US Military Begins Testing Smart Rifles

[gthaustex]

The US Military has begun testing smart rifles made by Tracking Point....

The military has purchased several units for testing and evaluation purposes,” Schauble said during an interview with Military​.com Tuesday here at the annual SHOT Show, the country’s largest gun show with some 60,000 attendees

Interesting. They say this is probably more for average soldiers than those who already have sniper skills....

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/01/16/ ... p=features

[cb1000rider]

“I would say we’re at about 70 percent first-shot success probability at 1,000 yards … with inexperienced shooters.”

I'd love to try one!
At $25k or so, they're probably a must have.. :-)

[jsenner]

A fairly accurate story, except you don't release the trigger to fire. you keep it pulled and when the crosshair center lines up with the painted dot the round is fired.

I'm surprised they were only at 70% first shot hits. I've seen much higher numbers myself. my group of hunters with zero exposure to the gun managed 100% first shot hits. we filled all our tags (4 people, 7 tags total) in one day.

you've gotta call the wind right for sure, though. on a calm day it's almost a non-issue. it was probably windy when they were doing their shooting in the story. I'd be interested to hear what the followup shot percentage is :)

[cb1000rider]

I've never fired a shot at 1000 yards. Out here you've got to qualify to use that range.
I understood the same thing. You pull, then you wait for the gun to figure out that the target is lined up correctly....
It's interesting, but you better keep that thing electronically prepped for battle. I wonder how much power it pulls just sitting there watching targets, etc.
It certainly lowers the "sniper" bar.

[Beiruty]

I would love to see Gen 2.0 of this tracking point scope. For long range, what is a typical target size? 15" to 20" target? I would say hitting a deer size animal at 1,000 yrds is amazingly tough to do.

[jsenner]

I wonder how much power it pulls just sitting there watching targets, etc.

the XS setup comes with 3 batteries, the unit holds 2 at a time. the system runs off one battery until it's "dead" at which point it auto-switches to the other battery. the batteries are hot swappable so when it kills a battery you pop in a new one and put the other on the charger. the charger has the usual A/C stuff, but you can also plug it into a solar panel.

I've run the unit powered on and shooting for a good 10 hours and still had a good charge on the last battery. A solar panel certainly won't keep up with the drain but if you have extras and can leave a set charging during the day while using the other set you can keep it running.

[jsenner]

I would love to see Gen 2.0 of this tracking point scope. For long range, what is a typical target size? 15" to 20" target? I would say hitting a deer size animal at 1,000 yrds is amazingly tough to do.

I'm not sure what you mean by Gen 2. I'm inferring that you think there's a problem with the system? which scope are you talking about? The XS system or the 2020? vastly different setups.

you can control the "kill zone" on the scope between .1 moa and 4 moa. at the smallest "kill zone" you have to be fairly steady to get the solution to fire but it's doable. it's pretty easy to set a .2-.3 moa target and tag a 12" steel plate at 1k yards and tune your hits to quadrants on that plate.

hitting a deer @ 1k is a breeze. they're way bigger than a steel plate. :-)

[Beiruty]

I would love to see Gen 2.0 of this tracking point scope. For long range, what is a typical target size? 15" to 20" target? I would say hitting a deer size animal at 1,000 yrds is amazingly tough to do.

I'm not sure what you mean by Gen 2. I'm inferring that you think there's a problem with the system? which scope are you talking about? The XS system or the 2020? vastly different setups.

you can control the "kill zone" on the scope between .1 moa and 4 moa. at the smallest "kill zone" you have to be fairly steady to get the solution to fire but it's doable. it's pretty easy to set a .2-.3 moa target and tag a 12" steel plate at 1k yards and tune your hits to quadrants on that plate.

hitting a deer @ 1k is a breeze. they're way bigger than a steel plate. :-)

In both systems. what I would like to see:
1) A HUD as big as iphone5 with same resolution and ppi density.
2) I prefer 5X-30X optical zoom (with electronic drive) followed with optical sensor and computing node on top.
3) Laser range finder and other sensors stay the same as it is the case now.

A hit12" at 1k yrd means the rifle is 1.2 MOA or better. To have consistent hits, rifle should be 0.6 MOA. With handloads and rifle as in XS system should be sub MOA and 0.5 is ideal, tagging at 0.5 MOA and placing hits at 12" place is commendable.

What is accuracy of XS2 (300 win mag) with supplied Ammo at 100 yrds?

[jsenner]

In both systems. what I would like to see:
1) A HUD as big as iphone5 with same resolution and ppi density.
2) I prefer 5X-30X optical zoom (with electronic drive) followed with optical sensor and computing node on top.
3) Laser range finder and other sensors stay the same as it is the case now.

I'm going to assume you've never actually seen one of the XS models in person because that's what it has now (actually much bigger screen, I use my iPad for the HUD). the 2020 is most certainly a different beast altogether and doesn't compare. there's a reason for that though - different target market.

What is accuracy of XS2 (300 win mag) with supplied Ammo at 100 yrds?

my only sub-250y shot with the XS was 180 yards and the blood stain was right where I put the red dot. couldn't give you any more than that. my friend took a shot at a groundhog at 127 yards and vaporized the head.

I haven't run it against a paper target at that short of a distance. when you're getting head shots on antelope at 450+y you kinda lose interest in shooting paper @ 100y. hell, you lose interest in shooting paper period :)