TrackingPoint, a Texas-based company, is giving away free cutting-edge rifles to any organisation in the United States that can legally bring the weapons to the Middle East for use in fighting against Islamic State (ISIS) and al Qaeda extremists.
The company said it is offering 10 free M600 Service Rifles or M800 Designated Marksman Rifles as its contribution to the fight against terrorism, Fox News reported.
"It's hard to sit back and watch what is happening over there. We want to do our part," said the company's CEO John McHale, in a press release. "Ten guns don't sound like a lot but the dramatic leap in lethality is a great force multiplier. Those 10 guns will feel like 200 to the enemy."
"We firmly believe that the M600 SR and M800 DMR will save countless lives and enable our soldiers to dominate enemy combatants including terrorists," he added.
The company said it will begin shipping the free rifles to chosen qualified U.S. citizens on Dec. 5.
Precision Guided Rifles are designed to help overcome factors that can impact precision for shooters like recoil, direction and speed of wind, inclination, and temperature. They also work to help counteract common human errors like miscalculating range, said the report.
According to the company's release, TrackingPoint designed the M600 SR Squad Level Precision Guided NATO 5.56 Service Rifle to replace the M4A1. The full length is 36.25 inches including the 16-inch barrel. It weighs 12 pounds and has an operating time of two-and-a-half hours. The rifle is also designed to eliminate targets moving as fast as 15 mph.
"Whether you are an inexperienced or accomplished shooter, the rifle has an 87 percent first shot success rate out to 600 yards—a percentage 40 times higher than the first shot kill rate for an average warfighter,'' according to the company.
The M800 Designated Marksman Rifle Squad-Level Precision guided 7.62 meanwhile was designed to replace the M110 and M14. It weighs a bit more at 14 and-a-half pounds with a full length of 39 inches with the 18-inch barrel. It also has an operating time of two and a-half hours before needing to switch out the dual lithium-ion batteries, the company statement said.
It can hit targets moving as fast as 20 mph. TrackingPoint has described the rifle as the "nuclear bomb of small arms."
"With the very first shot, the success rate on this rifle is 89 percent at out to 800 yards- based on the company's evaluation,'' it said.
The company said both rifles incorporate the company's "RapidLock Target Acquisition." They also feature technology that enables accurate off-hand shots. The image is stabilised to the sort of image you would get with a supported gun rest, the TrackingPoint statement said.
