Slashdot Mirror
Sniping Could Be the Next Killer iPod App
An anonymous Coward writes "Knights Armament Corp. who supply sniper rifles to the US military have developed a iPod Touch mounting system and software for the US Army M110 sniper rifle system. The use of off the shelf hardware no doubt cut costs and allowed rapid development of this system." If it automatically played a theme song after every head shot, this would be the coolest rifle accessory ever.
Forget my aimpoint and NV gear...hook me up with the FLIR-enabled Ipod!
MMMONSTER KILL
Photo face recognition can help you identify who you just shot!
So this really is a killer app...
The Knights Armaments page on both the software and the mounting system.
Really allows you to reach out and touch someone with your iphone.
Test your net with Netalyzr
If it automatically played a theme song after every head shot, this would be the coolest rifle accessory ever.
Am I the only one who found this attempt at humor disturbing and objectionable?
(And yes, I know my comment will get me modded down, but I strongly doubt I'm alone in thinking a real life killing is quite different from killing in an FPS.)
"We can categorically state we have not released man-eating badgers into the area." - UK military spokesman, July 2007
The military was the last bastion of "pen and paper" score tracking. Thanks to Apple's great products and a little ingenuity, the DoD finally has a tool to automatically keep track of scores. All we need now is a database for it to upload to automatically via wireless, and we can have a global real-time kill count and score!
Crackin' Wise - Blogging about whatever we want
No, you won't. Apple always gets a free pass, because they're "hip".
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." --H.L. Mencken
Now in the middle of a "situation", snipers will get a "you have already authorized this iPod on 5 sniper rifles" error...
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." --H.L. Mencken
No, I think that was just ESR making sure he gets his order in...
My blog
Stop looking for things to be offended by.
Is the iPod an accessory for the rifle or is it the other way around?
Wish I could read TFA... short of being able to see what the point is this is just stupid.
Your iPhone was rebooting!
I can see it now, "Special Flops"... *lol*
This should help not just snipers but hunters and perhaps some day main force ground troops. At the listed link, the article's author states that the application software is available at the iTunes store. Contrary to some stories on the 'net, it is a general rifle ballistics application that allows someone to enter a different rifle and ammunition profile. So it's good for less specialized rifles, and not just the M110.
The article didn't mention the availability of the mounting hardware. It attaches an iPod Touch mounted in an Otterbox protective case to a side-mounted picatinny rail. That seems much more handy in combat situations than digging an iPod out of one's pocket. This is what makes it not just another ballistics app for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Mounting it on the rifle could be a big deal in certain situations, and lots of rifles can be fitted with picatinny rails on the side.
.. I thought it would be an article about sniping eBay bids at the last second from my iPod.
Slashdot's name? When my compiler sees
So much for "Don't ask, don't tell."
My eastern-european friends didn't like being sent cryptically named .wav files containing the Starcraft audio "WE REQUIRE MORE VESPENE GAS", either.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
And now you can shoot from the "hip"
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
Seems like it would be a problem w/r/t revealing the sniper's position.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
This is awesome :)
Where can I buy one?
will have an online list of who is being targetted in real time.
Nullius in verba
.... To point out this YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXh3EfX_CqA&eurl=http://video.google.ca/videosearch?q=igun&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=&feature=player_embedded
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Because what every sniper needs is to have his face lit up when he's trying to remain hidden.
You can install Rockbox on the Ipod but then you need the gun mounting for the BFG-9000.
[Insert pithy quote here]
But they are charging an arm and a leg for the wifi seeking missiles they are selling to our enemies.
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
This just in: the Dept of Defense has categorized the iPod Touch as munitions and therefore cannot be exported without a DoD license.
Ibid.
Are you playing too many video games mixing up reality with fiction?
What kind of reality do you have stored in your brain - playing music as result of destroying another human - howsoever you are trying to justify it?
Yes - this is a flame!
I can't believe this kind of crap is going on on /. - maybe it's time to move on or start filtering...
Yucc!
I doubt it'd be used much in the field, at least not without some heavy modification to the iPod. I can't imagine it's resilient enough to meat mil-spec standards off-the-shelf. Once it's out there, I'd bet the spotter uses it more to get rapid numbers to feed to the shooter than the shooter uses it. The spotter can keep it mostly concealed and hide the light.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
This is just the beginning. Next thing we know, we'll be seeing WMDs with Apple logos on them. I see it now: the iBomb (tm)
Computing ballistics in the field has been an ongoing issue for long-range shooters, as determining the required elevation & windage settings for precision shots depends heavily on a variety of factors (wind speed, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, bullet weight, ballistic coefficient, barrel length, powder burn rate, barrel twist, target angle, distance, and even latitude & direction). Until recently, sharpshooters/snipers addressed the problem by computing ballistics tables ahead of time, memorizing or taking paper copies into the field, developing a reliable "gut feel", and even using specialized slide rules (ex.: Mil-Dot Master); only recently have portable computers been adapted or built (Palm Pilot, Barrett BORS) to improve situational accuracy. Bringing the iPod Touch into the picture via a convenient mounting system allows tremendous improvement & flexibility in creating applications to solve ballistics problems, as there are already at least 3 apps available, and both professionals & hobbists can easily develop their own apps. That this mounting system is provided by Knights Armament, a well-respected name in high-quality small arms, helps as well.
Those with snide remarks should be aware that (A) this is legitimately needed by military and police to keep your life safe and comfortable, and (B) long-range target shooting is a legitimate and popular sport.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
"Boom HeadShot!"
"Reach out and hit someone!"
(This works with iPhone too right?)
I find it hard to improve this as a creative idea. NEDM.
we killed the website. More deadly than a rattle-snake ... slashdot
Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
Actually this should be played http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2b1D5w82yU
Not to mention that it would probably need to be quite rugged to withstand recoil.
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
Do you calibrate its accuracy like a touchscreen and a stylus? Except with live human heads?
You never expect irony, do you?
Want to be a professional wrestler? Visit www.iyfwrestling.com
@iyfwrestling
I'd consider them blessed that they don't know how it feels afterward, or have the sleepless nights that come with it, or the hot ball of sour sickness that tightens in your gut every time you come under fire.
They may be ignorant, but it is not a failing, just the naivete of youth and living a privileged existence even if it is in very bad taste. In a better world, no one would have to know what it is like.
There are some exceedingly grim jobs in the military.
Some folks never talk about it.
Some folks talk about it.
Some folks become very detached about what they do.
Some folks develop a grim/dark sense of humor.
Don't call someone a cretin or a sociopath because of their coping mechanism. It doesn't mean they enjoy it.
You mad
I was thinking more like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMenB9Ywh2Q
Not a typewriter
One of the "terrists" in the movie aimed and fired an automated rifle mounted in a window using some sort of PDA. I'll have to re-watch now to see which it was.
No, this: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oerOrx4Voz8
use the iphones camera to upload intel via 3g to the base to confirm target identities, maybe even upload gps data. whats the pin to pair with my bluetooth sniper rifle again?
perhaps snippet just short enough to fall under RIAA radar screen
Naw, it's just another cheap ballistics calculator for a PDA, they've been around since Palm/PocketPC days and I wouldn't be surprised if there was one for newton somewhere. A good one ties into your scope automatically. You punch in the figures, aim, and, pow, cake in the rain.
I can hear slashheads exploding.
If this thing's accurate, definitely.
Well you have two options.
Look at the ipod or fumble around with the range pad with all the numbers you calculated beforehand.
You mad
the screen backlight seems a bit counterproductive... "You've been fragged by.."
But I thought Apple was more protective of its branding to an extent of not allowing its computers to be depicted in movies as killing people for example. This application is available from the iTunes store for $11.99; I would have thought Apple would refuse to carry it and they'd have to use hacked devices to run it.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Um..you are all wrong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TDgkOOlbwg
Rage Against The Machine - Bullet In The Head
superman runs linux
I agree.
Soldiers and military contractors playing with (and joking about) new tech is perfectly reasonable.
Internet weenies reveling in the idea of killing people like it is game on the other hand...
("haha! headshot!")
Now if only it would say, "Thanks for standing still, wanker."
I had but a simple dream, to destroy all humans.
please remember to put your iPhone on silent. Thank you.
C-x C-s C-x k
So obviously there are some pretty funny comments on this, and some incredulous "why?" or "won't this give away a snipers position?" posts as well.
To address the latter: /. community can appreciate, projectile ballistics isn't as simple as a game; The hardest I've seen in a game is "move the crosshair around to simulate breathing" Obviously, its more difficult than this, or *everyone* at war would be sitting back at 1200 meters, sniping from safety.
As most of the
When you get into precision shooting, you need to take into account so many factors, it boggles the mind. Muzzle velocity, wind (and wind isn't constant at the point of your muzzle and where the target is, humidity, bullet mass and aerodynamics, barrel twist rate, etc. This ballistics computer helps you input that data, and will spit out how you need to adjust your crosshair to account for all this stuff.
A system like this would also make it easy to log past shot data, which is very important for precision shooters.
I've seen wrist-watch ballistics computers as well; beats the crap out of charts.
As for when it would be used:
In training.
In competitions.
By police snipers in some situations (where, perhaps, concealment isn't important, but getting that first cold-barrel shot exactly on target is.)
By a sniper's spotter, perhaps.
disclaimer: despite my username, I'm not military, nor am I a precision shooter; i've merely had experience shooting as a major hobby.
-- My Sig is a P228.
If you get a no scope?
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
maybe not the US military but I'm sure many of the poorer militaries around the world could use something like this. not to mention hunters everywhere, the majority of whom aren't wealthy.
And maybe some non-governmental enemy combatants?
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I agree.
Soldiers and military contractors playing with (and joking about) new tech is perfectly reasonable.
"Our studies indicate that this type of weapon is totally useless in warfare."
"Well, it's not intended for use in your kind of warfare, Roy. It's the perfect peacetime weapon. That's why its secret."
"So it's both immoral and unethical."
"Yes."
[Laughter all around]
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
No, no such admission has been made. That someone may make light of, e.g., a new technology that could be used to support sniper operations, does not make that person a sociopath. You are simply and patently incorrect.
Depends on the round they're using, and the rifle's setup/weight. A heavy rifle chambered in something smaller (like the 6.8 Remington SPC for example, which has been gaining some favor with the military brass, though it likely doesn't have quite the range for sniper duty) with a muzzle brake can be pretty light recoiling. Certainly light enough that it wouldn't damage anything that used solid state storage.
Problem is that the muzzle brake tends to make a rifle insanely loud. What the sniper gains in reduced recoil probably wouldn't be worth it.
If you use something like 5.56 NATO though (which is the standard infantry round - not normally used for military sniper applications but it's commercial equivalent the .223 Winchester was what was used by the DC snipers several years back), then it's light enough that you wouldn't even need a brake to reduce the recoil.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Coping mechanisms aren't formed when someone does a 'wrong' action, merely a stressful one. How many people in high stress jobs have a drinking or drug problem as their coping mechanism?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_skill
In a normal circumstances I will probably not be exposed to a situation where I will have to kill someone. However, if I'm the victim of a mugging gone bad and I have to kill him or he will kill me, believe that's what will happen. There is no sense of right or wrong, merely that I must survive. It will probably be stressful afterwards, and I will probably adapt dark humor to avoid thinking about it.
And thank you for showing you have no concept of how military chain of command and subordination works.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
You've got the Touch! You've got the power!
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Forgive me for being cynical, but have they just engineered a widget that ties something to something else, both of which happen to be cool? Either that's not news or I'm in the wrong business.
Always back up, never back down. ---- Think you're cool 'cos your uid is prime? Take mine, modulo the one digit integers
If I took a man's life that had a knife to my child's neck, that would not be wrong to me.
However, I may have a hard time coping with it, and there are different paths I could take.
The easiest path may very well be to joke about how I took that bastard out, especially when dealing with others, who feel just that way and that he was a bastard. Consider that I have an uncle, who half of his family disowned, because he didn't kill his daughter's rapist.
Also, if I stick a gun to your head, you just might be able to pull an erection to gay midget porn, that doesn't mean you would like it... or would you learn to like it?
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
This really ads new meaning to the term "kill switch."
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
Look at the ipod or fumble around with the range pad with all the numbers you calculated beforehand.
Sorry, you'll have to be a bit more informative. The closest I've ever gotten to combat is paintball, and as far as I know all rifles have a simple "point and click" interface.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
to make light of death and gallows humor is perfectly acceptable, its a mechanism for catharsis. works of fiction, or natural deaths, these come to mind
but what of real life killing equipment?
how's that funny again?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Eventually you have to do the equivalent of clicking with a larger offset of pixels to get the mouse to click where you want it to compared to where it is pointing.
"You don't know the horrible aspects of war. I've been through two wars and I know. I've seen cities and homes in ashes. I've seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is Hell!" -- General William Tecumseh Sherman, address to the graduating class of the Michigan Military Academy, 1879.
No wonder you posted anonymously; that is the single most tasteless "joke" I've ever seen here, and that's saying a lot. War is easy to joke about for those who've never seen blood and brains spilled in actuality, or experienced the stench of a battlefield.
I guess I'm the only one here who has a hard time believing that a slightly-better-than-standard-grade AR setup with a 20" barrel is considered a "sniper rifle".
Snipers with real hardware based on a Remington bolt action capable of "ragged-hole" MOA would probably be able to actually utilize this tech.
Mounted on MOA hardware, configured in what many would consider a poodle-shooter caliber, is a toy or marketing gimmick. You choose. At least it does pave the way for COTS hardware and fast development.
Well, for reliable sniping at 1000 yards you will want something ballistically superior to the 7.62x51 NATO (.308 Winchester) round/M110 package. .308 Win. bullet transitions from supersonic to subsonic around 625-700 yards, causing the bullet to become unstable and seriously degrading accuracy to unacceptable levels for a sniper/target shooter.
The
That's what the cartridge/rifle packages in the 7mm-8mm magnums (which includes the venerable .300 Winchester and Weatherby Magnums) are best suited for, which cover 1000 yards quite nicely. :-)
Over 1500-1600 yards is the realm of the BMG .50 caliber/rifle packages.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
you are forced to take another human life due to circumstances where your life is threatened
perfectly acceptable
however, during the taking of another human's life, you will find a number of emotional reactions to the event in different people
some will be revulsed and horrified and tormented by what they have done, even though all of society and their own sense of reason and higher faculties completely condones the act as necessary
then another person might find themselves playing the event out inside their mind again and again, and find excitement, titillation, enjoyment even
this person is a sociopath
it is their natural honest emotional reaction to the taking of another human life
that their natural predilection was revealed in a perfectly socially acceptable situation has absolutely no bearing on their inherent nature
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
An iPod touch is a completely solid-state device last I heard. You can turn the WiFi off, and it should be mostly silent except for the light. Toss it in a waterproof case, and you have a fairly robust device, it's a device that many troops already have, and it's cheap as hell as compared to many other specialized pieces of equipment. I'd rather our military not spend more money than they have to... they're already pissing lots of money away tilting at windmills set up by the now previous administration.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Eventually you have to do the equivalent of clicking with a larger offset of pixels to get the mouse to click where you want it to compared to where it is pointing.
So the ipod is acting like a viewscreen? You look at it instead of looking through the sights? Why mount it to the weapon instead of the helmet, then? I'd rather stick just the weapon out from cover rather than the weapon plus my head.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Problem is that the muzzle brake tends to make a rifle insanely loud.
Tell me about it. I have hearing loss in both ears from muzzle blast.
I agree on the 5.56 not having that much recoil. I have not fired a sniper rifle. Most look heavy enough to soak up a lot of energy. I don't know how the .30-06 compares to the 7.62 NATO, but I do know about the '06 recoil, with the scope cut to prove it (eye relief mean never having to say "#&$*@!!!"). I just don't like the idea of electronics on a rifle.
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
but i am going to suppose for the moment you are being perfectly honest
in which case, i applaud your honesty for admitting a brutal truth about yourself
it is completely possible to be a moral psychopath. and what i mean by that is, you realize what and who you are, you get excited from inflicting pain, and your higher faculties works against your inherent nature to keep yourself from committing horrible acts
such a psychopath is actually a preferable person to someone who refuses to explore or accept their essential nature, psychopath or not
ugly honesty is always preferable to pleasant lies, but many people refuse to admit that there are dark corners of their mind. and when such corners remain unexplored, such a person has a potential to go out of control, and inflict real damage to themselves or others
willful blindness is never preferable to a cold reckoning of your darker self, and in such brutal honesty with yourself, you develop a sense of control over your darker side such that you don't bite yourself in the ass by losing control in certain situations
as a corollary, lets suppose for a moment you are a pedophile. you find yourself sexually excited by little boys. person A is horrified by these impulses, denies them, never admits them, runs away from them when they rear themselves. what happens to such a person? they wind up buggering a child in a moment of weakness and loss of control
meanwhile person B depressingly accepts these impulses, learns to recognize their appearance, explores them in their mind, and develops mechanisms for mollifying them and shortcircuiting them, going up to and including reporting oneself to others to prevent oneself to harming a child. a moral pedophile
everyone has a dark side. acceptance of it leads to an ability to control it and prevent it from hurting yourself or others. those who deny their darkside and never explore it, are in danger of succumbing to it and losing control and committing vile acts
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
So is it just me or does this seem to be the equivalent of smoking on the battle field? You know like from in the movies, a soldier lights up a cigarette giving away their position and likely getting shot in the process. Now instead you get your rifle mounted iPod to shine it's back lighting on your face / body to do the same. Seems this wasn't quite thought through.
Cool rifle accessory though.
Regards,
Ryan Pritchard
Fun Extends All Basic Life Expectancies
"by simply admitting they need a coping mechanism, you are making a tacit admission of the wrongness of what they are doing. you don't need a coping mechanism to cope with a neutral experience or a good experience"
Don't forget that "right" and "wrong" are not more than matters of social conditioning which is dictated by current social fashion.
We are taught one set of rules for being good little Wal-Mart shoppers, then find out that those are just absurd in other situations. Part of the lies we are told about how we should behave is that they are more than a convenience for maintaining social order. Some understanding of the utility of situational rule sets would be useful.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Export version for the Israeli army.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
On a real rifle you have to change the settings on the sight to compensate for the effects of wind and range. Bullets follow an arced path, not a straight line like in games. Also, wind has a large and noticeable effect. These calculations are usually precomputed and printed out but this means that you end up having to fudge the numbers a bit because your table only has rough range and windage estimates. This item will compute the proper sight settings to be applied when you enter in the wind speed and direction and the range to the target.
In Soviet Russia meme tires of you!
I can tell you that, on the whole, doctors and nurses have VERY morbid senses of humor and deal with death, disease and dying every single day. I certainly hope that you aren't suggesting we are all sociopaths?
Plenty of tools the military uses can not be used in the same capacity at night. Even normal rifle sights are pretty difficult to use at night.
In Soviet Russia meme tires of you!
Bullshit.
Not all lives have value, and while I have not zapped anyone I've met enough other vets who have to know that assertion is an expression of personal belief and not more. There is no reason to care about taking the life of an enemy unless you have been CONDITIONED by other humans to that reaction.
One is of ones OWN society, so taking the life of an enemy thereof is the reverse of sociopathic! Even the Jihadist kamikaze bombers don't die for hate nearly as much as for religious/social affirmation.
We are conditioned to behave as good Wal-Mart shoppers, but not all life is experienced in happy cheerful chain stores.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
...what the comment "Military tested" on my iPhone protective sheet meant ^^
I always was under the impression that the drop-height should be around 80cm onto concrete floor, without damage. Good luck in performing the tests with "rugged ipods" and re-certifying them. Also i would imagine that a certain degree of maintainability would be required. And checking humidity/temperature/dirt/continuous/vibration stability will also be necessary. The qusetion "how many of these fail after being enclosed in the freight space of an transport plane, beein cooled down, left for a day in +70 degrees in the inside of an box in the sun, dropped when unpacking" is a question which should be answered.
We will see if "cutting the costs" by "of the shelf HW (and SW)", which was not designed to make such certifications easy will be cheap after upgrading it with these certifications.
Over 1500-1600 yards is the realm of the BMG .50 caliber/rifle packages.
Like this guy did? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Furlong
Actually, Carlos Hathcock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock) hacked up an M2 BMG to do stuff like that.
Imagine reading how to do that in "Make" magazine.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
ok google is you friend
BOOM HEADSHOT
1up
HEAD SHOT
loltastic!
These calculations are usually precomputed and printed out but this means that you end up having to fudge the numbers a bit because your table only has rough range and windage estimates. This item will compute the proper sight settings to be applied when you enter in the wind speed and direction and the range to the target.
I thought all that stuff was already built into the scope. Isn't that what all the knobs and such are for?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Yeah, that's the one situation where a DivBy0 error is good news.
The software tells you how much and which direction to turn each knob.
The real question: is Apple okay with the use of its iPod for the purpose of killing people? I guess this won't go down too well with the Apple crowd. On the other hand, Microsoft could benefit from this. "Hi, I'm a Mac, and I kill people". (Not saying Microsoft doesn't kill people, albeit not on purpose).
No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. La---
*thwick!*
Will they ban the manufacture and import of the iPod Touch along with all the other semi-automatic 'assault weapons'?
No, it needs to scream "BOOM HEADSHOT!!!" after after shot.
Nuclear engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
score two for completely supporting my argument
thanks for both
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
the sort of thing with which Apple would their products associated? I mean, aside from the immature, dolts in the slashdot crowd who think boring out someone's skull with a 50 cal is cool there has got to be a lot of folks who are going to frown upon their favorite consumer electronics product being used to facilitate taking human life.
Ballistic calculators for mobile devices isn't new. Exbal has been around for Palm and Windows Mobile devices for several years now. The only interesting thing is that this application was approved by the iTunes Application Store. I guess people are surprised Apple would allow a firearms/shooting related application on the App Store.
I think ballistic calculators on mobile devices is a gimmick anyway. I just use JBM to generate a ballistic table for a specific gun/ammo that I use in competition, make a hard copy, and keep that with the gun (some people even print it out on a small card and tape it to their stock).
if i enjoyed it, i'm a sociopath
Your problem is that you're holding on to outdated views of that some people are "normal" and others are not. Psychology has done away with that a long time ago. Nobody is "normal".
Now we only consider something to be a disorder if it interferes with the normal life of the person in question. It doesn't matter if a soldier is ecstatic after killing others in battle, as long as he never has the need to "get that feeling again" and starts considering killing people he's not supposed to. That would be interfering with his normal life, and he would be a psychopath.
On the other hand, if a soldier gets excited and a sense of adventure in battle, but is completely normal in order circumstances while another is completely distraught at having killed and has nightmares every day since, the person with a disorder is the one that is distraught (its interfering with his life). The one who got excited and giddy and has now adapted just fine to his life after service is perfectly healthy.
Yes, exactly like that! (impressive shot by any measure)
And it was Hathcock's USMC armorer that modified a claw mount to attatch the scope to the M-2 HB BMG's reciever, not Carlos himself. This was a common practice until the .50 caliber sniper rifles became prevalent. (I was issued a 10x50 Unertl target scope in a claw mount for this very purpose)
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
This has been around for ages. It's common ballistic calculator software, but for the iPod. There are multiple similar software packages for Windows Mobile/CE as well as desktop applications dating all the way back to DOS.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
And now you can shoot from the "hip"
Not with a sniper rifle.
I largely assumed that this was the trend -- integrate a laser ranegfinder, upload your ballistic info or use the canned data in the scope, and you get digital data overlay in-scope. It can't be all that long that we get the all-digital scope where the image is entirely digital and not an overlay on an optical image.
I personally think that if they were going to mount something this big on the rifle to use as a ballistics calculator, a GPS with an integrated rangefinder would make much more sense. The GPS could provide elevation deltas between the shooter and the target, barometric pressure, wind speed, and so forth, not to mention being kind of handing for directions..
Anyway, I thought Real Snipers (TM) could do mil-dot calculations in their head.
I have an iphone, fairly happy with it, but I have to say as often as apps randomly crash (mail app crashed 3 times today while typing an email), I wouldn't want to trust my life to it...
WAYYY too much excess crap on that thing in my opinion. Now if they created a custom OS and just used the iPhone/Ipod touch hardware, they might be on to something.
You can't bundle software with accessories (hardware or software for another platform).
I'd be pretty pissed if I bought this fancy iPhone balistics calculator clip thing, got it home and found I had to pay ANOTHER $12 to get the software for it.
I'm sure we'll see more and more accessories like this - A rifle can't be the only thing that's more useful if you clip a specialized calculator or some data entry on it. And while the iPhone/iPod touch probably isn't even the best off the shelf device to use for this type of application, the iPhone still the cool gadget and will get you headlines if you do something weird like this with it.
The opinions in this post are ficticious. Any similarity to actual opinions, real or imagined, is purely coincidental.
When I saw the thing attached to the rifle, the first thing that went through my head was someone was using the accelerometers in there to automatically calculate the distance that the bullet would hit at when shot from the current angle. Given a known load, this should be child's play. You could have a real-time display of how far away your zero is based on where you're pointing the rifle at the moment. When I read the article and found out that it's simply a ballistics program, and the fact that the device is attached to the rifle is irrelevant, I was no longer interested. Really, a ballistics program isn't big news. A way to attach it to the rifle isn't big news, or even particularly useful, necessarily. Actually making good use of the device that's attached to the rifle, *that* would be interesting news.
Actually, a .308 Winchester with the 175gr BTHP (Sierra Match King) bullet can still be supersonic at 1000 yards.
With a muzzle velocity of at least 2650 feet per second, the Sierra MK 30cal 175gr bullet will make it out to and slightly beyond 1000 before it goes subsonic. It has a ballistic coefficient of .495-.505.
The 175gr is the standard bullet used on the US military M118LR 'sniper' round. M118 being the military designator for the ammo, 'LR' meaning Long Range.
You can even get a 22 caliber bullet in a .223 Remington (5.56 NATO) out to a 1000 yards maintaining supersonic flight. While many still use the .308 for 1000 yard Service Rifle competition, the AR15 platform in .223 has taken the Farr Trophy (US National Trophy for 1000 yard Service Rifle). This is accomplished by using an 80gr or heavier bullet. The Sierra Match King 22cal (.224") 80gr BTHP is popular, but the Very Low Drag bullets like the Berger 80gr VLD have a much higher ballistic coefficient and can buck the wind better.
How about "Boom, Headshot!". ;)
Edit: Lameness filter? Wow, talk about fucking dumb. "Boom, Headshot" is supposed to be in all caps. 'Cause, you know, it *is* meant to denote yelling. :rolleyes:
*whoosh!*
I worked for a bit in europe as a sniper with the M24. We used calculators attached to our sleeves to calculate distance vs Mil reticle adjustments. It seems like this might be of use, but the bright screen would be a deal breaker in my opinion. Smoking at night looked like a flare, so a bright ass LCD wouldn't be helpful.
Should I? No really, should I? *fights with self* Geotagging? ... yup definitely going to hell.
Thanks for the update. .308/.30-06) since it fell in the 'dum-dum' expanding projectile category.
When I was in (US Army 1977-1980), we were restricted to either standard ball(used mostly for practice), and Lake City Match ammo(recommended). We could not use the Sierra Match King bullet(my personal favorite for the
Also at that time there were no 5.56 NATO (.223) cartridge/rifle packages that could stay supersonic to 1000 yards.
With the .223, the MEKR (Maximum Effective Killing Range) was 400 meters paired with the M-16.(the only weapon issued for this round at that time)
The MEKR for the .308 was 800 meters in the M-24 and M-14, but extended to 1000 meters used in the M-60 SAW.
The way it broke down for us: .308 Win. .300 Win. Magnum (IIRC, a 180gr.BTSP-can't recall the MV)
0-700 yards=
600-1500 yards=
1400+ yards= clamp the Unertl to a M2 HB BMG
Note: I was deliberately sticking to Mil-Spec/issue ammo/rifle combo's, but was aware of the possibility to handload non-Mil-Spec bullets to velocities to acheive 1000+ yard supersonic flight.
I shot competitively in the 1970-early 1990's, also shot on the US Army rifle team, and handloaded my own civilian rounds for competition, fun, and sport.
"...the AR15 platform in .223 has taken the Farr Trophy..."
What rate of twist is used in this barrel?
Again, thanks for the update. I had no idea I was this far out of date! Gotta go now, interesting research on this subject needs done ASAP! And yes, yes, lots of field trials. :-)
*I think I hear my bank account sobbing*
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Well, for reliable sniping at 1000 yards you will want something ballistically superior to the 7.62x51 NATO (.308 Winchester) round/M110 package. .308 Win. bullet transitions from supersonic to subsonic around 625-700 yards, causing the bullet to become unstable and seriously degrading accuracy to unacceptable levels for a sniper/target shooter.
The
That's what the cartridge/rifle packages in the 7mm-8mm magnums (which includes the venerable .300 Winchester and Weatherby Magnums) are best suited for, which cover 1000 yards quite nicely. :-)
Over 1500-1600 yards is the realm of the BMG .50 caliber/rifle packages.
Stop pretending you know what you are talking about...
Try telling Palma shooters that .308 isn't reliable to 1000, they will get a good chuckle out of that. Further, my pet load, 175gr Sierra Match King + 44.5 grains of Varget is quite safely above transonic at 1k, thank you very much.
Magnums have their place, I love my .300 RUM -- but a vast majority of the time I shoot my .308 --- half as much powder, cheaper bullets, cheaper brass, and I don't have to replace the barrel after 1000 rounds. Plus, if you can hack it at 1000 with the .308, with a Magnum it is easy mode (if you can ever call 1000 easy).
And FYI, there are better rounds than the .50BMG for ELR precision shooting, assuming you aren't worried about damaging vehicles, buildings, armor, etc.
When I was in (US Army 1977-1980), we were restricted to either standard ball(used mostly for practice), and Lake City Match ammo(recommended). We could not use the Sierra Match King bullet(my personal favorite for the .308/.30-06) since it fell in the 'dum-dum' expanding projectile category.
rts008-- Just now saw your other reply quoted above.
Sorry for the tone... I took you for one of those who watches a documentary about snipers or reads a Wikipedia article and then spouts information as if they are an expert.
Obviously, things have changed a bit since 1980. The military changed its mind on the Hague-correctness of SMK in the mid-eights, IIRC.
*loads iPod with Wolfenstein 3d samples* -MEIN LEBEN!-
No pretending to it. Hell, I was shooting 1000 yard matches competitively in the 1970-1990 years, and know exactly what a .308 Win. can do.
"Well, for reliable sniping at 1000 yards you will want something ballistically superior to the 7.62x51 NATO (.308 Winchester) round/M110 package. Ignore this part?
Hint: I was sticking strictly to Mil-Spec issued weapons/rounds, not custom BR rifles/ammo*. You know...staying on topic of the iTouch rig for the M110/7.62x51 NATO.
* Yes, Yes, I too loaded my personal .308 Win. with my developed handloads that enabled easy 1000+ yard shots. ("if you can ever call 1000 easy"- tricky, very tricky- my use of easy here means that the rifle/ammo was capable of sub 1/2 M.O.A. @ 1000+ yd. shots reliably)
My favorite groundhog load was a 150gr. Nosler Ballistic tip ahead of 52gr. Hogden's H110 powder, CCI BR-2 primer, in W-W cases. A very hot load, but safe in my rifle, giving sub 1/4 M.O.A. accuracy day in and day out.
Deer hunting, I stuck with Sierra 165 gr BTST Game Kings, pushed to 2600-2630 F.P.S. MV @ 10 ft., same primer, and whatever cases I culled from my target cases, or pick up here and there.
But for 1000 yard matches(when I used a .308), I used the Sierra 168gr. BTHP, IMR-4350 powder (don't recall the charge, but it was VERY consistent @ 2910-2935 F.P.S. @ 10 ft. from the muzzle by my chronograph), same primer, and Lake City Match brass. 10 round groups with this load/rifle stayed under 13" @ 1000 yards if I did my part. It may have been capable of better accuracy with a better shooter, but that was my limit. :-)
And FYI, I'm perfectly aware of that(.50 cal. BMG) also...see 'Hint:' above.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Looks like he didn't have a ballistics calculator! I wonder how long it will take him to rel
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I doubt it'd be used much in the field, at least not without some heavy modification to the iPod. I can't imagine it's resilient enough to meat mil-spec standards off-the-shelf.
Milspec is all but over. We had more civilian-grade GPS devices in the hands of soldiers in the gulf than military-rated units and for the most part they performed.
Milspec will stick around for things upon which your life depends on a firefight, that sort of thing, but the military is using ever more hardware without such ratings.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Or the .338 Lapua magnum and the .416 Barrett.
In the immortal words of Socrates, who said; 'I drank what?'
ah. man, that movie rocked. why don't they make them that good any more? instead of that abomination of a remake, just re-release this one.
i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
...who said anything about headshotting humans? It could just as well be the head of an animal or even a cardboard target.
It sounds like you made an assumption and took offence at that assumption.
For sniping regular run of the mill soldiers, the perfect sniping shot is thru both butt cheeks.
Requires 1-2 soldiers to carry guy off the field, and to provide more targets perhaps.
Requires medical care from limited medical staff like surgeons to remove the clothing,etc pushed into the wound.
Soldier will not be returning to the field anytime soon.
Best shot for depletion of enemy resources.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Well you can just get the software. i think it has several rifles that it supports. There is also another one that is $4.99 where you can make your own profiles for whatever rig you have.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/11/30/external-ballistics-calculator-for-iphone-isnipe/
Correct. I remember a project to replace military truck dashboards with LCD panels. The critical flaw was that, at least for night driving, this would light up the driver's head. Obviously, this is not a desirable situation.
"If it automatically played a theme song after every head shot, this would be the coolest rifle accessory ever."
What an asinine editorial comment which betrays this blog's slavish devotion to the cause of violence in video toys. The military and sniper rifles are all part of the big fragfest, right?
How much processing power is needed for these sort of calculations? Couldn't they write their own TI-89 program that would end up being cheaper and better suited to the military's needs?
... get modded funny. That's impressive!
-- dnl