Hi tech, 1,000 yd, $20,000 + smart rifle.

[powderman]

 High-tech, $20,000 TrackingPoint ‘smart rifle’ turns anyone into a sniper  By Andrew Couts
Published June 12, 2013
Digital Trends      Hitting a target at 1,000 yards is a skill only possessed by a few elite snipers. But all that is about to change, thanks to a high-tech bullet guidance system created by Texas gun manufacturer TrackingPoint. For better or worse, almost anyone with $20,000 to burn can soon have the skills of a special forces assassin.
 
At the heart of TrackingPoint’s sophisticated firearms, dubbed the XactSystem, is the company’s “networked tracking scope,” which sports a color heads up display, and instantly monitors a wide variety of factors, including wind speed and direction, target distance, gravity, the rotation of the earth, and more, to calculate when and how to accurately fire the ammunition. TrackingPoint’s so-called smart rifles, which range from $22,500 to $27,500, even pack built-in Wi-Fi, which allows shooters to transmit live video of their shots to an iPad, then upload them to YouTube or social networks.
 
“They like to post videos; they like to be in constant communication with groups or networks,” TrackingPoint President Jason Schauble told NPR. “This kind of technology, in addition to making shooting more fun for them, also allows shooting to be something that they can share with others.”

Of course, TrackingPoint’s high-tech firearms are not without controversy. Some hunters say the guns, which allow even novice shooters to “tag” targets and accurately hit them at great distances, are unfair to those who spent years honing their shooting skills, and to the wild game that stands next to zero chance of escaping ballistic-guided high-caliber ammunition fired at their hides. Other critics believe the company’s technology increases the likelihood of irresponsible gun ownership, and the possibility that gun deaths – which total an average of about 30,000 per year, in the U.S. – will increase.
 
“I have nothing but disdain for the TrackingPoint, which exemplifies everything I hate about a gun culture that is quick to put firearms in the hands of people who neither respect nor know how to use them, and that treats proficiency as a product to be purchased instead of a skill to be earned,” writes Slate’s Justin Peters.
 
TrackingPoint’s range of firearms $20,000+ officially went on sale last month. Interested customers must apply with TrackingPoint before being able to purchase one of the company’s weapon systems, a quick process that requires potential buyers to identify their “primary shooting preference,” and hand over their contact information. According to TrackingPoint’s website, the company is already nearly sold out. The company also reportedly has plans to release 1,000 lower-end models, created by Remington, that will cost around $5,000, though a release date for those weapons has not yet been announced.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/06/12/high-tech-trackingpoint-smart-rifle-turns-anyone-into-sniper/#ixzz2W6zo8oGM

[Conan The Librarian]

I saw an article on this, but it seems to me that this is ridiculous. Even at 100 yards, let alone 1000 yards, windage is a huge factor. As much as elevation, but far less predictable, and requiring much more skill in shooting. Does this gadget have sensors downrange that factor in wind?
 
At 1000 yards, even a 1/2mph change in wind speed will have a big effect on windage and the ability to hit a target.
 
I do like the video recording of hits. Good idea for long range shootiing, but that shouldn't cost $20 grand per gun+target.

[Sourdough]

My Burris ranges the target, calculates the difference in elevation, measures the wind, then calculates where the little red dot should go for me to use as an aim point.  And it cost a lot less than what this rig cost.  Because it took me so many years to develop the skill, it was hard for me to buy the Burris Eliminator.  Yet the Burris is realistically limited to 800 yards, yet it claims 1400 yards.  So I will continue to use my Weatherby and Night Force scope for anything over 800 yards.

As for the wind, it can only evaluate the wind at the shooters location.  Again my Burris can do that.  Any crosswinds, or differences in wind speed across the distance being shot, has to be made by the shooter.  This rig can not tell that the wind at it's location is left to right, but out across the saddle it's blowing right to left, and half the velocity.

So this rig is no better than what is already out there at less money.  Just because the shooter can buy a gun that can do all this.  Does not mean the shooter has the training, skill, or knowledge to know where to place that little red dot.  It also makes it too easy for him to not pass up on a bad shot.  The challenge is there for him to still take the shot to see if he can pull it off anyway.

While the Burris Eliminator can shorten the time I need for setup, there is still lots I have to do.  I'm still the one calling the shot. 

[Sourdough]

Give me a month with almost any of you guys and I can have you shooting out beyond 500 to 800 yards.  A few could be reaching out to 1000 yards, but not cosistently.  To reach out beyond 800 yards takes shooting, shooting, and more shooting.  You have to learn to dope the wind.  You have to learn to adjust for elevation from where you are to your target.  You have to learn the effects, temp and altitude have on your loads.  Head wind, tail wind, quartering wind, and no wind, what's it going to do.  You can't buy that.  Only experience will get you there.  The farther the shot the more these factors come into play.

The most frustrating shot I ever made.  I was hunting Mule Deer in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico.  Two real nice bucks were out browsing in a large meadow.  Thompson Center Rifle 83 (set trigger) in 7MM Remington Mag, 150gr Nosler Partition.  Totally no wind, perfectly still.  I knew from experience they were 750 yards out, I had shot a forked horn last year under the same circumstances.  Lying prone, rifle over the same log.  Took the shot, and there was an explosion out about 2/3s of the way.  Both bucks jumped and ran, never to be seen again. 

As I lay there in shock, Michelle (who was supposedly spotting for me) turned and said, 'Did you not see that Magpie flying across the meadow"?  "What Magpie I asked, you're supposed to tell me those things".  She said, "It was flying out there big as life, and you shot it, why did you not see it"?  I wanted to scream!!!!!     

[Oldshooter]

Good story Sourdough!
 
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Look for 20 g's it better drive itself to the field, take a shot, and call me on the phone and ask me how I want my game processed.