TrackingPoint Announces It Will Expand Smart Rifle Product Line: Seeks Crowdsourced Input

AUSTIN, Texas, June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TrackingPoint™, creator of the world's first Precision Guided Firearm (PGF) system, today announced the debut of a crowdsourcing campaign for the next phase in its landmark product development efforts. Beginning today and running through July 30, the public is invited to visit the input page on TrackingPoint's product website to offer their opinions on the type and attributes of the next firearm that should be produced with TrackingPoint technology. Due to the extremely high demand for the platform, TrackingPoint currently has a waiting list for existing systems with deliveries scheduled into 2014.

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TrackingPoint's initial offerings include .338 Lapua Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum bolt action rifles. According to Jason Schauble, TrackingPoint chief executive officer, seeking crowdsourced input from hunters and other gun owners is a natural move, given his company's applied technology orientation.

"TrackingPoint is a technology company, first and foremost. As such, we believe in using tech tools to stay in touch with our customer base, generate feedback to make our products better, and help us decide what to do next," Schauble said. "The public is showing overwhelming interest in us as a leader in the next era of firearms, so it was an easy decision to solicit their input directly in this way."

TrackingPoint's PGF system is changing real-world marksmanship by enabling a shooter to track and hit moving targets at extreme ranges, and enabling mastery within minutes. The shooter first "tags" the target by pressing a tag button; once pressed, he sees a red dot in his heads-up display that persists on the target, regardless of relative movement. The system immediately calculates an exact firing solution factoring in range, wind (manual input), target velocity, shot angle, rifle cant, temperature, barometric pressure and other factors.

Once calculations are complete, the shooter sees a blue X in his display. The shooter arms the system by squeezing and holding the guided trigger, at which time the X turns red. When the shooter aligns the red dot, which represents what he wants to shoot, with the red X, which represents what he has to do to make that shot given all of the variables (updated 54 times per second), the system will fire. The shooter is always in control and can abandon the shot at any time by releasing the trigger and pressing the tag button to clear the tag.

The core of the smart rifle is a ballistic computer that calculates a specific ballistic solution based on a profile of the rifle and ammunition. It's possible for TrackingPoint to develop a ballistic solution for any rifle platform; by integrating a Guided Trigger and Networked Tracking Scope, any rifle can become a Precision Guided Firearm.

To vote on the Shotmade.com/future crowdsourcing page, visitors start by choosing either a bolt-action or semi-auto platform. Under each platform, a number of popular calibers are offered: .243 WIN, 5.56 NATO, 300 BLK, 6.5 mm, .270 WIN, .308 WIN, .30-06, .25-06 REM, 7mm REM, and 375 H&H. The most popular choices will make their debut as TrackingPoint expands its offerings.

Giveaways will be awarded for every hundredth response submitted on the Shotmade.com crowdsourcing page through the end of July.

About TrackingPoint
TrackingPoint is an Austin, Texas-based applied technology company that created the first Precision Guided Firearm, a revolutionary new long-range shooting system that puts jet fighter lock-and-launch technology in a rifle, enabling anyone to accurately hit targets at extended ranges. www.tracking-point.com

SOURCE TrackingPoint