Whew! Just got home from a week filming my segments for next season’s Personal Defense TV show. PDTV was the brainchild of outdoor sports authority and gun owners’ rights advocate Tom Gresham, who is the host and director of the program. Those who appear on each show are Clint Smith at Thunder Ranch in Oregon, the Gunsite crew in Arizona (both filmed on location at those excellent training facilities), and me. New regulars on the upcoming fourth season will include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor George Wehby, firearms instructor Tiger McKee, and to add a female-oriented element I find most welcome, Il Ling New from Gunsite.
Each season we’ve filmed my segment at a different venue: Gunsite the first season, my police department the second, and PASA Park in Illinois last year. This time around, we used the Del-Tone/Luth Gun Club range on the edge of St. Cloud, Minnesota, the home of some of the best three-gun practical competitions in the country, lots of traditional trapshooting, and most recently a “zombie shoot.” (Yes, you heard me.) Owner Randy Luth, founder of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of AR15 rifles, DPMS, was a wonderful host for the PDTV crew, and the same was true of his staff.
I got to shoot cool guns. Yep, all made by the show’s sponsors, but fortunately, we have sponsors who make good stuff. Ruger’s P345 auto pistol, and their new little LCR .38 revolver. The new subcompact 1911 .45 from Smith & Wesson, and the same company’s Model 686 service revolver. XD45, the new XD(M)9, and match grade TGO-II 1911 .45 from Springfield Armory. A snub-nose Tracker .45 revolver and a .410 Judge wheel-gun from Taurus. Had occasion to shoot while vertical, and while horizontal; left-hand and right-hand, and then doing it again for slo-mo shots on high-speed camera, close-ups, different angles, and all of that. Even sacrificed what little dignity I have left by demonstrating what to do when you’re legally carrying a concealed handgun in public, and have to drop your drawers in a public rest room.
The first couple of years, Personal Defense TV was one of the two most-watched gun shows on the Outdoor Channel, and some weeks, the most watched. Viewer feedback tells me it still has a very healthy audience, but since the group that owns the production company bought The Sportsman’s Channel, we went to that last year, and it’s not Nielsen-rated, so I don’t know the current numbers.
The season we were shooting for last week will begin to air next October. You can get it on cable via Sportsman Channel, or for a small fee can download it real time at www.sportsmanchannel.com. That website will also tell you more about the show, other cable networks where you can find it, etc. There are also DVDs of past seasons available.
If you get a chance to watch it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we all enjoy putting it together for you. Meanwhile, a Google search should find where you can listen to Tom Gresham’s great radio show “GunTalk” every week. It’s downloadable to iPod in podcast form, and is one of my favorites.
Setting up to film “the New York Reload,” live fire. Hay bales are to catch an empty handgun that will have to be dropped. Blade-Tech holster contains Springfield TGO-II .45 auto pistol.
Erik Fleischhacker lines up Camera 2 on Mas before filming demo of defensive shooting technique.
From left, host and star Tom Gresham, Mas, and lead cameraman Mark Ambroz review last scene in-camera as producer Scott Mayer takes notes on elapsed time. Revolver in Blade-Tech holster is S&W Model 686 .357 Magnum. All filming is done with live ammo, sometimes with remote-control cameras downrange.
Sounds great, sure enjoyed past seasons. Learned a lot.
Finally, an answer is on the way on how to use a public bathroom whily carrying.
That was the one thing I have always wished you had included in the Gun Digest book of concealed carry.
Jim from Detroit,
We had a useful discussion on this topic in the ProArms section of the Gun Rights Radio Forum. Go to http://gunrightsradio.com, scroll down to the ProArms section, and you’ll find the “rest room” topic at the bottom of page 2 or perhaps by now the top of page 3.
GRRN Forum is free to join, and there’s lots of good info there. I personally listen to all the different podcasts. They’ve pretty much replaced the books on tape that used to be my companions on long drives.
best,
Mas
Thanks, Mas. I’ll be sure to check that out.
On a completely unrelated (and wildly off topic) sidenote I’m curious about your opinion as an LEO of the SCOTUS decision this week in Montejo v. Louisiana.
Jim, I don’t see anything wrong with the decision. It looks to me as if Montejo made the conscious decision to cooperate after invoking right to counsel. He has the right to do that, too.
best,
Mas
I loved listening to Tom’s show Gun Talk on XM radio before they dropped it. He also has some great instructional video’s on Guntalk TV. Love my Ruger P345 as well, my daily carry.
How did you like the Taurus ‘Judge,’ seems too much like a novelty thing to me
Can you guys get the show on Netflix’s “Watch It Now” service?
🙂
NUGUN, I don’t see it listed on Netflix. However you can download it for a small fee and watch it real time (i.e., when it’s scheduled in TV Guide) on home computer.
Tom, I think the Judge is a fun gun but for serious self-defense, I’d look on other pages of the Taurus catalog. Their PT1911 pistols are working great and are a good buy. I’m partial to the little Tracker 5-shot snub-nose revolver in .45 ACP that was also used for one of the new episodes.
PDTV is a great show…Mas often has the best segments, though they’re quick, they’re jam packed
I really love this show. I own seasons one and two, will soon own three, and can’t wait to see four. Keep up the great work.
“Tom, I think the Judge is a fun gun but for serious self-defense, I’d look on other pages of the Taurus catalog. Their PT1911 pistols are working great and are a good buy. I’m partial to the little Tracker 5-shot snub-nose revolver in .45 ACP that was also used for one of the new episodes.”
Mas,
My “better half” and I are the last people in America without cable TV and we are still on dial-up for the home computer. So, as you may surmise, we don’t watch much on the Tube.
I hope I get the chance to see your series on the Tube one of these days, as I’m sure I would learn something and enjoy it too. Finding something to enjoy on television is getting harder and harder for me these days. Mostly we watch PBS shows.
There is a reason I quoted your response in regards to the Judge. That is, if you ever hear of anyone wanting to sell what I consider the ultimate defensive revolver I would like to get a chance to buy it. As you know, I had one, but had to sell it to pay bills years ago.
I am of course referring the the Ayoob/Cannon Street L. Take care and stay safe.
Biker
Mas, I think I’ll stick with my Ruger P345… LOL Have a 1911, stainless Charles Daly. it’s nice but heavy. Considering a new lightweight Kimber though, 25 oz for a 1911 sub compact, that’s light.
I have a Mosin Nagant and a AR that are my “fun guns.”
Mas, Thanks for supporting PDTV. I really enjoy all the presenters, but most of all your pieces. I always come away from the show thinking about something in a different way.
Too all on the PDTV production team keep up the great work!