TrackingPoint is a company in crisis. After firing their CEO, CFO and 30 additional employees, one wonders whether the company can maintain their lead in the “really awesome high-tech rifle” market. Then again, it isn’t hard to do when you’re the only player on the field. Building off their success with the XS2 line of rifles, TackingPoint is now expanding into a .338 Lapua Magnum platform (compared to the .300 Win Mag) with an effective range of 1,200 yards (200 further than the last generation) that should be very interesting to see in action. If only we had a 1,200 yard range to test it on. It’s still over 400 yards shy of the 1 mile mark, but we’re getting there. Press release after the jump.
TrackingPoint Announces XS4 338 Lapua Magnum Smart Rifle
Precision-Guided Firearm Combines Power of .338 Lapua Magnum
Surgeon XL™ Action With Form Factor of Lighter, Smaller XS3 Hunting Model
Pflugerville, Texas — (December 12, 2013) — TrackingPoint™, creator of the world’s first Precision Guided Firearm (PGF) system, today announced the newest addition to its smart rifle line, the XS4 338 Lapua Magnum. Combining the power of a large caliber rifle with a smaller McMillan A5 hunting stock, the XS4 delivers both stopping power and convenience, integrated with TrackingPoint’s revolutionary TTX (Tag Track Xact) technology—the most accurate targeting system on the market today. The company also announced that it intends to announce additional new PGF models at the 2014 NSSF SHOT Show, January 14-17, 2014 in Las Vegas.
Like TrackingPoint’s XS1, the new XS4 has a maximum TTX range of 1,200 yards, the longest effective range offered by the company. The precision rifle’s performance is driven by a bolt-action, .338 Lapua Magnum Surgeon™ XL action. The rifle’s 27-inch, Krieger™ cut-barrel is fitted in a traditional-style, adjustable McMillan A5 chassis. It also features TrackingPoint’s longest parallax-free zoom: 6 to 35X.
“Our customers have been asking for the power of our 338 Lapua Magnum smart rifles in the form factor of our popular XS3 hunting model,” said John Lupher, Chief Technology Officer for TrackingPoint. “One of the best parts of working with our community of TrackingPoint PGF owners is that we can learn from their feedback and develop products to suit customer needs as our company grows.”
Pre-orders for the XS4 are now being accepted. The rifle will be demonstrated at the 2014 NSSF SHOT Show as well as at other industry trade shows in the coming year. To learn more about the XS4, go to www.tracking-point.com.
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
I wonder where you buy the replacement Dilithium crystals for it?
That thing runs on tears from anti gun politicians.
Maybe tears from real riflemen?
Im with jwm on this one.
There is some sense of pride and reward when you make a long distance shot and you manage to hit. This is only good for people wanting to buy themselves skills. Same applies to using “too” powerful scopes (think 4x scope at under 100 metres).
Still won’t buy wind calling skill. Look at every demo they have, they have a experienced spotter calling the wind for the inexperienced shooter. Which is the hardest part of long range shooting, it is why the spotter has been traditionally the more experienced shooter in a sniper pair. You have to input the wind call, the scope can’t read the wind yet. And for the .338 1200 isn’t that far of a shot.
Then there is the part about what the wind is doing 1000 yards downrange. Wind can change direction and speed many times over that distance.
Clearly the 1200 yard limit is due to the gizmos, not the round. The round has been known to get the job done at well over 2000 meters/2200 yards.
I’ve promised myself a 338L someday, when I get good enough with .308 to justify it. I’ve even (tentatively) selected the Sako TRG-42. All I need is to use Vihtavouri powder in the handloads and it would be consistent Suomi awesomeness.
Stopping power AND convenience!? That’s like having a brake shop inside a 7-11! Take my money now!
I think they cornered themselves in this market of their own. making a scope that only works on their rifle and at that specified caliber. Why not go with something a little more flexible. If my smart phone can tell me the drop and windage position for any round, any rifle, any distance, any wind condition; Then why can’t this very expensive scope? It has been a neat concept, I do feel its a way to point and click your way with $$ instead of skills. It should instead be used to augment already developed skills, and I am sure it’s also banned from any serious competition further mitigating its success. too many serious shooters look down on this product for multiple reasons. Cost, Ruggedness, Electronic devices in a survival situation = non-survival, and everything I mentioned above. the only takers of this thing are rich mall ninjas.
Some of those 338 Lapua bullets have an incendiary device at the tip, which is a heat-seeking device. You don’t shoot deer with a bullet that big, if you did you could cook it at the same time!
Just kidding – but there are people who actually believe that. One of ’em is in Congress.
Someone should make a Tracking-Point-like scope for pistols, but with facial recognition software as found in smart phones. Pull the trigger and aim the gun frivolously in the general direction. One shot, one kill.
Ah, the thin end of the our soon-to-be-robot-overlord’s wedge shaped plan. Death to Tracking Point, learn to shoot and slugs are hell on robots.