Posted on 06/12/2013 4:43:47 AM PDT by servo1969
Now everyone can shoot like a trained marksman. For a price.
A Texas-based applied technology firm has launched new smartgun technology that gives novice shooters the chance to participate in “extreme distance hunting.”
TrackingPoint’s new precision guided firearm technology, XactSystem, allows the shooter to lock onto a target before allowing the gun to fire upon the intended target, much like a fighter jet’s “lock-and-launch” technology.
And the firearm can consistently hit a target from over 1,000 yards away, the maker says.
“Think of it like a smart rifle. You have a smart car; you got a smartphone; well, now we have a smart rifle,” CEO Jason Schauble told CNNMoney.
The rifles fitted with the XactSystem technology can accurately shoot from over 1,000 yards, and TrackingPoint claims the company record is shooting a South African wildebeest at 1,103 yards.
The system and bolt-action rifles run from $22,500 to $27,500.
The rifles are WiFi equipped to allow the shooter to record their shot and immediately send it to a tablet or smartphone to view and upload to social media sites.
Schauble told CNN Money this is the first technology of its kind, even within the military, and that his company is planning on selling 500 TrackingPoint rifles this year, mainly to clients who want to hunt big game from long ranges.
With the technology, the shooter “tags” a target using a red button on the trigger guard. After the tag is set, the shooter aims the gun and holds down the trigger. Once the tag and the crosshairs of the scope line up, the gun fires.
“There are a number of people who say the gun shoots itself,” Schauble said. “It doesn’t. The shooter is always in the loop.”
The network tracking scope’s technology takes environmental factors, such as temperature, wind speeds, and gravity, into account to ensure a clean shot.
Some in the security sector, however, have reservations about the long-range rifle.
“There are a handful of snipers who can hit a target at 1,000 yards. But now, anybody can do it,” Rommel Dionisio, a gun industry analyst for Wedbush Securities told CNN Money. “You can put some tremendous capability in the hands of just about anybody, even an untrained shooter.”
World War one and two soldiers had to qualify at 1000 yards with a 1903 Springfield with open sights.
The game has a lot going for it that man doesn’t have. Eye sight, superior hearing and natural camo. Just because you’ve got a gun................ :(
Goose hunting will never be the same.
I’m with you Vaquero...they can call it whatever they want, but hunting it is not.
Given the recent network intrusion scandals by our Government, I am not sure that a “Wi-Fi equipped gun” is such a great idea...
50 BMG for a Kudu. Seems a bit much.
I already said that this wasn’t hunting, but shooting...
and agree that the 50BMG is way too much at normal ranges....but considering its flat shooting capabilities at thousands of yards, it is appropriate.
That's about right. It really boils down to how much you want to spend on the scope. I am looking to build a 1000 meter rifle later this year. I am thinking about buying a used .300 Win Mag long action Remington 700, put a new barrel with a compensator on it and a tactical stock. Then the real expense is the scope. The total package will be over $1000, but it isn't exactly a varmint rifle, it is closer to a poor man's M24.
“And the firearm can consistently hit a target from over 1,000 yards away.”
We do this all the time in Texas and the West.
With Blackpowder.
Google “One mile shooting with black powder”.
Where do you see 50 BMG?
TrackingPoint Precision Guided Firearms appears to be offered only in .338 Lapua and .300 Win Mag.
http://tracking-point.com/precision-guided-firearms
If you’re going to use this weapon system for contract-type killing, you will have to disable, if possible, all the smart capabilities that would record the particulars of your firings internally and, I suspect, eventually report them to the manufacturer and thus to grid. Date, time, gps location, bearing, range, scope video, etc.
One second could mean the different between killing and maiming when you’re talking about hunting game. As an ethical hunter, I will never take a shot I know will maim, and up to this point in my life, every kill I’ve ever made was instant. I’ve only ever had to track a boar, and that kill was made with a bow.
If you’re talking about a human being, that 1 second could mean the difference between killing a combatant or alerting him/her. You maim a Taliban fighter, they’re going to continue to fire that SAW unless you sever their shooting arm.
Also, how about moving targets? That sort of ballistic magic doesn’t exist except in the mind of a trained sniper.
every kill I’ve ever made was instant
- - - -
So what is the longest shot you take and with what weapon?
when they can match the sniper distance record let me know
125 m with iron sights on a Mauser (8 mm) was my longest. Most are under 50 m with a scoped .300 Win Mag. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m saying it’s not practical.
If I understand correctly, your concern is not with this automated weapon system, it is with the distance of the shot.
I’m not concerned. I’m just stating my opinion on the tech. I said that this doesn’t make the bullet track, it just automates the point of aim. It’s cool tech, but in my opinion, it’s not sporting for hunting. Sitting in a tree stand in 20 degree weather trying to keep your fingers warm is part of the allure of the sport to me. That’s the “hunt.” Using .338 Lapua to take a buck at 1000 yards, while impressive, isn’t practical or ethical.
Again, all my opinion.
There are guys who can hit a prairie dog at 1000 yards without this system.
I do it consistently with my M4 and .300 WinMag.
I don't see how what you expressed is different using this tech or using a highly skilled marksman. All this tech is controls the release timing and elevation. It still is the same lack of control after the firing. The shooter in either case has the ability to wait to shoot if it appears a target is moving or about to move.
This type of shooting isn't my thing either, but our military does have need to do this type of shooting. This tech may bring more successful missions due to allowing more shooters be capable of those shots. The guys with more money than sense, help fund this technology. I like that over pure taxpayer funding for the development.
Meh. We’re on the same page, thack, but I’m old fashioned when it comes to shooting. My uncles, both USMC snipers in VN, taught me how to shoot. It takes patience, practice, and intelligence to make a long shot kill. It’s completely unnatural to look down the barrel of a gun and see sky when shooting at something on a hilltop 300 m away, but when you make that shot, see that plume of red fly up in the air, and watch that buck drop like a sack of hammers, there’s something incredibly satisfying to know you took that animal humanely and with the skill that many don’t have or want.
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