SGC CountaShot

Hardly the most exciting looking item, when compared to his Speedmaster, straight-pull AR15s, the CountaShot is black and about the size of two boxes of matches; so what is it? I suppose the famous line from the film Dirty Harry springs to mind, where Clint Eastwood (Harry) says: “In all the confusion, I don’t know if I have fired five or six shots; do you feel lucky punk?” Truth is the CountaShot offers a whole lot more.

The primary customers are military/police, though it has applications for sports shooting too. The idea was to create a form of super shot timer that could be fitted to any weapons system that would record certain data; rounds fired, rate of fire, time and date of discharge, reloading/firing intervals etc. All of which can be attributed to a single firearm, meaning there is total accountability of use and unlike the shot timer, which can be a bit hit and miss in terms of what it can offer, the CountaShot would only trigger with the gun it was fitted too.

Accurate Record

Military and police applications are obvious, though broader than you might think. In this litigious world of ours; especially in combat/police firearms situations, who shot who, where and when are always questions. The CountaShot solves this as it gives an accurate and potentially legally admissible record of firearms use that can be pinned down to a specific moment in time, gun and user. This obviously can work both ways as it will de-bunk any lies from all parties involved; should there be any. It will also tell when it has been turned off or removed, if this happens there will be unaccountable, down time in the log, which will have to be explained by the user…

Equally useful is the record of rounds fired from a repair and maintenance point of view. For example a Minimi light machine gun costs a good few thousand dollars and just like a car need service after X number of shots to keep it running properly, the CountaShot can ensure this for lifed components like barrels and sears etc. The unit can be programmed for different gun types and calibres, as well as magazine/ammo belt capacity and will also act as a rounds remaining indicator, which will be very useful for combat and competition use.

As You Like It

Made of a tough polymer the unit has an integral Picatinny-type rail so will fit on most equipment as standard or on sporting scopes by means of an adaptor. There are three, simple, rubber-covered controls on top – MENU, - > and +> these last two allow you to toggle and select functions. Power is supplied by a 3-V Lithium cell, which gives a run time of six-days continuous. At the rear is the read-out screen, which can be positioned to be seen in the firing stance.

On my Speedmaster I put it on the left hand rail on my 4-Way forend, in this way I can see the round counter and the unit is not blocked by the sighting system I’m using. Or with an adaptor place it right in front of my eyes at the rear of the scope body.

Impressive is the speed the unit functions at, as it can track a single shot, which probably lasts about 20 milliseconds and can handle a rate of fire of up to 1500 rounds per minute. To be honest this technology was not available even a few years ago and is why the CountaShot is now a viable concept.…

Sports-Wise

The CountaShot has something to offer us too, as it will allow you to keep an exact track of rounds fired from an individual firearm. We all guess at this figure and are usually wildly out. For those of a more Practical/Action persuasion the ammo counter will mean more efficient reloads. As an ex-Practical Shotgunner I have lost count of the times I have run dry on a course of fire and missed targets, or got penalised for doing so.

Getting even more picky, it will allow you to plot the course of your barrel’s life from new to shot out. This information would be valuable for future rifles as it will give you an exact location of where you are in terms of rounds fired and performance at any given time. OK not for everyone but given the popularity of ballistic programmes another useful tool to add to your equipment.

Eight Signatures

Perhaps more useful is the fact the CountaShot can record, recognise and store up to eight individual gun signatures. For example I put this one on my Custom Speedmaster to give me a rounds used count. I could equally remove it and put it on another weapon then select another track to register that data on, and then six more after that. Each could then be recalled and downloaded as required, and the device put back on a selected gun to carry on recording.

Though I initially see it more for high round count situations, such as Practical or Action shooting, fitting it to a hunting rifle would give an accurate log of what it had done at any given time and would be useful for any litigation that might occur. OK maybe a bit over they top for the spray & pray brigade, but for those that take shooting, ballistics and reloading to a higher level, and wish to keep ahead of the curve; then it’s another tool to be considered.

With software available, you can jack it in to your PC to store the data. Now the question; would I get one? Initially I would have said no, as and though undoubtedly clever do I really need it? On looking at the system in more detail and taking into account my more technical approach to shooting then I would now say possibly. At around £200 it’s not that expensive for what it offers.

As I said the initial thrust is for the military and Bob tells me he has big orders from the US Armed Forces already and I reckon police forces will jump at the CountaShot too.

We Reckon:
• A clever and viable system
• Good for technical shooters
• Legal and practical benefits

PRICE: £200 (approx)