Interesting new rifle technology

[usmarine0352_2005]

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Now anyone can be a sniper.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/11/news/companies/trackingpoint-gun/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

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$27,500 gun hits targets at 1,000 yards

By Aaron Smith @AaronSmithCNN June 11, 2013: 10:04 AM ET


"There are a handful of snipers who can hit a target at 1,000 yards. But now, anybody can do it," he said. "You can put some tremendous capability in the hands of just about anybody, even an untrained shooter."

The TrackingPoint scope allows the shooter to "tag" a target by placing a red dot on it within the crosshairs. Even when the safety is off and the shooter's finger pulls the trigger, the rifle will only fire when the crosshairs are locked on the red dot, making it relatively easy for even an inexperienced shooter to hit a target at long range.
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[Deep Fried]

A lot of money for a boring concept.

 

[MErl]

if going to that extreme, why not just go the one step further and make the aiming automatic. A few steppers can handle that.


Of course you still need to know the exact range and drop, the wind...

 

[jim243]

Will it work on moving targets or will the gun not fire as long as the target is moving?

Jim

 

[Sam1911]

Now anyone can be a sniper.

Sure! If being a sniper means simply shooting targets at long range.




Which it doesn't.

 

[45_auto]

Of course you still need to know the exact range and drop, the wind...

Did you bother to read the article?

What sets the TrackingPoint rifle apart is its high-tech electronic scope that automatically accounts for distance, gravity, wind speed, humidity, the rotation of the Earth and other variables that can influence whether a bullet hits its target.

 

[kwguy]

Pretty neat.

 

[blackrussian]

Anyone(who has 27k to blow on a scope).

 

[taliv]

The media will continue to freak out because they watch too many hollywood action movies.

The reality is, no criminal is going to pay for this thing.

The real market for this is LEO, because they are the worst marksmen by far, and spend practically no money training. If this device gives a department legal cover to say "we implemented safe gun technology so we could shoot a bad guy without hitting a hostage" it would be worth way more than $27k to them. Plus, if something goes wrong, they now have somebody to sue.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

This has been discussed here since Oct of last year.
http://www.thehighroad.org/search.php?searchid=11704863

Basically, it is a neat idea, but not as neat as claimed. It is a great ranging tool and if, and only if, you have the skills and comprehension to add in ALL the other factors correctly and precisely will this work. I hate to say it, but ranging to the target is some of the easiest work to do when it comes to long range shooting. The real tricks come with understanding all the various wind conditions on the way to the target, other atmospheric conditions, target motion and lead, etc.

Contrary to the post above, it does NOT automatically account for wind speed. That makes it sound like it assesses wind speed like it assesses distance and it does NOT do that. You have to input that variable. If you don't manually input that variable, then it will not "automatically" account for it. Currently, the weather service doesn't even have weather instruments in a package that size to assess all the atmospheric conditions at the point of shooting and between the shooter and the target, so I would not expect that Trackingpoint does it either.

It is not point and pull technology, though that is how they make it sound. It is a good step in that direction, but there is still a lot of work to do before that happens.

 

[MErl]

yes I did read it when it first came out and my first question still stands. Why bother having the human do the aiming in the first place. Put a human somewhere and give them the ability to tag the target, after that the gun automatically tracks the target until told to fire.

It removes the whole requirement that everything fit in a standard scope shaped package. It could include automatic wind measurement at the gun. You plop down this box with a hole in one side for the barrel and flash a laser pointer.

 

[beatledog7]

If wind is gusty or variable, it will inevitably still throw the round off. Software cannot predict a wind gust.

 

[dagger dog]

And I'm sure the scope can account for a 125 count heart rate, jerking of the trigger when a 7.62 X 54 round impacts the ground 5 inches from your elbow, mirage that flows past the end of the scope like rivers of water, and dust devils blowing a 20 mph cross wind 200 yds down range to your 800yd target.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

In my opinion, the problem isn't at the moment you pull the trigger. Problems happen in that very short time after the trigger is pulled and bullet hasn't left the barrel. Of course, maybe it's different for 1000 yard shooting. I'd be curious to follow this,technology and see if there is a real change in 10 years.

 

[yzguy87]

For over 27k a person could buy a VERY nice rifle and lots of ammo and become very proficient at long ranges, perhaps past 1000 yards even. To me it's a waste of money.

 

[Sentryau2]

27k? I'll buy a 416 or a .338 lapua or even a .300rum lots of ammo, a "tacticool" stock, ill build my own scope for 3k and practice till im good enough to hit a target at 1000meters away.

 

[lmccrock]

Will it work on moving targets or will the gun not fire as long as the target is moving?

Jim

Supposedly yes, unless the shooter follows the target. Its a Surgeon rifle, BTW, basically a $5k rifle to begin with.

If your heart is beating hard enough to drive the scope off target, it will not let the gun fire.

When it was 1st announced, it was more in the $17-23k range, looks like some costs went up. The low end is the 300WM version.

 

[HexHead]

Anyone(who has 27k to blow on a scope).

It's a rifle/scope integrated package. You have to use them together, you can't just add it o your Rem 700.

 

[lmccrock]

It's a rifle/scope integrated package. You have to use them together, you can't just add it o your Rem 700.

Ammo also included, since known external ballistics are required by the system.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Originally Posted by merl
Of course you still need to know the exact range and drop, the wind...

Did you bother to read the article?

What sets the TrackingPoint rifle apart is its high-tech electronic scope that automatically accounts for distance, gravity, wind speed, humidity, the rotation of the Earth and other variables that can influence whether a bullet hits its target.

Wind is the biggest challenge, and even this uber spendy high tech unit cannot calculate what the wind is doing down range. Wind can change a lot over 1,000 yards.

 

[Jackal]

Its a 20,000$ rangefinder......I have one of those for $200. This system is utterly useless. If you covered your target and "marked" it, why not just take the shot then? Why wait and hold the trigger down and wiggle back and forth until you acquire the target AGAIN? Until we have lock-on targeted, heat seeking bullets, this tech is just silly.

 

[Officers'Wife]

If this system does away with human error, why does the weapon need a tri-pod?

This claim sounds much like what my boyfriend promised when I was 14. I didn't believe him and I don't believe this.

 

[Cosmoline]

You have to input that variable. If you don't manually input that variable, then it will not "automatically" account for it.

Seriously? What a joke. They're basically charging you a small fortune for a built-in range finder and some other bells and whistles. Wind is a huge issue. In a windless interior even I could be making 1,000 yard shots.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Right, so when they come up with the technology that lases (if that is even the proper work) range between the shooter and the target and can assess what the environmental conditions and real time make POA adjustments, that would be truly impressive. For example, it would assess wind, air density, etc. over the distance. That would make it automatic except for the ballistic information. However, isn't what is going on.

Also, it doesn't target track, but point tracks and the point is arbitrary in the FOV. Say you have your piece of fruit, an orange maybe, that you have on a table to be shot and you set the tracking dot on it. Now you just wait for the crosshairs to cross that point again and the gun will fire, but then the wind blows the orange and it rolls off the table. That tracking point you set does not follow the orange as it rolls away. It maintains it position in the FOV and when your crosshairs cross that point, if your finger is still on the trigger, the gun will fire at the target that is no longer there.

 

[taliv]

Do you know that for certain? They claim it can shoot moving targets and even adjust for lead.