High-tech rifles catching fire in gun market

The term "smart gun" usually describes a firearm equipped with technology to identify its owner and keep it from being fired by anyone else.

But Pflugerville-based TrackingPoint's line of smart-scope rifles offers something quite different. The selling point of the company's rifles is that their precision-guided technology allows an everyman to become a marksman.

The company's target-tracking technology, which CEO John Lupher said is the first of its kind in the gun industry, allows users to home in on a target as far as 1,200 yards away by clicking a button near the trigger, which then locks the gun in so that it cannot be fired unless it is correctly aimed at the target.

"Expert marksmen who are highly trained have achieved this level of accuracy at competition levels," Lupher said. "But we can take the mainstream shooter and bring him up to a competition-grade marksman in just a few seconds of training."

TrackingPoint's rifles also earn the buzz-worthy distinction of being "smart" because they employ a social media aspect, Lupher said.

With a Wi-Fi server built in, the scope screen—with all the trappings of a smartphone display—can be linked with a mobile device. For example, a father might coach his son by looking at an identical image of what is seen on the son's scope through his iPhone.

The scope records what the shooter sees, and the video can be downloaded for viewing later, Lupher said. Users can even upload the video to social networking sites such as Facebook.

But these firearms may not be as pervasive in the gun world as smartphones are in the phone world. The pricepoints for TrackingPoint's AR series range from $9,950 to about $27,500, Lupher said, adding owners of the company's guns tend to have a large amount of disposable income.

Lupher said the guns also have the potential for military applications. Putting the smart rifles in the hands of soldiers would make militaries more effective and cut down on training costs, he said.

Military interest in the high-tech weaponry includes the U.S. as well as the British and Canadian militaries, who may well be the first to get their hands on the equipment, Lupher said. He said the U.S. military is assessing the effectiveness of TrackingPoint's rifles against that of its sniper training.

Even as its clientele tends to come from a high-income bracket, TrackingPoint may evolve to a point where its products will be affordable for most people as prices go down, Lupher said.

"People who are aspiring to own the product now [but can't afford it] could at some time in the foreseeable future be able to obtain something like this," he said.

3813 Helios Way, Ste. 290, 512-220-0500, www.tracking-point.com, Hours: By appointment only