New Sighting System Too High Tech?

[Ky Larry]

Interesting Idea but putting WiFi, GPS, gyroscopes, lasers, and blue tooth on a AR-type rifle is a bit much. YMMV.

www.techcrunch.com/2015/01/07/trackingpoint-takes-dead-aim-at-the-future-of-firearms-targeting/

 

[Thermactor]

Too Big Brotherish for me. I'm starting to look at electronics with serious suspicion.

 

[Ky Larry]

Thermactor, the more I think about electronics on weapons, the less I like them,too. I have a Kimber Custom Defender II .45 ACP pistol. Great shooter. I put a set of Crimson Trace grips on it. I was at the range on day shooting it and picked up my CZ-75 9mm. I automaticly tried to push the button for the laser and also realized I was holding the pistol at chest level. I was looking for the dot instead of the sights. I was picking up some very bad SD habits. Took the CT grips off. YMMV.

 

[Tirod]

It's been noted before that your SD guns should all be the same in terms of controls. There's not inadvertent button pushing or discovering it won't fire at the wrong moment, if you would believe the worst case situation.

Note carefully the MIL/LEO use the stuff on their weapons, but only in small teams who practice frequently with it and the layout doesn't change. The average armed soldier doesn't get all that stuff, despite the over hyped SOPMOD poster of toys. And in the field the average soldier only takes what is absolutely necessary to cut weight.

Civilian carriers do the same, pistol weights drop over the years as people discover the heavier guns are uncomfortable. The holy grail of guns and holsters is to never notice them dragging down your pants, we've yet to get to that and never will. An aside - the average cowboy wore his holster low not because he needed a fast draw, but because the clothing styles of the day offered no belt and it was more comfortable in the saddle with it in his lap - not cinched tight around his waist. People haven't changed.

There is also the increased risk of things failing - optics makers still don't offer unbreakable glass for some reason, and milspec doesn't require it, either. Drop that gun on the optic and it could be toast. The new Leupold red dot is finally coming out and they put a steel guard over the lens to fix that issue. Hmm, glass must not be unbreakable.

In the future, mil weapons will have a round counter, basically a knock detector with numerical display but even that will bring another problem with keeping it powered and running. Great to finally change out parts before they fail, but where to put it? etc.

No doubt someone who only carried a Colt Dragoon would look at a Browning HiPower and cluck their tongue at the mechanical complexity. We've almost gone too far with tricky little bits that really don't do anything to prevent negligence. It's still going on. Adding electronic gizmos isn't going to be something the average shooter will be able to handle from the first moment they clamp them to a rail. It will only create the need to practice even more, and likely at an exponential rate. We are supposed to practice enough to keep from getting it wrong - and yet we see gun carriers shooting themselves in a elevator just putting one into a coat pocket . . .

 

[MagnumDweeb]

To each one's own. I don't care for the idea of adding tech to my guns personally. Besides, tech really seems to hate me and will fail at crucial moments when it can so I'm better off with KISS when it comes to guns. I must have some strange magnetic field thingy-a-majiggy.

 

[Trent]

Heck, I went a whole two years before I realized my Nightforce NXS scope had an illuminated reticle.

You have to pull on that "fast zero stop" turret with about 80 pounds of force to turn it on. Actually hurt my thumb doing it the first time. (Wasn't shopping for an illuminated reticle when I bought it and totally missed that 'checkbox' on the spec sheet, so was oblivious that it even HAD one...)

Tech and guns? Nah.

I just want guns that send a projectile out every time I pull the trigger and meet the accuracy requirements for what I'm buying them for.

 

[g.willikers]

Progress.
There's no stopping it.
The crossbow allowed folks to be as effective as expert archers, but without the years of training.
Heat seeking missiles replaced aimed rockets.
And so it goes.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Yeah, that's what I want...

My shooting activities, equipment and habits streamed to a "smart phone".

I guess it'll be at least as safe as the latest starlet's own nude shots or Sony's employee's personal information.

I don't even like shooting in a situation that may be dependent upon battery powered illumination.

Color me unimpressed and unswayed by this new application of technology.

Todd.

 

[JR24]

I've had my AR for coming up on ten years now and I still have the detachable carry handle on it.

Guess I like the simple things.

 

[splithoof]

"Sir, can you help me?……Google Maps told me to turn this way, and now I'm totally lost"

 

[george burns]

Had it dumped it, I use a front night site on all my guns, tac light is separate, and no laser. If I can see it , I can get my front sight on it and do away with it.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Outside of a white light, I'm not a fan of things on firearms that need batteries.

 

[just for fun]

As a child of the 50's, flashlight batteries had a life expand of a few hours! As with all small boys there was something almost magical about flashlights! Many a morning came to me with dead batteries in a flashlight that was left on when I fell asleep. Life long lesson- don't trust batteries!
Fast forward 50 yrs. Now my cheep $20 cell phone can stay on "standby" for days before it needs charging! Typical phone usage is about 5/10 minutes a month. Should the battery "die" in the phone, big deal missed call. But, if the battery "dies" in my weapon's sighting system, I now have that could be described as a VERY expensive club.
Is there a place for today's technology? Of course. It's simply a fact that I have no NEED for it. Shooting plates at 15 yds. with the "guys" is what I enjoy doing now and is about the max range I'm going to shoot a weapon anyway (handgun) 100 yds. for long guns. All mine still have iron sights!
One afternoon at the range a young man did offer to let me shoot his 45 auto with a grip laser light. First shot fantastic. After that seconds passed as I tried to find that red dot! I guess it must be that old dog, new tricks thing, but I'm MUCH better off with the KISS program.

 

[AlexanderA]

Tirod wrote:

An aside - the average cowboy wore his holster low not because he needed a fast draw, but because the clothing styles of the day offered no belt and it was more comfortable in the saddle with it in his lap - not cinched tight around his waist.

I would question this. The low-slug "Buscadero" holster was an invention of Hollywood holster-maker and shooting coach Arvo Ojala. The authentic holsters, back in the days of the actual cowboys, were worn high. (John Wayne never favored the low-slung holster.) Incidentally, to the actual cowboys, their revolvers were tools of daily use. They didn't plan on getting into shootouts. Therefore, secure retention of the weapon was far more important than fast draw.

 

[HankB]

I believe in the KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid - principle, but sometimes new tech is good.

I like the Crimson Trace grips on my S&W 340Sc - aside from the red dot being easier to pick up than the itty bitty sights on this little gun, they also help to practice "point shooting" at home as well. (Usual safety disclaimers apply.)

I got a weapon light for my AR . . . at a gun show a vendor tried to sell me one with about 12 different modes of operation - bright, low level, focus, no focus, various strobes, etc. Uh-uh. I ended up getting a simple SureFire with a simple "on-off" button on the tailcap.

As for this Tracking Point 'scope . . . it seems pretty expensive to get, essentially, a "do over" since you have to designate your target once, verify that you've designated it correctly, and then aim again to shoot. The ballistic computer sounds neat if it really, really will accurately compensate for conditions, target movement, etc., but what seems to be lacking in the reports I've seen is actual group size at long range produced by the system.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I'm currently working on a system that calculates the deer's ZIP code plus 4 and mails him the bullet.

 

[ku4hx]

Reminds me of first generation cell phones: bricks with antennas. By the time these get into the same generation as cell phones currently are, they'll be much more compact. Something on the scale of a C-More sight or similar and about as complicated as an iPhone (or similar) everybody can't seem to live without.

 

[HankB]

Reminds me of first generation cell phones: bricks with antennas. By the time these get into the same generation as cell phones currently are, they'll be much more compact. Something on the scale of a C-More sight or similar and about as complicated as an iPhone (or similar) everybody can't seem to live without.

Riflescopes with integral laser rangefinders have been around for quite a while - Zeiss, Nikon, and Burris all make them - and they are still rather bulky.

Night vision scopes have been around since the US was fighting in Vietnam, and the good stuff is still bulky and expen$ive.

It's going to be a while before something like the Tracking Point system goes mainstream.

 

[Rnelson01]

After pig hunting for 15 years I run dots and lights on every firearm except my deer rifle. Low light and new long life dot sights are going to be standard accessories in the near future. They just work better than iron sights. Range finders are better and this has personally made me a better distance shooter. Most of all my hunting life friends have gone this direction. 5 years ago I thought fiber optic sights were the end all for pistols. Not anymore...

Only exception is my shotgun. I ran a dot on it for turkey hunting. After a couple years it came off because I can point shoot a shotgun very well. Wish I could do that with my pistols.

 

[pert near]

I don't think many folks would accept something like this for hunting. But the military use is obvious. I've been reading & hearing about this Texas company for a year or two now. What I'm wondering, if this shooting system works as advertise, should just anyone be able to buy one? Would hate for our oil-rich enemies to buy a bunch.

 

[kwguy]

should just anyone be able to buy one? Would hate for our oil-rich enemies to buy a bunch.

Are you referring to 'anyone' meaning private citizens as well? Our oil rich enemies can pretty much afford whatever equipment they want. This technology isn't a secret, and anyone with some tech savvy can reverse engineer it. As far as this particular company goes, I'm sure their product will fall under ITAR guidelines.

 

[Rnelson01]

Hunting is very harsh on weapons. Dust then rain and a long ride on a 4wheeler will test any scope. Using your equipment every weekend in all conditions including night. We hunt out of open rangers/jeeps. I believe hunting is much more demanding on equipment than a lot of shooting sports.