Tracking Point Demo Video - Impressive

[ELR Researcher]

I just read at thread on AccurateReloading about a new long range "system" - very high tech and seriously impressive. They have a video here.

NO, I have no financial or other interest in this company or product.

 

[COBrad]

Very military. I don't like it.

 

[BillR]

I found it interesting. Its amazing what has come out in the last 5 years and mostly from military applications. A lot of the equipment I use has come from these applications. Sure beats the old Weaver K4's on top of a Mauser 98 8MM that I started with. A lot more labor intensive (dialing and reloading and checking your drops in the field etc. ) but a whole lot more hits at further and further distances.

 

[Mike 338]

Expert marksman with virtually no experience. Where's the fun in that?

I'm holding out for technology to shoot the animal while I sleep in.

 

[Kanga69]

Very interesting and they have a hunting rifle set up in a 300 win mag. As a hunter, I have an ethical responsibility to cleanly kill my prey. I guide hunts on a big ranch and have seen many wounded animals that have been tracked for days with dogs because nerves and distance would not allow for clean kills. That should be avoided if all possible. Many of those hunters shot their rifles extremely well at the range. If this system can help cure that problem, very cool. Before you all judge those who might hunt with the latest technology possible, think of all those who would like to hunt, but think they cant because of lack of experience, disabillities, or plain old buck fever.

Just my .02

 

[Joe King]

the only problem I see with that system is it takes any resemblance to fair chase and throws it strait out the window. If you have to use that sort of means to take a game animal and are not disabled then you need to get closer and take a shot you are capable of taking normally.

 

[ELR Researcher]

TrackingPoint info (from the 2013 SHOT Show site):

Website - TrackingPoint.com

SHOT Show booth #12451.

About Us:

TrackingPoint is the Austin-based applied technology company that created the first Precision Guided Firearm (PGF). This revolutionary new long-range shooting system puts jet fighter "lock and launch" technology in a rifle, enabling anyone to hit moving targets at extended ranges. The first systems will be available in the spring of 2013.

Media contact:

Bret Boyd
[email protected]

Booth Representatives (5)
Bret Boyd
Dan Price
Darren Jones
Jason Schauble
John McHale

*************************

Note the, "...enabling anyone to hit MOVING targets at extended ranges...". Really? Hope that isn't referrng to the "egg" shoot demo mentioned earlier in this thread.

BTW, their website is a one pager soliciting subscriptions to info updates - and the large date, 1-15-2013, the first floor date of the SHOT Show. One might have expected they would have been exhibiting/demoing on the "Media Day at the Range" event (the 14th) but, as of 10/14 noonish, they are NOT listed on the exhibitor listing for that event.

 

[orkan]

I can already see where this is going.

Just like the AR15 vs bolt action debate, we will be our own worst enemy here again with this technology. The die-hard traditionalists will work against their fellow hunters to ban/regulate/restrict this technology simply because it goes against their chosen system.

Yet again we'll be divided where we should be united, and the other team will laugh as they gain ground against us in the end game. As so goes virtually every ridiculous regulation that turns some hunters into criminals just because they don't hunt the way someone else thinks they should.

It is truly a sad sight to see, and it's something I don't believe I'll ever get accustomed to. Seeing fellow hunters work to restrict the sport based on some misguided sense of ethics is akin to the Salem witch hunts.

There have been many times that I've been in heated debates about long range hunting. Their opponents arguments are the SAME as the arguments I've heard about this technology and others that are controversial. They claim that it is unfair that I can kill a deer a thousand yards away. "Where's the sport in that?" "That is unfair to the animal." "That is unethical to shoot from that distance." On and on it goes. In each instance, an individual or a group of individuals tries to control another individual or group.

Instead of worrying about what THEY are doing, they want to tell everyone else what to do as well.

This happens in many things outside of hunting... but with the highly politically damaging nature of divisive things like this, it is something we can scarcely afford.

 

[Bravo 4]

I can see this marketed more towards military applications, I don't see anybody (friendly at least) griping about how technology is aiding us put accurate rounds on target. I hate to say it but technology is what keeps us on top. As far as the layman hunter, I can see something like this being available in the future. However, the cost alone will keep 99.99999999% of us from ever owning it. That is the biggest reason I see it marketed towards military, and even then only special ops with an unlimited (practically) budget. The "average" soldier like myself...unlikely. Especially if only available in .338 Lapua

 

[Joe King]

I can already see where this is going.

Just like the AR15 vs bolt action debate, we will be our own worst enemy here again with this technology. The die-hard traditionalists will work against their fellow hunters to ban/regulate/restrict this technology simply because it goes against their chosen system.

Yet again we'll be divided where we should be united, and the other team will laugh as they gain ground against us in the end game. As so goes virtually every ridiculous regulation that turns some hunters into criminals just because they don't hunt the way someone else thinks they should.

It is truly a sad sight to see, and it's something I don't believe I'll ever get accustomed to. Seeing fellow hunters work to restrict the sport based on some misguided sense of ethics is akin to the Salem witch hunts.

There have been many times that I've been in heated debates about long range hunting. Their opponents arguments are the SAME as the arguments I've heard about this technology and others that are controversial. They claim that it is unfair that I can kill a deer a thousand yards away. "Where's the sport in that?" "That is unfair to the animal." "That is unethical to shoot from that distance." On and on it goes. In each instance, an individual or a group of individuals tries to control another individual or group.

Instead of worrying about what THEY are doing, they want to tell everyone else what to do as well.

This happens in many things outside of hunting... but with the highly politically damaging nature of divisive things like this, it is something we can scarcely afford.

No it's very simple If I can hit I deer or what ever from a further distance than the next guy it is ONLY because I have done the hard work to built the rifle develop the ammo and develop the skills necessary, I have taken no shortcut, have not relied on technology to this date. And only in the last few days have I even acquired my 1st piece of technology aimed to that end. In the end I have worked far and away harder to develop the ability than I have ever had to work to get within a few 10s of yards. Hell yes it offends the hell out of me that some lazy *** couch potato would be allowed to use crap like that to harvest a game animal without ever once having to pit their skills and abilities against that of the animal, which is the very essence of hunting.

 

[orkan]

have not relied on technology to this date.

Actually, you have relied on a LOT of technology. That is unless you are using an open-sighted muzzle loading musket. ... and even that was considered high-tech when it was introduced.

How do you make sight corrections? How do you compute a firing solution? How do you determine range to target. All of those actions, in ANY form, represent a technology that at one point did not exist anywhere. They were developed, and now are in use by every long distance shooter the world over.

Fear leads to irrationality. I welcome new shooting technology. I don't have to use this computer-guided wonder rifle if I don't want to, and neither do you. Nor do I have to respect anyone that does. I do respect the technology however.

They specifically stated that this product would be "commercially available" in 2013. That doesn't suggest a "military only" application or intent to me. As it should be. The theory that the military should have things that civilians cannot comes from the minds of tyrants.

If they are out legally hunting, then they received a license to do so, just as you and I would have to. There are those that claim no one should be allowed to shoot a deer outside of 200yds. There are those that claim no one should be able to use an AR15 when hunting. The many opponents of various shooting technology all have one thing in common:

They want their way to be the only allowed way.

The fact that you've spent time honing your skills as an expert hunter that can get to within whatever range of his prey he would like DOES NOT give you the right to arbitrarily interfere with someone else's style of hunting. Whether it suits you or not. If this kind of thinking were allowed to make its way into rules and regulations... none of us would be allowed to use anything but a pointy stick to go hunting.

Hell yes it offends the hell out of me that some lazy *** couch potato would be allowed to use crap like that to harvest a game animal without ever once having to pit their skills and abilities against that of the animal.

We reach the core of the issue. You put in the time, and you are ****ed that others won't have to. Do you think that just because others won't have to, your effort is wasted? It's this type of thinking that requires people to go to college for a position that has no need for it, but simply because the guy doing the hiring went to college and he wants to make everyone else do it as well. Can you tell me how that has a basis in logic?

I know very well what you are talking about. Many shooters have feared this for a LONG time. The idea that someone can "buy" their way to a 1000yd first-round hit doesn't sit well with the guys that have taken years to perfect the skill. As with any technology, this system will invariably have drawbacks, even if it works flawlessly. There will always be a place for the guys that didn't take shortcuts and put in the time. To think that just because someone buys one of these rifle systems, it puts them on the same level as guys that have been doing it for years is false. It's a fear-driven knee-jerk reaction. Nothing more.

It can't be illustrated more accurately than the same fear induced reactions us long range hunters get. I can tell you with 100% certainty that the last deer I shot did not require me to "pit my skills against the animal." I was close to a thousand yards out, and he was standing around with no clue I was there. Next thing he knew he was on the ground with bullet holes in him. There are many that say this is NOT fair chase, and are dead set against it for morality or ethics reasons, just as you are obviously set against this.

Who is right? Are the people that claim I'm a ruthless killer with no hunting skill because I can kill a deer beyond a thousand yards right? Are you right, to struggle against this latest advancement in technology that will likely propel our sport forward? You know virtually NOTHING about this system. You saw a 2 minute video which was nothing more than a marketing pitch and yet you've already formed a position of opposition.

This seems very reactionary, as is often the case among shooters that try to control how another shooter chooses to pursue the sport.

I've got my own land to hunt on. If I end up not liking these systems, I can decide that no one uses them on my property. What I WILL NOT DO is try to tell other shooters how they should be shooting. If I don't like what they are doing, I don't have to hang out with them. I spent years upon years working on my skills as a marksman and a hunter. I'm not afraid that someone will be able to accomplish the same thing with almost no effort. My journey was required in order to accumulate the knowledge and experience I have. They are no threat to me. I know this because I'm secure in my own position. I don't have to restrict others to be competitive or to maintain my dignity. I don't have to make everyone go through the same pains and trials that I did in order to feel justified in my journey.

Instead, I try to help other people advance faster than I ever did... providing as much knowledge and as many shortcuts for them as I am capable of giving. If they can become as proficient as I without doing the extra work, good for them. I'll be happy to have helped them do it.

Rather than stay latched onto a past that will never come again, I will welcome new technologies and adapt them to my own style. If these rifles perform as advertised, I'll have to try one out. However, there are LOTS of questions that need answered before I would jump at the chance. Before reflexive fear kicks in... I encourage people to think it out before automatically forming an opinion without any of the facts.

For instance, have you given any thought to wind at all? I see nothing in this system that automatically accounts for wind. Even if it did, how does it see the shifting directions and intensity of wind downrange between the firing position and the target? This is just one of several questions that need answered before I will worry about what couch potatoes will use them for.

 

[Mike 338]

No die hard traditionalist here. You won't see me toting a flintlock through the woods. I don't know what it costs or how much it weighs but it would surprise me if it came with a guarantee to put steaks in the freezer. I still don't see why I can't mount a gun in the woods, monitor it from the tent, when the facial recognition identifies my quarry as a trophy, it locks onto it, I takes a sip of cocoa and press the button, ahhhh, trigger. The warmth of the cocoa mug keeps my trigger finger loose and dangerous. Man, that hunt was rough. I tripped on my robe when relieving myself. Hunting's awesome.

Seriously, if this thing gets you into the woods, books guided hunts and puts people to work, I'm all for it. Might be good for fleeing song dogs.

 

[Kanga69]

No it's very simple If I can hit I deer or what ever from a further distance than the next guy it is ONLY because I have done the hard work to built the rifle develop the ammo and develop the skills necessary, I have taken no shortcut, have not relied on technology to this date. And only in the last few days have I even acquired my 1st piece of technology aimed to that end. In the end I have worked far and away harder to develop the ability than I have ever had to work to get within a few 10s of yards. Hell yes it offends the hell out of me that some lazy *** couch potato would be allowed to use crap like that to harvest a game animal without ever once having to pit their skills and abilities against that of the animal, which is the very essence of hunting.

Interesting to say the least. The thread above sums it all up. Someone has chosen to do it differently than you and in your opinion, that makes them a lazy ***. I can assure you, anyone who can afford this system is not a lazy ***! Unless your are clubing animals with a stick you broke from a tree, you are using technology. If you shoot a gun period, thank the chinese for inventing gun powder and a scientist some where making it smokeless to get the ballistics you are achieving today. Your claim to use no technology to date is obserd. Computers have been used to program equipment used to make guns sense they have been in existense. They only technology you havent used, is the technology you havent used to date, in the shooting world. If you choose to keep on like you are, great for you in your persuit. If someone else choosed to do it differently, good for them. It is truly sad that you can sit behind your key board and judge people.

 

[orkan]

It is truly sad that you can sit behind your key board and judge people.

Actually, we're judging him from behind our keyboards as well. Everyone judges everyone else. I don't have a problem with that. What matters is that he's judging someone, and then clearly wants to keep them from doing something as a result of that judgement.

Forming an opinion about something isn't wrong. In fact, its very American and should continue. Acting on that opinion to restrict someone else, well that's not in the best interest of the sport. Not even a little bit. Especially when that restriction is being encouraged from within the shooting community, targeted at other shooters. What's worse yet is a knee-jerk reaction to emerging technologies without understanding in the slightest what they are truly capable of.

Really, it boils down to people wanting others to travel the hard road they traveled in the past for no other reason than they had to travel it. That, combined with a bit of ego in that it's nice to be one of the few that can effectively shoot at long ranges consistently. This happens with every advancement in technology, and in every field... not just shooting.