[Jeff Higgins]

I just re-watched the video (with fewer distractions) and picked up on a key element that I had missed - it does have a "smart" trigger, much like the pitch and roll trigger in a battleship. My apologies for that earlier oversight; that does change things, at least on that front.

It does, however, still leave many issues unaddressed. All of the exterior ballistics concerns I ran through (albeit very briefly) still apply. I used a steady 10 mph, "full component" (90 degree to line of fire) crosswind in my example. I don't think I have ever shot under those conditions, and I've let fly litterally thousands of rounds in long range matches. We never get that lucky.

Another component I have not mentioed yet is mirage. We have all seen it with the naked eye, shimmering away on a hot day. That, however, is only when it is at its most obvious. It's never really absent. We are, essentially, always looking through a murky, fluid, moving body. The further away we see something, the less likely we are actually looking at it along the true line of sight between us.

Us long range competitors discuss mirage every bit as much as we discuss wind. Mirage has a far, far worse affect on bullet impact, because it makes us aim where we see the target, not where it really is. Mirage has a left and right component, and an up and down component. As shooters, our spotters absolutely must relay this information to us along with wind conditions. It is a constant flow of information until the trigger is pulled. We may change sight settings (or just hold-off) several times between the last shot and the trigger pull on this shot. The corrections for this shot are based upon where the last one hit, assuming we had a good hold on the rifle, and the spotter had a good read on the conditions.

So, in other words, between tagging the target with the laser on the rig in the video (which is affected by mirage, but not wind or altitude density) and sending the bullet off, it is very likely that one or more conditions will change as the shooter tries to wobble randomly back onto target. If the mirage has changed, the sight now thinks it's looking where it tagged previously, but it really is not (this is still assuming the first tag was truely on target). Into those changing conditions, we now send a bullet that is not affected by mirage, but rather by the other factors of wind and altitude density - conditions that the optic did not read in the first place.

And, finally (for now), any experienced long range shooter will tell you that one's first shot tomorrow morning will require markedly different sight settings than one's last shot last night. Even on the same range, from the same firing point, at the same target. It is for this reason that it is absolutely essential that sighting shots be fired prior to any string for record. We will commonly see ten MOA variation in both windage and elevation over the course of one day's shooting, much less a weekend match. There is no such thing as having a rifle "sighted in" for long range, quite unlike the 200 yard zero many use for their deer rifles. The only way to get on target is to shoot, and to have a spotter help with corrections. One can't just pick up a rifle, no matter how good it is or how good you are, and hit at long range. Not due to mechanical limitations on the rifle and optic combination, but due to the very air we breath, and everything that is supended in it, and how it warms, cools, rises, falls, blows, and swirls. Not unless we can guide the projectile, and this thing does not do that.