts. As any long range shooter will tell you, at this point in its trajectory there’s a good chance the projectile will tumble, which makes connecting with the target a crapshoot. Before the competitors got to shoot the AWM, George lined up the sights and with Kelly calling wind, center punched the bull, producing a 4-inch group.

The day after the elimination challenge is when all the high speed footage is shot. When Kelly and George were setting up for the cameras, one of the head honchos from the production company paid them a visit and bet them that their previous performance was a fluke. He lost a C note on that bet.

Of course, Augie Malkovich had his opportunity to shine with the big gun, landing his kill shot in 38 seconds. The shooter who showed the biggest contrast from their practice performance was Gabby, who had been consistent right from episode 1. This was a cruel illustration that it all comes down to how you shoot on that day, at that time, and that it’s a whole different game when shooting past 1,000 yards.

Now that the competition is down to the individual stage, all the information the shooters have gleaned about their teammates and rivals comes into play—as well as the political blowback from previous decisions. William discovered this to his detriment when first and Chris and then Greg shot his target at the elimination range, sending him up to fight for his place with the Henry repeating rifle. If Chris had repeated what he’d done on the first target of the elimination challenge, he would have ended the competition early. He sent a bullet into the splash plate in front of the target array resulting in two steel rings going down—a risky strategy, but I can’t say it’s one I’ve never used.

Gabby fans (and I count myself in those ranks) can catch up with her at the NRA Annual Meetings in St. Louis this weekend, together with George Reinas, Chris Reed and Greg Littlejohn, as well as my good friend Chris Cerino. Stop by if you get the chance.