(Image: TrackingPoint) Posted on 01/20/2015 8:16:44 AM PST by ShadowAce
I grew up in rural West Virginia, and I don't remember learning how to shoot. All I know is I was certainly shooting well before the time I was 8. I grew up in a gun culture, with many relatives in the military, and I went to school at West Virginia University, which won its 16th NCAA Rifle Championship in 2014. In short, I know guns and I know just how hard it is to shoot accurately at extreme ranges such as 1,000 yards. Even at my best, I was never able to do it reliably.
(Image: TrackingPoint)
Or rather, it used to be extraordinarily hard to hit a target consistently at 1,000 yards or more. Now, thanks to Linux, TrackingPoint, an Austin, Texas business, will allow almost anyone to hit not just 1,000-yard targets, but also ones that are up to 1 mile, 1,760 yards, away.
This isn't science fiction or a stunt done that only works under indoor rifle range conditions. TrackingPoint Precision-Guided Firearms have been enabling shooters to hit targets beyond any range they could hit on their own for several years now.
This newest model, the 338TP, nicknamed the Mile Maker, which was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January, just extends this rifle line's range up to a mile. It works by using a combination of technologies.
First, the 338TP uses the .338 Lapua Magnum long-range rifle for its base. This rifle started as a design for a US Marine sniper rifle. Then, to acquire the target, the rifle uses a laser to enable you to "tag" your target. More than just a laser-targeting system, its sensors also track wind speed, direction, temperature, and barometric pressure. As serious shooters know, all of these factors must be taken into account for an accurate shot at great ranges.
So is it really that accurate? It works well enough that the US Army is testing it. In one review, it was found that users of an older model were getting 70 percent first hit accuracy at 1,000 yards. A trained military rifleman, not a sniper, would hit about 5 percent of the time.
In a word, that's impressive.
Of course, for that kind of accuracy, you're going to pay a real premium. While final pricing hasn't been set yet, the 338TP won't go on sale until the second quarter of 2015, and it's expected to price out at over $40,000. Even the entry-level TrackingPoint rifle, the Precision-Guided Semi-Auto 5.56, starts at $7,495.
Oh, and the ammo: You get 200 rounds with the rifle, which runs at about $8 a round. When you're shooting at a distance, everything, and I mean everything, counts for accuracy, including the ammo.
You can also get smartglasses, the Shotglass, and Heads Up Display software, which can be used with smartphones and tablets, to let you shoot at targets without actually sighting from the rifle itself.
The 338TP certainly isn't normally what you think of when you think of a Linux-powered device. It just goes to show how Linux can be used to make almost any device better.
I did. And it didn't address what real benefit this would have for an underpowered round like a 5.56/.223. I guess for a really really poor shooter it could help but even an above average shooter should be able to shoot the effective range of a .223 with iron sights much less a scope. And a .223 round is not effective at all at ranges of 1000 meters or more. Shooting an M-16 or M-4 at those ranges is pretty much a waste of ammo.
Still true, but tech has been pushing that further back. The CheyTac .408 and Barrett .416 stay supersonic out to 2000yds. TOF, drift, and drop are significantly reduced. If the rail gun concept is ever made man portable, it’ll be point and shoot.
Still needs to read the wind, and the rifle can only read the near wind, not the intermediate or far winds.
Would be useful for snap shooting distance targets. Kinda steep on the price. Maybe I will find one laying around somewhere, one day.
Might be a really long barrel for that rail gun, might need trainer wheels on the front instead of a bipod.LOL
I don’t think the 1000 yd mark applies to the.223
Soon to be unavailable and illegal to own by anyone not in the miltary....IOW...a serf. If they are obtainable at all now.
5.56 with iron sights out of a 20” barrel is good to 600 yards in the hands of an experienced shooter. 1,000 yards requires a 90 grain bullet in a 24” barrel to stay supersonic - and just barely at that. The elevation is something like 50’ above target and a moderate crosswind will put you 25’ right or left.
M4 62 grain - anything beyond 200 yards is luck.
Apparently, you missed that the device is set up on a .338 Lapua Magnum.
I agree, it seems a bit much for 5.56.
“More than just a laser-targeting system, its sensors also track wind speed, direction, temperature, and barometric pressure.”
That’s a big step forward the models they’ve been advertising didn’t do that.
Plus, all the EM energy from it might make it just is dangerous for the user as it is to the target.
Price is too steep for you but your taxes will buy a bunch of these toys for local and fed L.E.
And that is an outrage. These things are military weapons ... the belong in the hands of soldiers and of the unorganized militia, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.
I didn't miss that at all and such a device makes some sense on such a sniper rifle or any rifle chambered for a .308 or larger. But the article said there is a cheaper 5.56 version - that's what my comment was directed at.
Agreed. I fired the M16A1 with standard 55gr ball in basic. During our downrange feedback drills, I was hitting the 300 target regularly, though my groups were very scattered. I’d consider myself a good, but not great shooter. A couple years ago, I tried hitting the 300m target at a nearby range with my 16” barreled AR15. Conditions were good, but the results were not.
>>> Still needs to read the wind, and the rifle can only read the near wind, not the intermediate or far winds. <<<
I suppose that would depend on the sensitivity of the laser receiver. If sensitive enough, it could be possible to discern movement of dust particles in the air throughout the entire projected trajectory and adjust the reticle accordingly.
We seem to be on the same page, then.
Peace (between you and me).
Death, doom, and destruction to the enemy.
I’ve been fortunate enough to shoot various prototypes and the currently released versions (actually own the 300WM version) and know some of the execs and the development team. It is a remarkable piece of technology that takes into account virtually all variables but WIND has been the primary challenge. There are several technology options to address the wind but they’ve been too expensive and flukey to release. Maybe they’ve cracked it with this (proposed) release. BTW, it’s actually pretty boring after the first 10 or 20 shots. Even at 1000 yards you virtually can’t miss. I would never hunt with the thing as it’s too bulky and not very sporty.
“... 1,000 yards requires a 90 grain bullet in a 24” barrel to stay supersonic - and just barely at that. The elevation is something like 50’ above target and a moderate crosswind will put you 25’ right or left.”
Sounds a lot like shooting the old black powder .45-70 at long ranges. But with the .45-70, you at least had a 300-500 grain bullet hitting the target down range, not 90 grains.
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