I happened onto the season opener for American Guns last night [clicking link autoplays episode]. I must admit I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the show before now, despite the obvious attraction of watching the long-necked Paige Wyatt do just about anything wearing just about nothing. Last night’s episode should have featured Ms. Wyatt praying for forgiveness for her father. Charging a combat vet $3500 for a custom 1911 that doesn’t say Bill, Ed, Les, Cabot or Nighthawk somewhere on the slide—and then telling him you’ve given him suchadeal and thank you for your service—is a bit of cheek. Assuming (as we mustn’t) that the said soldier actually paid one thin dime for the gun. Worse: Paige Wyatt, whose gunsmithing experience is limited to carefully coordinated on-camera cameos, painted the pistol. I know what you’re thinking: she can paint my pistol any time. Maybe I’m showing my age and/or financial situation, but not for three grand she can’t. YMMV. In your dreams.

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83 COMMENTS

  1. I will just say this about that show; The father should be ashamed for marketing his OWN daughter as a sex symbol on his pathetic show. Add fact that he seems to encourage the skimpy outfits she wears and it speaks volumes on the moral compass of his character. He is not a father, he is a pathetic pimp selling substandard weapons and selling out his family at the same time.

    • Truth. That D-bag should be ashamed of himself on more levels than I’m gonna bother getting into here.

      • I met the guy while visiting his shop. I was actually very impressed with the politeness and helpfulness of the entire staff. He talked to my fiancee and I for about 8 minutes on a busy day in his shop. I can’t afford to buy any of his custom guns, so I can’t personally speak on workmanship, but he didn’t come off as he does in the show, in fact I thought he was one of the more pleasant proprietors I have met. Do either of you know him or have you handled any of his weapons personally to make the judgments you just have? Just curious. I may not agree with him about how his daughter is presented on the show, but that said, almost everyone I have seen on his show was present and working hard at the shop during my visit.

        • For him to charge what he does, he ought to have the re-animated corpse of John Moses Browning himself running that CNC mill.

        • It’s not his REAL daughter and . . . And what a real story there is if you really want to know more ! ! – The mother is WACKED – and he’s bad – But if they need you for something watch that phony sweet, put my boobs (fake) in your face LOL – Look harder, really not much to look at Proof that money doesn’t buy class

    • The father should be ashamed for marketing his OWN daughter as a sex symbol on his pathetic show.

      Show me a father that can effectively police what his teenage daughter wears, especially when in the public eye, and I’ll show you a cult member. Also, have a nice bridge for sale off Manhattan. Lightly used.

      Gunsmoke actually makes firearms out of blocks of metal with some regularity. Isn’t that the sort of thing all the longbeards were clamoring for from a gun-centric reality show?

      • It has nothing to do with a cult or buying a bridge. Its about self image and modesty. Most people with confidence and self respect do not see the need to dress like some street walker. If the parents can’t instill these tenets in their children then its their own fault. People who dress provocatively are trying to deflect from their other issues.

        • Welcome to the 21st century, we’re happy to have you. There are a few changes, some of which you may not be comfortable with. You may have noticed nobody consulted you, but that’s because people don’t honestly care what your opinion is.

          Girls don’t put as many clothes on as they used to.
          Things cost more than they used to.
          You can’t work on new cars anymore.

          We’re sorry for any inconvenience this will cause you, but hope that the major issue of what other people wear doesn’t cause you too much distress.

          • Its called higher moral imperative. Sorry if my standards are far above those you are used\exposed to and honestly if people don’t care about my opinions the adverse regarding your opinion must also be true Vis-à-vis.

            • Sorry, but there is nothing immoral about wearing less clothing. Or are you next going to go on a rant about how the tribes in the Amazon rainforest are immoral and godless because they don’t fully cover their body from head to toe?

              Your “standards” have nothing to do with right or wrong and everything to do with control. Congratulations, you’re making arguments like a gun grabber!

              • Per the bible: “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” and also “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” By the by calling other names or implying them weakens your argument. This is called black and white thinking and it is a logical fallacy that only two options exists in any argument (IE either I agree with you or I am a gun grabber).

              • There are many guidelines in the bible. I’m positive you don’t follow them all.

                I suggest an excellent book, Ethics Without God by Kai Nielsen. It explains how the world wouldn’t fall apart without organized religion.

              • I never said you were a gun grabber. I said you were ARGUING like one, because you’re making absurd claims without any reasoning behind them.

                Just because your favorite work of fiction tells you that women are evil doesn’t make it so. That’s one of the things that hinders gun rights – the fact that there are too many bible thumping lunatics who own guns and cannot resist the urge to try to force their delusions on others.

                People like you are why I hope that I’ll live to see the day when adults believing in an imaginary friend with magical powers who controls everything will be classified as mentally unfit. If you lack the basic reasoning skills to understand that magic isn’t real, then you sure as hell aren’t fit to make major life decisions.

            • Actually, superficial appearance is as far from an indication of moral character as you can get.

        • If the parents can’t instill these tenets in their children then its their own fault.

          Okay, so we have a daughter being brought up by a family who has:

          1) Taught her the benefits of working for a living, and performance-based incentives.

          2) Taught her safe handling of firearms to the point she wears a cocked and locked 1911.

          3) By every indication on a reality show raised a well rounded, ambitious, personable young lady.

          And yet somehow they’re doing something wrong? Give me a break. If only more children were reared with such values.

        • I heard there were some good ole boys back east callin themselves Teyliban done right coverin up their womenfolk. Seems like they gets it straight that it’s the exposed woman that causes sin. Any man that gets bad thoughts ain’t guilty of nothing. It’s always the woman who initiates sin with their immodest dress… mmasse – is you living in a free country, or does a burka sound modest enough? You’ll be surprised what religious conservatives all around the world, and of different religions, can label as “street walker” attire.

        • People with confidence and self-respect don’t need to go begging for your approval for what they wear, Mr Taliban.

    • It is not his daughter…they are both step children to Rich. Their real father lives somewhere in the Northeast. However, with that being said I believe Rich has raised them since they were quite little, but he’s still not the real father. This was a topic of conversation on some other gun board last year and after some looking sure enough they are step kids. So, I guess if there is any exploitation going on it is technically by the mother.

    • You mean the one with the weirdly shaped face and the gut hanging over the front of her jeans? Yea, I’d take the mom over her too – despite the wrinkles and the bad boob job.

      • I’d argue about the “gut” label. I’ve seen a couple episodes and a little butterfat on a gal’s tummy, like the Mom, never hurt anybody. In case my credentials are in question, I’m a man of shall we say ‘expanded’ standards and know the difference between a tummy and gut.

        • I’m talking about what’s her name on Sons of Guns, where her stomach sags over her jeans like a drunken hillbilly.

  3. I watched a portion of that show last night. Overall I think its pretty lame, but there are moments that I find interesting. The obligatory explosions seem rather condescending – it’s as if Hollywood thinks that all of us out in TV land need to see some get blown up in order to keep our attention.

    There was a Preacher who bought a $10,000 hand made Peacemaker which was supposed to be “timed” for racing / competition shooting. I honestly don’t know a lot about $10,000 custom pistols, but it strikes me as odd that someone would not just start with a $1200 modern-production Colt and then customize that, rather than CNC machine the frame and other major parts out of a block of steel. Is there any reason why that could not get you to the same end product?

    • And that is my biggest complaint with the show. They MASSIVELY overcharge on their custom guns. Looking at their website, they have extremely good prices on making improvements to an existing gun. However, some of the “custom build” projects they show (such as making a cannon) just do NOT meet what I would call a basic standard of quality for the price that they charge. Do the things function? Yes, but they look like something a 10 year old threw together in a garage.

  4. Well, the outfit she wore on last night’s episode was pretty demure(for her). Just skinny jeans, Ugg boots, and a tight top. Earlier eps had her in tanks and tiny shorts.

    But the show SUCKS. The father is such a ridiculous douchebag, and seems proud that he screws people over, both on the buying AND selling. Really, 10 grand for the “punt gun” they made? REALLY? For a length of stainless pipe, a plumbing cap, a stock hacked out of a fencepost(and not even finished well), and a tacky paint job(with car paint—how long will that last before it’s chipped to hell)?

    The show with the crazy Cajuns who make AKs is better, and it sucks too.

    The 1911 he made? Meh, OK, so you CNC’d the slide and had your kid do a minimal amount of engraving and customizing. THREE GRAND? No, sir.

    • AMEN on the punt gun comment! $10,000 for a piece of drill stem and a fence post, assembled with a lockwork and some paint. Literally.

  6. She’s fun to watch yet if I met her in person I’d probably get bored with her after a few minutes.

    • Yup. I was at a NRA banquet in March that the family attended. The mother and daughter are *way* too fake-tanned and plasticy. I was in line behind the mom at the bar and with the outfit she was wearing you could tell that not only were her .45s “augmented” but that she had and inny and not an outy. The daughter was dressed much the same. With that in mind, the dad seemed fairly cool and bid on a custom 1911 .45 (which he won for $3700) and then he donated it right back to be auctioned again.

  7. She’s fun to watch yet if I met her in person, I’d probably get bored with her after a few minutes. I think both of her parents have crossed the line with letting their underage daughter play the sexpot.

    • Maybe so, but, remember when ya go to the beach, a couple band aids and a cork is about all a girl wears , and gets po’d if ya look or whistle at them, but if ya go to walmart, their shorts are up in a crack and their boobs are bouncing out on top an she’ll only be 13 or 14! Kids don’t have clothing morals anymore, ck all them guts hanging out over the shorts and the shame of it, they think they are cute and pretty, geeeeeesch! Yuk!

  8. And that was the (more) honest deal. I can’t believed the charged the guy $10K for 8 feet of schedule 40 and a bedpost. I sure hope they threw in the 4-wheeler on that deal.

  9. Dunno anything about their guns, but “she” looks like a 13 year-old in drag.
    Keep it away from me.

  11. Don’t forget Mom (Renee), she will feel left out after all that expensive cosmetic surgery.

  12. At least this show is better than Sons of Guns on many levels. I like to see how they actually go about making and modifying firearms, not just watch a drama reality show that happens to have guns in it. This show does a decent job of putting some actual gun manufacuring knowledge peppered in.

  14. Whoa. Y’all need to take a deep breath and remind yourselves that it’s just a TV show, and completely scripted one at that. And it’s helping to make firearms more acceptible in the USA. On top of which, Rich Wyatt is one of only five people with the Master Trainer title bestowed upon him by none other than your personal demigod, all rise Jeff Cooper be seated, he of the four rules. Wyatt trained and taught at Gunsite when it was run by all rise Jeff Cooper be seated. Such being the case, I’m assuming that Rich Wyatt might actually know something about guns.

    • Agreed. These guys are presenting guns in a positive light.

      I hate reality TV shows with a burning passion, and I’ve never watched this one, but I know my girlfriend likes this show. Anything that makes her want to go to the range and shot stuff is fine by me.

    • So better to have Jerry Springer represent firearms owners than say Carl Sagan. I am sorry but I call BS, I would rather have firearms still in the closet than to have someone flashing body parts on TV while wielding a pistol all in the name to raise firearm “coolness”. Bad TV is still bad TV and having those people “represent” the gun community at large is a bad idea.

      • I must have missed the “flashing body parts” episode. Maybe you’re seeing what you want to see.

      • “I would rather have firearms still in the closet than to have someone flashing body parts on TV while wielding a pistol”
        —–
        Speaking of in the closet…

      • Com on! Will you seriously give it a rest? We get it, you think women should be covered from head to toe and wear veils so that their “evilness” will not cause you to think sexual thoughts. Gouge your own eyes out already (per your instructions in the Bible – which you must have memorized with the way you’re preaching) and quit whining.

          • How have you supported a single argument? All you’ve done is foam at the mouth about “them tharr evil harlots!” It’s not the 6th century anymore. Grow up and deal with it. There is nothing immoral about skin – or are you claiming that your almighty God screwed up when he gave humans skin?

            • Totenglocke, I’m sure he’d be much happier if Paige was dressed in a burqa, instead of what every other high school girl was wearing.

              • I’m sure he would. He’d probably be even happier if she was flogged every day and didn’t have the right to vote or get a job.

  15. I go hot and cold on Rich. I took my CCW class from him, and it was well organized and presented. He also brought in an attorney to discuss the legal issues, along with the moral ones of DGU. I’ll agree that in person he’s much less obnoxious than on the show, but again it’s just a TV show with the producers egging them on to make things more interesting.

    That being said, even on stock iron from major manufacturers, their prices do tend to be on the high side. They have some really interesting inventory, though.

  16. Charging a combat vet $3500 for a custom 1911 that doesn’t say Bill, Ed, Les, Cabot or Nighthawk somewhere on the slide…

    At least the fellow got several thousand’s worth of entertainment shooting with the Navy SEAL, the helicopter, the exploding targets, etc. Nothing like that has ever happened for me after buying a pistol… ;->

    That punt gun did seem a bit over priced (unless he also got to keep the off road vehicle it was mounted on).

  17. does seem a bit steep of a price…

    the engraving was nice, but for 3 grand?!?

    bring the price down by 2 1/2 g. and I’ll consider buying a 1911.

  18. despite the obvious attraction of watching the long-necked Paige Wyatt do just about anything wearing just about nothing

    If you’re looking at her neck, you’re doing it wrong! 🙂

  19. OK we all know she is marginaly attractive. Not overly educated unless you talk about cosmetics. All in all she and mama combined have the IQ of a used haloween
    pumpkin.

    • I’m sorry, you must be new to the human race. Intelligence isn’t necessary for an attractive woman to succeed in life.

    • Yup. For anyone who was thinking provocative thoughts about Paige you might want to hold off a little bit before thinking about her again. She’s only 17 (last I checked). That’s legal where I am but not for the most of the people who post here.

    • You keep using that word – I do not think it means what you think it means. A pedophile is someone who is attracted to pre-pubescent children. I don’t think there’s a person on the planet who would try to argue that Paige is pre-pubescent. The word you’re looking for is “ephebophile”, which means that while they’re under the arbitrarily assigned legal age of adulthood, their bodies are mature.

      Sorry, it just bugs the hell out of me that a few people with an agenda have taken something normal (being physically attracted to 16 year old girls) and convinced the majority that it’s in the same boat at something abnormal (being physically attracted to pre-pubescent children).

  21. I thought the first couple episodes were god awful, but I found myself being sucked in by the mini-marathon they ran yesterday. I realized the less they featured the mother and daughter, the more I enjoyed it. Overall, I prefer American Guns over Sons of Guns, the Gunsmoke guys at least know how to use their CNC.

  22. Getting back to the original topic, I’m just not used to seeing guns spray painted. Call me old school, but I’m used to blueing, or plating, not paint.

      • The whole “spray on/bake on” firearms finish came into popularity with camo pattern “tacti-cool” firearms. It’s so easy, even a klutz can get moderately successful results.

        Blueing takes some talent (for the polishing), and either patience (if you use Belgian, rapid rust or slow rust blueing) or lots of care and equipment (hot salts blueing). Plating takes either a power supply and time or some skill (electroless nickel). The central issue, tho, that is required with all of these techniques is that the firearms finisher be able to polish the firearm correctly.

        There have been times it has taken me 4 to 5 hours to polish out all the imperfections and pits from a 1911. This is all manual labor; you can accomplish only so much with machines like a surface grinder. The way you polish is with a hard object for a backing surface (eg, a hand file, or a flat-ground piece of steel) and polishing paper (grits from 240 up to about 400 for most blueing jobs). You have to attend to keeping the corners from rounding off, you need to polish lengthwise and you’re going to get dirty doing it.

        Duracoat? Spray it on as evenly as possible, let it dry for a bit, then bake it. Wha-la. Lots of surface imperfections are now completely hidden. Polish job? As long as the surface didn’t have scratches more than .003″ deep, the paint will likely cover the problems. On alloy and stainless firearms, it’s the finish of choice for the lazy, the impatient and the cheapskate.

      • I’m not impressed with Duracoat … Cerakote–which was used on the pistol in question–is another matter. Perhaps you should look into Cerakote; you might change your mind. Cerakote isn’t about making your gun look cool; it actually adds a degree of protection and lubricity that you cannot get from bluing or parkerizing.

        That said, I wouldn’t Cerakote a 1911 slide. Frame, okay; but I think melonite or chrome would be a better option for the slide (depending on the look you want). Which isn’t to say that a ceramic coating won’t work on the slide … I just don’t think it offers enoug upside unless the customer wants color.

  23. Why do you folks bother commenting on these shows? You know you’re wasting your time. They’re not going to change any of these shows, or the formula for these shows. You know the “drama” is hyped-up specious twaddle. You know the T&A is on there to attract eyeballs. You know the prices are out of line. You know much of the technology they’re hyping is nonsense.

    None of you are stupid people.

    Yet you keep watching this crap.

    I cannot withstand watching even the first two minutes of any of these “gun reality” shows. I just get bored as hell, get up and walk away. I’d rather tram in a Bridgeport 50 times, or file off an inch of 4140 2″ bar stock than watch any full episode of these shows.

  24. I just have to say that I, too, would like to see some of you guys produce a TV show about guns that could run several seasons as have “Sons of Guns” and “American Guns”. The Producers of these shows put in all the silly stuff you’re complaining about because they KNOW how to keep a show on the air, including the T&A, side-drama, and weird projects the shows feature.
    Yeah, there are things I don’t like, but I’d rather have these shows than none about firearms on TV channels with high viewership.
    Firearms Manufacturers and Accessory Manufacturers regularly use young women for eye-candy to Staff Show Booths and embellish print and video ads because sexual suggestiveness gets attention from Men who buy guns and gun-related stuff. It’s a fact of life! Personally, I think it is exploitative of both sexes, but it is so commonly done in all kinds of selling that I wouldn’t ever bet it will stop. (Besides – picture an AR-15 lovingly cradled by a pretty young girl, and the same gun lovingly cradled by an OFWG – which would make you look twice? ‘Nuff said.)
    I do think these show’s Safety Practices have lapses that should be more rigidly corrected and the attitude of kid-like enthusiasm for anything that can hurl a bullet or shot downrange could be reigned-in a bit, but otherwise they are serving a purpose that must set “The Brady Bunch’s” teeth on edge…and I am ALL FOR THAT!

    • Exactly! Ya gotta love all the prigs on gun forums such as this: “I’d never watch such a show” “The safety is lacking” “Only bluing or plating are acceptable finishes” “Guns should only be wood and steel, not ‘plastic'” etc., etc.

      LOL!

  25. This show, in the manner of a growing number of shows, has the annoying habit of re-capping what happened previously in the show within the show. I don’t have the attention span of a mushroom. I remember what I saw two minutes ago. This show in particular and television in general is mostly why I read.

  26. I agree with Derry M. The rest of you guys writing negative comments about the show clearly don’t understand what this is all about, which is RATINGS!
    I wish all of you uptight folks would disappear forever so the rest of us could move on. They’re gunsmiths ok most of you aren’t SO CAN IT!
    Here’s the deal, I like guns and I like girls , this show show delivers both.
    I want to see guns being built and I want to see Paige wearing shorts so I can see her legs. Thanks!!!

  27. I too think hey are way over priced on all their stuff and low ball sellers. “Here I will add a custom made knife or silver bar” yet he is $30k under their asking price? WTF? This must e rigged where the guy gets his extra $30k from the producers. Then build a “custom” 1911 for $3500 with friggin big arse Gun Smoke logos all over it. Come on. I would be ashamed if I werew the father to let my daughter (real father or not) to fall out of her top on TV. She isn’t even cute anyways. Take an ugly girl, give her a boo job, nose job, fix her teeth and bleach blonde her then strap her in some crappy, tight clothes and there you go. She is a 4 out of 10 in my book. Many beautiful, natural girls are out there, just look around. No they don’t dress like strippers so use your imagination. As for the SOG girl, Stef, she is a snooby, fat, drama queen. “If my dad spent 10k on a gun he is in trouble”- Hey fugly it isn’t your business, or your daddies rigged, BS show, get over yourself and your loser, high school drop out, idiot husband- Kris. Oh yeah did you know SOG doesn’t have an FFL, the biker dude did, because daddy got his FFL revoked for missing guns. What a bunch off bull shit, all of it, both shows suck.

  28. My cousin is the Army Veteran featured on the Black Hawk Down 1911 episode of American Guns. Immediately after filming that episode they took the 1911 from him and only then had informed him that he can have it back after the full season aired on television. No one from Gunsmoke has contacted him and through his numerous attempts by email, letters, phone calls no one has responded. That episode was one of the highest in ratings which landed Gunsmoke a contract for more episodes. I’m disgusted that a company would exploit a veteran of this great country and still have the nerve to consider themselves Americans.

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