Rifle accuracy. Accuracy and integrity - the new "Precision" rifle is designed for the sniper elite

April 20th, 2016

TrackingPoint presented ultra-precise small arms equipped with a computerized sight. With the M1400 rifle, even novice shooters can hit targets at distances of over a kilometer more effectively than professional snipers with weapons equipped with classic optical sights.

The new model is a .338 Lapua Magnum magazine-fed, bolt-action sniper rifle.
According to the technical description, with the M1400 the shooter can engage targets at a distance of 1,400 yards (1,280 m) moving at speeds of up to 32 km/h.

At the same time, the probability of hitting a target with the first shot is 91% - an unattainable performance for other small arms with optical sights.

A family of hunting and sniper rifles under the general name “Precision Guided Firearms” (high-precision guided weapons) is developed and sold in the United States by the private company Tracking Point. The concept of the Tracking Point weapon was based on the experience of its founder, John McHale, who repeatedly and without much success during an African hunt tried to hit a fast-moving target located at a distance quite significant for hunting, about 300 meters. As a result, in 2009, McHale developed the concept of a shooting complex designed to automate as much as possible and thereby simplify the process of preparing and firing a shot at a target located at a distance unknown to the shooter in advance and moving at a speed unknown to the shooter. To implement this idea, the rifle complex must automatically be able to determine the range to the target, atmospheric conditions (temperature, air pressure), and take into account the ballistic characteristics of the weapon and cartridge used. However, this approach, which has long been implemented in a number of computerized sighting systems, still does not in any way exclude shooter errors caused by, say, hand tremors due to fatigue or stress, or erroneous determination of corrections for target speed. Therefore, in its developments, TrackingPoint went further, using a number of ideas and technologies for automatic recognition and tracking of targets that have long been used in combat aviation.

Tracking Point's Precision Guided Firearm system consists of two basic components - a computerized sighting system and a specially modified rifle.

The sighting system includes a television camera with an optical lens of variable magnification, a computing unit, an interface unit and a liquid crystal color display on which the image from the television camera is displayed with information from the built-in computer superimposed on it. In addition, the sight includes a laser rangefinder, environmental sensors (temperature, pressure), weapon position sensors, and a low-power laser “zero control” sensor (for automatically aligning the sight to the position of the weapon barrel). The sighting system also contains a block of interfaces, including a wired interface for controlling the rifle’s trigger mechanism and a wireless Wi-Fi interface for two-way communication with external devices (tablet computer, smartphone, smart glasses, etc.). External devices can be used to duplicate and record images from the sight, and also, in the future, to control the shooting complex or exchange data between several complexes and devices in a group.

This is what the image looks like on the display of the Tracking Point rifle at the moment of firing

The computerized TrackingPoint sight mounted on the M1400 features a variable zoom with a zoom range of 3x to 21x. In addition, it is equipped with sensors that take into account the trembling of the shooter’s hands, wind direction and speed, air humidity, as well as a range finder and an electric trigger. The total length of the M1400 rifle is 114 cm, the barrel length is 56 cm. The sight is capable of calculating all ballistic corrections in 1 second, and the time from the moment of target acquisition to its destruction is 2.5 seconds. The rifle's stated accuracy is 0.047 MOA (minutes of arc). The model is compatible with ShotView wireless glasses, which transmit images from a computerized sight for hitting targets from cover.

What is a TrackingPoint Computerized Sight?

The M1400 is a precision weapon in TrackingPoint's line of military rifles designed for the US Military and other US military forces. The series also includes the M600 (the "smart" M4) and the M800 (the "smart" replacement for the M110 sniper rifle). The M600, M800 and M1400 models are also sold on the civilian arms market.

"Smart" rifles for the American army

“The M1400, combined with the M600 and M800, will provide the Army and Marine Corps with total battlefield dominance. Extreme distances are no longer the exclusive domain of skilled snipers. With a minimum level of training, any soldier can have a high probability of hitting targets at ranges inaccessible to skilled snipers with classic rifles,” said John McHale, CEO of TrackingPoint.

The manufacturer's stated price for the M1400 is $16,995. For this money, the buyer will receive a sniper rifle with two sets of bipods, three replaceable high-power batteries (each of them provides 3.5 hours of continuous operation), one five-round magazine and a battery charger. TrackingPoint is currently accepting orders for the new rifle, and customer deliveries will begin on September 1, 2016.

In general, the operation of the Tracking Point system in the main shooting mode is as follows. When the sighting system is turned on, the shooter, observing the target on the display, points the aiming marker at the desired point of impact and presses the “mark target” button located in front of the trigger guard. At this moment, the sighting system remembers the image of the target and the position of the desired point of impact on it, determines the range to the target and calculates the ballistic solution for the “rifle + cartridge” complex, taking into account the current environmental conditions. At the same time, the computer begins to track the position of the target and the point of impact marker, updating the ballistic solution in real time, taking into account the movement of the target and weapon. When you press the trigger, the system goes into shooting mode - the aiming mark in the form of an X-shaped crosshair, located on the display taking into account the current ballistic solution, changes color, and then the shooter must align the crosshair of the sight (calculated location of the bullet impact) with the target marker, also displayed on the computer display. Exactly at the moment when the computer-calculated point of impact of the bullet coincides with the tracked target mark, the computer will signal the trigger to fire a shot (provided that the shooter is still holding the trigger pressed). Thus, very high efficiency of firing at targets is ensured, not only at significant distances, but also actively moving at significant speeds.

In particular, for rifles of caliber .308 Winchester, the ability to hit targets at ranges of up to 800 meters at speeds of up to 24 km/h is claimed; for rifles chambered for .338 Lapua, these characteristics reach 1200 meters and 40 km/h. When shooting with conventional weapons, such conditions require extremely high shooter skill and a fair amount of luck; Using the Tracking Point system, such shots become available to average shooters.

Currently, the Tracking Point system is only at the beginning of its development. It has a number of disadvantages, such as the very high cost of the complex (from 15 thousand dollars and above), binding to a specific type of ammunition for each rifle, and relatively short battery life, but all of them can be solved in the near future. For military use, this system will need to have backup sighting devices in case of failure of electronics or batteries, full-fledged secure wireless communication interfaces and the ability to operate in electronic warfare conditions, increased reliability and resistance to external conditions.

However, this is not impossible, and such complexes can have a wide variety of applications not only on sniper rifles, but also on various automatic weapons. For example, such a complex, after improvement, can be used for targeted fire at several pre-marked targets in one series of shots. In this version, after marking targets, the shooter will simply move the weapon from one target to another, holding the trigger pressed, and the weapon itself will shoot only accurately at the selected targets, automatically stopping fire as soon as the next target disappears from the crosshairs, and automatically resuming shooting after accurately aiming at the next target. And this is far from the only possible scenario for using TrackingPoint technologies in the near future.

Back in 2015, American cybersecurity experts found a way to intercept control of the sight of a Tracking Point homing rifle.

As you know, the Tracking Point sight allows you to mark a target using a special button and set various variables (air temperature, wind speed and cartridge weight). Then the shooter must pull the trigger and align the aiming mark with the mark made. When aligned, the reticle will turn red and the rifle will automatically fire, Wired reports.

To intercept control of the sight, experts took advantage of the fact that the rifle has a Wi-Fi module, which is designed to allow its owner to wirelessly transfer images from the sight to an iPad or iPhone.

When Wi-Fi is turned on, the network connection is protected by a standard password, which, if cracked, can give access to the rifle, and using vulnerabilities in the installed software, you can, for example, make adjustments to the variables that determine which target will be hit.

The hackers were able to find out what these variables were after they dismantled one of the two rifles they had.

Experts made a special video in which they demonstrated how accurately a rifle can be reconfigured. The reprogrammed weapon hit the bull's-eye on a target that was located next to the original target, and it was also shown how the shot could be completely canceled or the computerized sight could be permanently disabled.

It is noted that the vulnerabilities do not allow the weapon to fire spontaneously.

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The new domestic sniper rifle “Accuracy” is ready for delivery. The first batch will be sent to the Federal Security Service (FSO). This was announced by the General Director of the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (TSNIITOCHMASH) Dmitry Semizorov.

Long range accuracy

As he said in a conversation with a journalist FBA "Economy Today" military expert Dmitry Drozdenko, given that the developer of the new rifle is TsNIITOCHMASH, we can conclude that the weapon that passed the test is a “good machine.”

“TSNIITOCHMASH is one of our main developers of various high-precision weapons. Based on their developments, underwater assault rifles and the most modern Russian pistols were made, and the famous “Ratnik” kit was assembled. It is safe to say that what comes out of the scientific segment of this institute is definitely a high-quality weapon, because there is a very large historical scientific, development and production base of the highest level dating back to Soviet times. This will definitely be a good car,” notes Dmitry Drozdenko.

The “Accuracy” rifle was first presented at the “Army-2015” forum. It can be used with two different cartridges - regular and armor-piercing bullets. The basis for “Accuracy” was one of the best Russian sniper systems, the T-5000, after about 210 design changes were made to it. It is this weapon that is regarded as the most promising in terms of replacing foreign rifles in Russian special units. The "Precision" rifle is designed to work at long distances. With its help, you can hit targets at a distance of up to 1.5 kilometers. The weapon has a new caliber for Russia, 7.62x51 millimeters.

Niche weapons

According to experts, the Tochnost rifle is a narrowly niche weapon. Most likely, it will find application in the internal troops and will be used for the needs of the FSB and the Federal Security Service. It is the FSO that will receive the first batch of Tochnost rifles.

This sniper system was developed for the first time in the history of modern Russia and is in no way inferior to foreign analogues in terms of accuracy or firing range. New rifles were immediately developed in conjunction with thermal imaging night and day sights and a laser target designator. The main thing is that it was developed simultaneously with cartridges.

There are two cartridges for each rifle - regular and armor-piercing, which are 25-30% better than foreign analogues. Their calibers are 7.62 by 51 and 8.6 by 68, respectively. The cartridges are manufactured at the Tula and Ulyanovsk cartridge factories. The sniper complex is equipped with an optical sight and a laser rangefinder.

The rifle is entirely made of domestic materials. The exception is the electronic component base in thermal imaging sights.

General Director of TsNIITOCHMASH Dmitry Semizorov reported that tests of a sniper rifle with the self-explanatory name “Accuracy” for the Russian Ministry of Defense have been postponed to 2017.

The situation is quite unusual. The rifle is not only ready and demonstrates excellent performance, but its version for the Federal Security Service has successfully passed state tests. It is expected that in the near future a government decree will be signed on the adoption of “Accuracy” into service with the FSO.

The postponement of testing predetermined that the Ministry of Defense requires much more rifles than the FSO. Therefore, the issue of mass production of weapons is extremely relevant. And here “Precision” has a weak point - it is partially made from imported materials. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense was forced to retroactively make changes to the technical specifications regarding the manufacturing technology of the product. Since the technical specification was issued even before anti-Russian sanctions were introduced.

The “Accuracy” sniper rifle is an atypical product for the domestic defense industry. Because it was developed and manufactured by the private company Promtekhnologii. The company was registered in Moscow in 2011. And initially it was focused on the production of only civilian products - hunting rifles and sporting rifles. For example, at one time the Russian biathlon team competed with its weapons. Soon the T-5000 combat sniper rifle was created. All Promtekhnologii weapons are produced under the ORSIS brand. What does "Weapon Systems" mean?

"Promtekhnologii" is a dwarf enterprise in comparison with such monsters of the arms industry as the Kalashnikov concern, the Tula Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau, the Kovrov Plant named after. Degtyareva. It employs only 150 people - designers, machine operators, and managers.

However, the intellectual potential is not limited to the designers of Promtekhnologiya alone. The company maintains partnerships with a number of research institutes and technical universities, which conduct scientific research and take part in design work on a contractual basis.

At the very beginning, the post of Deputy General Director of Promtekhnologii was held by Alexey Rogozin- son of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister for military-industrial complex issues. This largely explains the fact that a private company was allowed into the “holy of holies” - among the companies allowed to compete for defense orders.

However, under Rogozin Jr., the company only managed to register and “get on its feet.” A year and a half later, he was promoted.

At the beginning of 2012, when information appeared that the T-5000 rifle was applying for entry into the Russian army as a sniper weapon, the fastest and least competent media outlets were full of headlines: “The Rogozin Jr. rifle will replace the Dragunov sniper rifle in the army.” The fact is that Promtekhnologii has much more modest ambitions, and the T-5000 belongs to a different class of weapon than the SVD. And there can be no replacement here, even theoretically.

SVD is a mass-produced weapon with automatic reloading. This rifle has less range and accuracy. SVD is used by snipers with basic training and little experience. T-500 is a sniper complex for high-precision shooting. This rifle does not have any automatic equipment; reloading is done manually. Due to the fact that precision technologies are used in manufacturing, the weapon is of significantly higher quality. So, when cutting the barrel of a mass-produced weapon, even a sniper, several passes of the cutter are made. The T-5000 barrel is cut in one pass. There is a certain difference in the quality of the materials used - steel for the barrel and for the rifle mechanisms.

There cannot be many high-precision weapons in the regular army for economic reasons. Because it is very expensive compared to weapons that are widely used in the army. There is a civilian model ORTIS SE T-1500 on sale, the cost of which is about 200 thousand rubles.

A number of rifles were transferred to units of the Ministry of Defense for trial use in 2013. As military comments accumulated, the designers of Promtekhnologii adjusted the weapons. The main comments were made regarding the “greenhouse” operating conditions. Because the combat conditions are different from those that exist in the shooting range. At the same time, work was carried out to improve shooting qualities, although there were no comments on this part. As a result, a modernized rifle was born, which was called “Accuracy”. It is clear that this is a working name, which does not fit into the army tradition of assigning abbreviations to small arms.

If the T-5000 has a firing range of 1650 meters, then the new model has increased it to 2000 meters. One of the main advantages is the highest accuracy. The maximum deflection of bullets when firing in the absence of wind in the T-5000 is less than half an arc minute, which, as is known, is equal to the sixtieth part of a degree. That is, in a series of 3-5 shots, all bullets end up in a circle with a diameter of 1.3 centimeters for every 100 meters of distance. Accordingly, at a distance of 1000 meters the spread will be about 13 centimeters. The modified rifle has even higher accuracy.

The shooting accuracy is also impressive, which is due to the extremely low manufacturing tolerances of the barrel, literally counting down to microns. As well as low recoil and minimal effort required to press the trigger. At the same time, the sight supplied to Promtekhnologii by the Dedal company ensures shooting at any time of the day in any weather conditions.

The designers of Promtekhnologii adhere to conservative views on the design of the rifle. It is a classic - a bolt-action repeating sniper rifle. CEO of the company Alexander Fedotov argues that the classical scheme is far from exhausted and does not require any original innovations. The quality of shooting should be increased by introducing new technologies - increasing the accuracy of machining, using materials of the highest quality. At the same time, several machines used in the manufacture of weapons were independently created by the company. These include, for example, a barrel cutting machine.

Of course, in order to facilitate the sniper’s work, the weapon must be individualized as much as possible - that is, it must be given the opportunity to “customize” it to the shooter. The ORTIS rifle has many adjustments both in geometry and in the effort applied by the sniper.

The rifle is chambered for three different cartridges: 7.62x51 mm (.308 Winchester), 7.62x67 mm (.300 Winchester Magnum) and 8.6x70 mm (.338 Lapua Magnum). Barrel length depending on the cartridge used: 508/671/698.5 mm. Length of the rifle when unfolded: 1270/1060/1230 mm. Weight: 6.1/6.3/6.5 kg. Magazine for 5 and 10 rounds. Data on the upgraded rifle, called "Accuracy", has not been reported. But, undoubtedly, if they differ, it will be only slightly.

The T-5000 has already proven itself in sniper business. With its help, Russian sniper teams from various law enforcement agencies won international competitions.

If the new rifle is put into service, it will not replace the SVD, but a weapon similar in purpose and capabilities. In particular, Promtekhnologii is targeting sniper rifles Steyr-Mannlicher SSG-08 purchased in Austria with a manually reloaded sliding bolt with a NATO cartridge of 7.62×51 mm. This rifle has worse range and accuracy than the T-5000. Also, the Finnish sniper rifle Sako TRG-22 has been “registered” in the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, which, with exceeding characteristics, will be replaced by “Accuracy”.

According to experts, the T-5000 is not inferior to the best foreign models, and in some ways it is significantly superior to them. Thus, the British company Accuracy International, considered a trendsetter in sniper fashion, produces a rifle of the same design with a bolt-action L96A1, which has a maximum firing range with the most powerful cartridge of 1500 meters. At the same time, the accuracy of 7.62 mm cartridges is excellent - 0.4 arc minutes. But with powerful cartridges it increases to 0.7 minutes. The T-5000 has 0.5 minutes. But at the same time, a British rifle costs much more - from 12 to 20 thousand dollars, depending on the modification.

And in conclusion, it is necessary to explain why the general director of NIITOCHMASH is commenting on the situation with the “alien” rifle. The fact is that NIITOCHMASH is the lead developer of the “Ratnik” military equipment. In addition to a suit, body armor, and shoes, the equipment also includes various technical devices, as well as different types of weapons. Moreover, this is not only an individual weapon, but also an “elite” one, issued individually to large units.

Will the Russian rifle be able to oust “foreign women” from special forces?

General Director of TsNIITOCHMASH Dmitry Semizorov announced that tests of a sniper rifle with the self-explanatory name “Accuracy” for the Russian Ministry of Defense have been postponed to 2017.

The postponement of testing predetermined that the Ministry of Defense requires much more rifles than the FSO. Therefore, the issue of mass production of weapons is extremely relevant. And here “Accuracy” has a weak point - it is partially made from imported materials. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense was forced to retroactively make changes to the technical specifications regarding the manufacturing technology of the product. Since the technical specification was issued even before anti-Russian sanctions were introduced.

At the very beginning, the post of Deputy General Director of Promtekhnologii was held by Alexey Rogozin, the son of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister for defense industry issues. This largely explains the fact that a private company was allowed into the “holy of holies” - among the companies allowed to compete for defense orders.

However, under Rogozin Jr., the company only managed to register and “get on its feet.” A year and a half later, he was promoted.

If the T-5000 has a firing range of 1650 meters, then the new model has increased it to 2000 meters. One of the main advantages is the highest accuracy. The maximum deflection of bullets when firing in the absence of wind for the T-5000 is less than half an arc minute, which, as is known, is equal to the sixtieth part of a degree. That is, in a series of 3-5 shots, all bullets end up in a circle with a diameter of 1.3 centimeters for every 100 meters of distance. Accordingly, at a distance of 1000 meters the spread will be about 13 centimeters. The modified rifle has even higher accuracy.

The designers of Promtekhnologii adhere to conservative views on the design of the rifle. It is a classic - a bolt-action repeating sniper rifle. The company's general director, Alexander Fedotov, claims that the classic scheme is far from exhausted and does not require any original innovations. The quality of shooting should be increased by introducing new technologies - increasing the accuracy of machining, using materials of the highest quality. At the same time, several machines used in the manufacture of weapons were independently created by the company. These include, for example, a barrel cutting machine.

The T-5000 has already proven itself in sniper business. With its help, Russian sniper teams from various law enforcement agencies won international competitions.

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The new Russian rifle “Tochnost” has successfully passed tests and is ready for delivery

Long range accuracy

As military expert Dmitry Drozdenko said in a conversation with a journalist from FBA Economy Today, given that the developer of the new rifle is TsNIITOCHMASH, we can conclude that the weapon that passed the test is a “good machine.”

Niche weapons

This sniper system was developed for the first time in the history of modern Russia and is in no way inferior to foreign analogues in terms of accuracy or firing range. New rifles were immediately developed in conjunction with thermal imaging night and day sights and a laser target designator. The main unique feature of the Precision is that it was developed simultaneously with the cartridges.

The rifle is entirely made of domestic materials. The exception is the electronic component base in thermal imaging sights.