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Old April 10, 2013, 12:28 PM   #1
Rupskin
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Scope Technology on Rifles....really cool!

I work in the field of Information Technology and happened upon this article. I figured a lot of our members would think this article is interesting as well. The article covers some very cool technology that enabled the test shooter to hit a target the size of a dinner plate at 1,008 yards......and he apparently never fired a rifle in his life. Pretty cool, check it out

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/...powered-rifle/
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Old April 10, 2013, 01:18 PM   #2
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It looks big, heavy, and it seems like it needs batteries for every aspect of this system to function, including the rifle with its weird computer controlled solenoid that fires when it determines is best. You also have to use their proprietary ammunition costing $5-7 a round and is not reloadable. 1000 rounds down range and your $17,000 toy is up to a cost of $22,000.

For $20,000 I could have all of the guns that I can think of off the top of my head that I want to have with enough money left to buy enough brass, bullets, powder, and primers to press tens of thousands of bullets..

So many other things I would want to put $20,000+ dollars into it. This sort of system just sort of takes the fun/skill out of it. So what if you can shoot 1000 yards with a 17,000 dollar weapon system, when that battery dies lets see if you can shoot 1000 yards with a very capable but more conventional rifle/scope.
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Old April 10, 2013, 01:41 PM   #3
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I've heard about this system before & it is pretty amazing. I don't feel like it is relevant to sports hunting (as the article implies) but in a military context it is a bit scarey. A military forces is measured by it's sniper/counter-sniper capabilities. The rifles capable of consistent +1000yd are now a given reality, but the human skill to do it is scarce & must be trained & cultivated.

I wonder if there are some restrictions on who you can buy this stuff? What about the Barrett rifles; are they readily available on the foreign market? What about compensation computers used by spotters? Easy to buy?



...bug
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Old April 10, 2013, 02:21 PM   #4
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The very important part is in the small print - you still need to enter the wind speed. So if you can't read the wind you still can't hit at 1000 m, whatever gadget is dialing in the holdover and windage for you.
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Old April 10, 2013, 04:50 PM   #5
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you still need to enter the wind speed. So if you can't read the wind you still can't hit at 1000 m,
Yep and with just a little time with your own rifle you can dope your rifle , scope and ammo combo for the elevation so all it really does is fire the round when the reticle is on target . Id like to know more and how or what it does . Does it know and adjust it self for altitude , temperature , barometric pressure humidity , angle of fire . etc etc . If the shooter must know all of these things and input them in to the system or do the adjustment them selves . Not sure how it is worth 20k
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Old April 10, 2013, 09:33 PM   #6
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Looks pretty cool, just unaffordable for the average person. Basically they have made a man-portable version with some of the capabilities of a Bradley or M-1 tanker gunner's sight. Not all of them, but some.
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Old April 11, 2013, 03:59 PM   #7
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Yeah, I didn't mean to imply "This is cool, let me go out and purchase it", but more of a marvel of technology. Using a system like this in warfare would probably be the best use for such a system. I'm sure that someone who never fired a rifle wouldn't be able to walk up to this gun and hit a target at 1000 yards without much training on the weapon itself, as well as the scope and all the technology that goes into it. So i guess you have to ask, would it be more time consuming to learn the technology to make a shot at 1000 yards, or just to practice proper technique? I'm not sure, really depends on how complex it is for the "user" to manipulate the scope.
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Old April 11, 2013, 06:29 PM   #8
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That's pretty interesting. I have to agree with everyone else though...makes a lazy shooter. What's more interesting is that they sit atop a surgeon rifle...made in my neck of the woods. My state of Oklahoma.
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Old April 11, 2013, 11:15 PM   #9
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It doesn't do anything current snipers don't already do.
You still need to read the wind yourself and that is the singles largest factor that would cause a shooter to miss a long range shot.

My having all that technology into the scope all it does is allow your rifle to be rendered useless if the computer in the scope fails.
By carrying a separate range finder and ballistics calculator a shooter will have the same capability, with a lighter rifle and a more reliable package.

Also read the part about don't get it wet and it not being overly tough, hardly makes a very useful military/police rifle does it.
What the military/police need from a rifle is a tough reliable system that will work in any conditions they find themselves in, and this system doesn't do that at all.

you could get a normal rifle, work out all the scope adjustments and with a decent rest have a complete novice shooter do exactly the same thing.
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Old April 11, 2013, 11:43 PM   #10
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The problem I see for a military aspect. There is too much to go wrong with it and no way to fix or adapt it in the field when it does fail.
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Old April 12, 2013, 06:03 AM   #11
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With the speed technology advances today that system well be miniaturized in a few years and run off a watch battery.
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Old April 12, 2013, 10:22 AM   #12
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Yep, it will have a built in anemometer, barometer, hygrometer and pick up all the data off the internet that the NWS has going into their Cray Computers so it can not only calculate current down range wind and velocity, but forecast from the time you decide to shoot to pull the trigger.

Eventually we can just let it go out by itself and shoot our deer, elk, mooses etc.

It is amazing stuff
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Old April 12, 2013, 05:51 PM   #13
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Don't know, but seems to me that a machine that took the human error out of shooting would also take the pleasure and challenge out of the game also.

Not me, I'd rather take a US surplus military rifle with iron sights and concentrate on hitting a dinner plate at 100 yards while standing on my hind legs.
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Old April 12, 2013, 06:16 PM   #14
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Eventually we can just let it go out by itself and shoot our deer, elk, mooses etc
Maybe one day, and then they can sell it in the shop for us to buy so we don't have to get sweaty and cold and wet hunting

All the technology in the scope already exists if you have a range finder and a weather station thingy (like a kestral), you can then either work it out yourself or use a ballistics computer thingy-ma-bob.

It just combines them all into a scope and runs it off the worlds most infuriating and unreliable device ever (a computer),
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Old April 12, 2013, 06:25 PM   #15
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Eventually we can just let it go out by itself and shoot our deer, elk, mooses etc
Maybe one day, and then they can sell it in the shop for us to buy so we don't have to get sweaty and cold and wet hunting

All the technology in the scope already exists if you have a range finder and a weather station thingy (like a kestral), you can then either work it out yourself or use a ballistics computer thingy-ma-bob.

It just combines them all into a scope and runs it off the worlds most infuriating and unreliable device ever (a computer), which if it (when it breaks) will leave your rifle useless.

I can't imagine law enforcement would ever have use for it, as their shooting is done at ranges this technology isn't needed.

And military and special force want something that's reliable in all conditions and, if ever computer I've ever used is something to go by, the seem to crash for no reason in my warm dry house.
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Old April 12, 2013, 11:11 PM   #16
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Yes cool.

But you can get a Burris Eliminator III for a lot less cash if you want to add a ballistic computer and laser range finder to your shooting system.

High tech toys are coming down in price.

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Old April 13, 2013, 10:36 AM   #17
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Not for big game hunting, but varmints beware!

The technology is fantastic & it looks like I'd be a ball to play with. Burris has this ad everywhere:

It kind of promotes shooting elk at 500 yds. Simple as pie - right! I'd have a lot more respect for Burris if there was a woodchuck in the cross-hairs! To each his own, but IMHO this is military stuff.

...bug
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Old April 13, 2013, 01:07 PM   #18
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If that's a Mil Dot, that elk is no where near 508 yards.

Looks closer to half that to me.
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Old April 13, 2013, 07:18 PM   #19
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Having had the wind spank my ass at 500 yards today, I'm skeptical of most technological solutions to training problem.

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Old April 13, 2013, 07:55 PM   #20
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"The rifle's "Tag-Track-Xact" technology means that there is a delay between when you pull the trigger and when the rifle fires—sometimes several seconds of delay, "

Um ... no thanks.
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Old April 13, 2013, 08:10 PM   #21
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Looks closer to half that to me.
The hold over looks close to me . My 308 with a hold of 1 mil is almost dead on at 300yds . The picture looks like the hold is about 2 mills . depending on what rifle that is . Looks about right for a 500yd shot . I'm just saying it looks good I'm pretty new at this longer range stuff so I could be way off .
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Old April 13, 2013, 09:52 PM   #22
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From the top of the shoulder to the bottom of the body of an elk is on the average 25-27 inches.

Looking at that picture, it looks like 2.8 mils from the top to the bottom of the valley. That would put it between 245 - 265 yards.

At 508 it would be about 1.5 to 1.34 mils.

But its just an advertisement.
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Old April 13, 2013, 10:14 PM   #23
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. I just checked my calculator . Your right thats not 500yds . If I was using my 308 and had that hold . The range would be right around 380yds .
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