A new kind of rifle sighting system developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) might just help snipers shoot better by removing one of the variables out of the equation. This is a fiber-optic laser-based sensor system that is capable of precisely measuring the deflection of the barrel relative to the sight, while adjusting the crosshairs automatically to match the true position of the barrel.
ORNL technology sees glass optical fibers being placed into the exterior grooves, which will reduce weight and create added surface area to enable the gun’s barrel to cool down faster. These flutes are even able to be retrofitted to existing barrels, now how about that? A laser diode will send a signal beam into the optical fibers, where it will split the beam twice, sending one of the light beams along the top of the rifle barrel with the other along the side, resulting in the system measuring both the vertical and horizontal barrel deflection. Interesting – time to do a more thorough sniper sweep of an area if this tech goes mainstream soon!