The Gun Counter

Anybody watch the first episode of Full Metal Jousting on History channel? I just caught it on HC's video, pretty cool IMO. Prolly has a higher testosterone quotient than Top Shot, and all the beefcake (and horseys) will doubtless appeal to the ladies. You can watch it here if you have an interest:

http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal ... reme-sport

And now, Top Shot... I enjoyed it. No drama queens, not yet, anyway. There was an elimination immediately upon starting the show, getting rid of the two worst shots with an M14. Gabby, the tiny Venezualan lady (and member of the national shooting team), appeared to be hyperventilating during the opening, but she shot her way onto the red team. A Ruger Vaquero and M1 carbine were also used in the course of the show. The elimination involved shooting the carbine from a motorcycle sidecar.

http://www.history.com/shows/top-shot/v ... ng-bullets

What did you think of the FMJ? Was it something you might like to try?

308Mike wrote:What did you think of the FMJ? Was it something you might like to try?

LOL Oh, maybe if I was twenty or thirty years younger... from some of the stuff they've shown in just the first episode, it looks like serious bodily injury is quite possible and likely. They make an interesting point in the show, that some people are doing "theatrical" jousting nowadays, at dinner theaters and such. On the other hand, this is, as the name implies, full on jousting, no punches pulled. The contestants are an interesting mix of rodeo cowboys, ex-military, macho men and such. During one practice session, one of the biggest, baddest looking dudes on the show got knocked on his ass by the smallest guy on the show. Keep in mind that the impetus of 2,000+lbs of horse and rider are being transmitted through the lance if a solid hit is made.

There was a time when History was the History Channel and had shows representing that.

That being said I do like Pawn Stars on occasion.

SA

Darrell wrote:Keep in mind that the impetus of 2,000+lbs of horse and rider are being transmitted through the lance if a solid hit is made.

Not only that, but if you don't want to get knocked off your own horse when contact is made, you need to keep your own body sufficiently stiffened-up/upright to hold your own lance - hence, you can't be too relaxed or you will fall off your horse with all that extra weight.

Do they explain why these guys aren't using shields?

Did they use shields in olden days? They say that the modern armor used on the show is based on design principles used in armor hundreds of years ago, but with modern materials. You can read more here:

http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal ... nteractive

And here:

http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal ... f-jousting

Here is more on modern, full contact jousting, and a short bio of the head guy on the show:

http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal ... t-jousting

And yet more on the history of jousting at wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jousting

To answer your original question, I don't know for sure. Searching for images of historical jousting, a sort of shield with a cutout for the lance to pass close by the jouster's side, and encircling the torso is shown in some pics. Maybe the show's producers thought more gore would happen without shields. Looking here, some modern jousters do appear to use shields:

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&h ... 62l3.3l6l0

On the show, instead of a shield, they aim at what's called the grand guard, a one foot square plate mounted on the jouster's left shoulder armor. That's the only scoring area on the body. Not to say that people don't get hit elsewhere... one guy on the first episode got a lance right in the crotch.

Finally, and interestingly, somewhere in all the mess above is mentioned that the term freelancer referred to a jouster who had no liege lord, who was a "free lancer". The term survives to this day, of course.

Darrell wrote:And now, Top Shot... I enjoyed it. No drama queens, not yet, anyway. There was an elimination immediately upon starting the show, getting rid of the two worst shots with an M14. Gabby, the tiny Venezualan lady (and member of the national shooting team), appeared to be hyperventilating during the opening, but she shot her way onto the red team. A Ruger Vaquero and M1 carbine were also used in the course of the show. The elimination involved shooting the carbine from a motorcycle sidecar.

Right now there are still too many competitors for any one person to really stand out in any way at all (except perhaps for the chick with the huge.... talent ). Based on this first episode though it looks like it could be a good season. It warms the cockles of my heart to see so many gun based shows in popular entertainment, even if most of them are reality.

I haven't quite worked up the desire to watch it yet, but are they using balsa lances, like in those dinner-theatre places?