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Craig-sawyer-s4
Craig Sawyer
 Personal information
Born

1963[1]

Occupation

former SEAL, weapons instructor

 Competition information
Expert of
Appearances
[Source]

Craig Sawyer is a recurring expert on Top Shot. He usually guides the contestants with military weaponry or helps them get used to certain military tactics.

Personal life

Craig Sawyer is a former United States Navy SEAL. Since retiring from the SEAL team, Craig has appeared on Top Shot and multiple television interviews. Craig is also the owner of Tactical Insider.

Top Shot

Season One

Week One

Craig Sawyer scope

Craig spotting for Mike Seeklander before the first Elimination Challenge.

During Week One of Season One, Craig appeared as the expert of the first Practice Session, where he gave the sixteen contestants guidance on using four historical weapons: the M14, M1903 Springfield, Mosin-Nagant, and SVT-40. It was here that Craig observed that the Red Team was having more fun, while the Blue Team was more serious and tense. Having been the expert, Craig was given the opportunity to watch the first Team Challenge, which was very similar to what he had done in the SEAL team. Here, he witnessed the defeat of the Red Team due to Mike Seeklander being unable to hit his target, leaving Red Team stuck on the first out of four stations.

After Red Team's trip to the Nomination Range, they had sent Mike Seeklander and Kelly Bachand to compete in the Elimination Challenge. Before this, however, both men were given time to practice under guidance once again by Craig Sawyer. He was to get both the contestants to fire the Remington 700 while he spotted for them using a spotting scope. Craig noticed that both did well, and stated that it would be hard to predict the outcome of the upcoming Elimination Challenge. The following day, Craig was given the opportunity to also witness the Elimination Challenge, in which Kelly Bachand came out victorious.

Week Four

Craig Sawyer 4th PS

Craig guiding the Blue Team during the fourth Practice Session.

Unlike most of the experts on Top Shot, Craig returned to help the remaining 13 contestants of Season One with using the AR-15. To prepare the contestants for the Team Challenge, he also assigned each a color to shoot as a foe target, rather than a friend target. Craig later witnessed the Team Challenge, which had satisfactory results to the Red Team, who managed to win by four points.

After the Blue Team headed to the Nomination Range and nominated two contestants to compete in the Elimination Challenge, those two contestants, James "Jim" Sinclair and Iain Harrison, came by for a Practice Session using the TZ-99 pistol shooting at a moving pendulum-shaped target. Craig noticed after the session that of the two, Jim was the slower one, but was more methodical and accurate, while Iain was very quick, yet still accurate, but had the possibility of shooting too quickly and messing up. Later, Craig witnessed the fourth Elimination Challenge go underway, with Iain becoming victorious, and Jim being eliminated.

Week Nine

Craig Sawyer TSF

Craig guides the remaining contestants using various weapons.

Craig was the expert for the final Practice Session of Season One, helping the remaining seven contestants in using the TZ-99, Mosin-Nagant, SVT-40, and HK93. In addition to getting the contestants used to the weapons, he also added running to help with the physical part of the upcoming challenge. Craig witnessed the Individual Challenge, which resulted in the elimination of two competitors, Adam Benson and Kelly Bachand.

Season Two

Week Three

Craig Sawyer UB

Craig Sawyer guiding members of Blue Team.

Craig appeared as the expert only once in Season Two. Before the Team Challenge of Week Three, Craig helped the contestants get used to the M1A. During the Blue Team session, Craig noticed that Jay Lim did not show much qualities of being a good team member, as if it was a foreign concept. After Blue Team was finished with their Practice Session, Craig pointed out Ashley Spurlin, Jermaine Finks, and Chris Tilley as three of the strongest individuals with the weapon. During the Red Team session, he observed that George Reinas was the most aggressive, but the most accurate was John Guida. At the Team Challenge, Craig witnessed as John had stepped down from the competition due to injury, and as the Red Team managed to win, even without their best shooter.

After Blue Team had nominated two people to compete in the Elimination Challenge, these people, Jermaine Finks and Jay Lim, went to a Practice Session under guidance by Craig using the Glock 17. Craig noticed after Jermaine's run that he was doing very well with the weapon. When Jay was up to shoot, Craig suggested Jay try to hold the pistol in a more orthodox way, but these were generally ignored by Jay. At the Elimination Challenge, Craig had witnessed the defeat of Jermaine to Jay by just a minor hit to a friend target by Jermaine.

Season Three

Week Two

Craig Sawyer

Craig Sawyer during Season Three

During the second week of Season Three, Craig was once again invited to be a guest expert. Prior to the Team Challenge, he was to get both teams accustomed to using the AK-47. During Red Team's practice, Craig noticed how Gary Quesenberry had "lead" his team in a just manner. Then afterward, observed as the Red Team add a physical element to the practice by running up to the stations and taking their shots. After they were finished, Craig chose Gary as his expert pick. Next, the Blue Team began their practice. Here, Craig noticed that Jake Zweig had taken leadership over his team, but in a harsher manner than Gary, stating that he yelled at them more and organized them less. In the end, his expert pick went to Alex Charvat, due to his motivation to master the AK-47. The following day, Craig witnessed the Team Challenge, in which the Red Team came out victorious.

Craig Sawyer Dustin PS

Dustin Ellermann receiving advice from Craig.

After the Blue Team had nominated two people, Sara Ahrens and Dustin Ellermann, for the Elimination Challenge, they returned to the Shooting Range for another Practice Session. Here, it was announced that they would be using the Smith & Wesson M&P .45 under guidance once again by Craig. He gave advice to both by recommending they reload their magazines within their line of vision so they wouldn't lose their sight on the target. At the Elimination Challenge, Craig was not present. Despite being given advice by Craig, none of the contestants used his recommendation, and in the end, Dustin was victorious.

References

External links

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