![]() ![]() At 1000 yards, the bullet loses about 20 feet (6 meters) of height, and so when you tag a target with the tracking scope, the field of view immediately shifts down, by an amount proportional to the target's distance. As demonstrated by MythBusters, a bullet is affected by gravity as it flies, losing height at the same rate as it would if dropped directly out of your hand. The reorientation is to take into account the "drop" of the shot. It's reminiscent of a fighter jet heads-up display.Įnlarge / A visual explanation of TrackingPoint's "Tag-Track-Xact" system. This disconnect between trigger pull and firing can be weirdly disconcerting.Īll of the interaction with the rifle's computer is done through the computerized tracking scope, which displays an image of the world in front of the rifle, overlaid with data. 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, depending on how steady your aim is. The oddest thing about firing TrackingPoint's rifles, the thing wildly different from a standard hunting rifle, is the trigger mechanism. ![]() 338 LM-chambered XS1, on which we spent most of our range time. I've fired a small number of bolt-action rifles before, but nothing as big as the. The XS1's versatility is likely worth more to that kind of buyer than its price difference (about $22,000, compared to the XS3's $17,000). This makes sense: the XS1 has the longest effective range of the three PGFs, up to 1200 yards, and the type of customer able to purchase TrackingPoint's high-dollar products is also the type of customer who likely does a whole lot of hunting, at home and abroad. You might be led to think that the lighter XS3 is the most popular of the three rifles, but TrackingPoint VP Bret Boyd actually says that they've sold more of the. The Precision Guided Firearm is a "whole widget" type of thing-it's not just a fancy scope on top of a fancy gun, but rather a tightly integrated system coupling a rifle, an ARM-powered scope running a modified version of Angström Linux (with some custom BitBake recipes and kernel modules to support the rifle's proprietary hardware), and a linked trigger mechanism whose weighting is controlled by the scope. Earlier this year, Ars reported on TrackingPoint's " Precision Guided Firearm" at CES, where the 59-employee company was giving the press a sneak-peak at their product before its official introduction at the Shot Show convention a week later. We were plinking targets with $17,000+ Linux-powered hunting rifles, made by a small Austin company called TrackingPoint. Of course, Steve isn't some kind of super mutant marksman-he had a bit of help. (The time & date displayed at the bottom of the scope are incorrect.) Through the shooting glass The spotter can be heard noting that the round impacts "center mass," or directly in the middle of the target. It also takes several seconds after the trigger is pulled (reticle turns red) for the rifle's computer to judge the alignment as favorable enough to fire. ![]() The shot-drop reorientation at this range is clearly visible. He has never fired a rifle before today.Ī shot with the XS1 at 1,008 yards (922 meters). 338 Lapua Magnum round directly onto a target about the size of a big dinner plate at a range of 1,008 yards-that's ten football fields, or a tick over 0.91 kilometers. Even though I'm expecting it, the rifle's report is startling when it fires.Ī second later, the spotter calls out, "That's a hit!" On the iPad's screen, his reticle shifts from blue to red and drifts toward the marked target. Steve pulls the trigger, but nothing immediately happens. He leaves the device in my hands and looks through a conventional high-powered spotting scope at the target Steve has selected. "Good tag," replies the spotter, watching on the iPad. Steve lines up on his target downrange-a gently swinging metal plate with a fluorescent orange circle painted at its center-and depresses a button to illuminate it with the rifle's laser. The spotter and I monitor Steve's sight through an iPad linked to the rifle via Wi-Fi, and we can see exactly what he's seeing through the scope. We're outdoors at a range just north of Austin, Texas, and the wind is blowing like crazy-enough so that we're having to dial in more and more wind adjustment on the rifle's computer. My photographer, Steve, squints through a computerized scope squatting atop a big hunting rifle. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |