I have to agree with Mike, where are you going to find a place to accommodate this type of shooting? I have followed the Applied Ballistics people for some time, and have watched their “you tube” videos. One video that I watched was called “Applied Ballistics ELR Team Practice at 1.8 miles” published by Paul Phillips on May 15th, 2017. I noticed some of the members had U.S. Rifle Team jackets. I watched the video and noticed the “practice area” was a gas line right-of- way, you can tell because you can see the gas line marker posts. There are woods on both sides of the right-of-way. The only conversation that can be heard is the radio from the line and the target. Being a certified NRA Range Safety Officer for many years, I have a few safety concerns for anyone between the two points. First, watching the whole video shows absolutely no impact berm to keep bullets from continuing after they hit or miss the target? Even when the people in the video are standing in front of the target, you see no berm. Second, what about the area between the target and shooter? I know 1.8 miles of distance can have everything from hikers, ATV riders, horseback riders, etc. that may step out in the middle of this “practice area”. Can anyone from Team Applied Ballistics hear someone on an ATV or hikers walking between them? Any certified RSO would be shocked to see a video of personnel from the U.S. Rifle Team shooting this unsafe condition on a gas right-of-way. This practice was very dangerous and very unsafe. Looks like a complete disregard for anyone but those that want to “posture” to do this. Not only that, but those same gas line right-of-ways are inspected by low flying aircraft. This is clearly public endangerment on the part of Team Applied Ballistics, sad.
ELR Researcher makes a great point, in his number 5 response of Applied Ballistics will probably start training people in about two years. Being a competitive mid and long range shooter, there are venues for “controlled” matches of this kind. I have concerns about people being trained. This is like magicians telling the average person, who comes up with the money, how all the magic tricks are done. This seems more of an attempt to make money and selling products to a whole group of people with cash and not knowing what these people are going to use ELR and its equipment. Just put the shooting solution on your wrist and with our rifle and equipment you can hit targets out at least 1.8 miles. It is a fact that even the Applied Ballistics Team cannot hit the target with any consistency, and they all are good shooters. Give the equipment and a bit of training to someone and how hard is it to hit, with even less consistency than AB, soft targets say in a stadium from over a mile away. Also bullets at this distance usually are sub-sonic, good luck having the police figure where they are coming from as they fall from the sky. Has Garmin, Team Applied Ballistics, & Kestrel any thought of another Las Vegas type of tragedy if these shooting solutions become commonplace in today’s world. With possible incoming lawsuits, are Garmin, Team Applied Ballistics, & Kestrel ready for the on slot of problems that comes with releasing this type of magic to the general public?

1. You can purchase a Savage match rifle in .338 LM for under $1000, an excellent Leica or Vortex scope (on sale) for way under $1000, and a good quality and complete reloading setup for well under $1000. Adding 50% for fudge, that means you can get into this game for well under $5K. Compared to having “cars” as a hobby, this is very affordable.

2. Range availability – all depends on where you live, New York City or out in the West and Southwest. URSA holds events most months of the year concurrently in two locations in California – 30+ events in the last 2 1/2 years. Skiing isn’t done everywhere and people quite regularly travel long distances to ski (in 4WD/AWD vehicles that dramatically dwarf the cost of shooting ELR). A range down the street is NOT a requirement.

3. Having the gear and a place to shoot are NOT enough to have an event. URSA SoCal has been “dark” the last three (3) months for lack of enough shooters to make an event meaningful [“enough” = a minimum of five (5) shooters] – and URSA shooting is FREE (no fees) with NO rifle restrictions beyond “locally legal”. And shooters are welcome to shoot off a bipod, or bench, or back of a truck. Totally heads up, run what ya brung, and still three months in a row with not even five shooters willing to commit to shoot the event.

4. There are tens of thousands of gunsmiths in the US, probably at least 500 of them who build semi-custom or custom 338 LM (or “more”) rifles for customers a few times each year. AB has now thrown their hat into that ring.

5. AB has already made a very large investment in this shooting discipline (tactical ELR) and offering rifles seems only natural. [Will be interesting to see who actually builds their rifles.] I expect they will start offering “training” well beyond their current seminar effort within 2 years. Such a package of goods and services is not new – Barrett, McMillan/Surgeon/Armalite (SAC), and Gunwerks are already there. AB is just coming in from a different piece of the “ecosystem”.

6. IMO, the “open action” – for (tactical) ELR shooting – is the establishment of an INDEPENDENT group to define the ground rules, organize the bodies, and facilitate a regular schedule of events. AB has already posed the question to the same group of folks that provided “counsel” to the launch of ELR Central – “Who here would support ELR Central becoming an ‘official’ sanctioning body for ELR matches?” I have responded that the norm is an INDEPENDENT association formed and administered as a 510(c)3 corporation. It will be interesting to see how things proceed. Expect more discussions before and during SHOT Show 2018 (January).

And yet, how many Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsches are out on the roads, just going the speed limit.

They’re doing this because there is a market for it.

Is there a market for this?

We saw the ELR shooter on this site we can count on our fingers the number of person doing ELR and having the funds necessary to practice such a sport.

The price question. We all know that these system will probably cost around 10k for the gun and more. and complete gear for more than 30k. There was a post on this site about the gear and price!!

I can also answer the military/le question too, they will not buy this in quantity maybe one or two unit to test. Just think of cheytac that wanted to sell to military and LE only…Just something to think about when you start up…. military contract are hard to get. And to my knowledge there are no ELR contract/requirement..

Caliber : probably the 375 its what the teaser video shows.

Oh and another fun fact… WHERE TO SHOOT.. name me the open range for these gun beside the few place mentioned here I have no idea where people will go shoot ELR. Just think to yourself what is the longest range I have in a 3 hours drive.. 3 hours being the most one can drive in and out of the range (6H drive) in one day and capable of setup and practice in daylight.

Its like buying a race car without a racetrack.

Maybe you think I am being negative about this.. I am not, just realistic and I wish that it will work for them. maybe if they open a range and have guns and gear available for public… to go and try it for one day. You know the kind of package gift you would like your partner to give you.. A weekend with pro ELR shooters instructor/gear/range/ammo provided.