What's the next big thing for firearms?

[FrosSsT]

What do you believe the next big advancement in the firearms industry will be?

[Creeper]

Interesting question.

• An increase in laser range finding capability and magnification for rifle scopes so equipped.
  
• A substantial reduction in price for laser range finding rifle scopes.
  
• Small, low profile, ultra-durable holo sights replacing iron sights on production semi-auto handguns.
  
• Rifles with gyroscopic stability systems... which include recoil stability.
  
• Sub $500 rifles capable of 1/2 MOA.
  
• A move from brass, steel and aluminum to a non-metallic cartridge case.
  
• Imbedded chip identification of firearms.

That's all I got.
C

[FrosSsT]

A move from brass, steel and aluminum to a non-metallic cartridge case.

That was one that I was thinking of. Very interesting to see what kind of 'projectile' we will be using in the next 50 years.

[Gunnut17]

Plasma Rifle in 40 watt range?

[Sulaco2]

Beat me too it Gunnut, I was going to say Rail guns and/or energy weapons of some kind in the not TOO distant future.

[Crosshair]

What I see that is already happening is an increase appreciation for suppressors. Every year we see better designs and new innovations. Even with the current 6 month wait for a form 4 the suppressor industry is booming. We also see more and more manufacturers factory threading their guns with suppressor grade threading. Actually there is a larger interest in NFA all around than even five years ago.

An increase in laser range finding capability and magnification for rifle scopes so equipped.

Most defiantly.

A substantial reduction in price for laser range finding rifle scopes.

Yup.

Small, low profile, ultra-durable holo sights replacing iron sights on production semi-auto handguns.

Not exactly sure how this would be accomplished without adding measurable bulk vs iron sights.

Rifles with gyroscopic stability systems... which include recoil stability.

The power and weight penalty is going to be significant and you probably won't see it outside bench competitions.

Sub $500 rifles capable of 1/2 MOA.

Probably.

A move from brass, steel and aluminum to a non-metallic cartridge case.

Been tried many times, it either doesn't work or isn't cost effective. Unless some sort of Wonderfulonium gets invented, steel and brass are what is going to be used. Any other materials simply have deficiencies that make them non-starters and steel cases are so stupid cheap that it would be little more than a niche market anyway.

Imbedded chip identification of firearms.

No point and serious liability. Chips are less durable than a stamped serial number and easier to permanently destroy. Liability wise, if you're thinking RFID chips, what better way to find out who is carrying concealed than by just sitting in a van with a directional RFID reader, which are becoming cheaper by the day.

[Creeper]

I have a large bag of Wonderfulonium... want some?

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Guided projectiles for the larger caliber rounds. Already in development for 50 BMG. Have laser dot on the target and the round goes to it.

[Merad]

I'm willing to bet that if metal prices continue to rise the military will push a switch to caseless ammo, probably by the end of this century. Unless perhaps they find a non-metallic material that works.

[Bud Helms]

I'm thinking that the same (or similar) technology that would make caseless ammo feasible would also make non-metallic cases feasible. I'm betting it would be lighter too.

That could be a technology response to one of the arguments for the military carrying a smaller cartridge.

[robfromga]

Keeping them!

[chadio]

- more restrictions
- higher cost
- ammo price increases
- reduced availability

Didn't I just paint a nice, big, pretty picture

[Creeper]

- more restrictions
- higher cost
- ammo price increases
- reduced availability

You are such a Negative Nelly.

C

[jason41987]

look up an electrolaser.. you take a relatively low powered laser, focused through a lense that radiates the air so heavily it opens a plasma channel from point A to point B which is infinately conductive... along this plasma channel you can pump electricity through the laser beam... have zero deflection from wind, no drop, few miles range, with the ability to knock out cold, or kill (for military use)

[C7AR15]

I always use the analogy of Airplanes to question what will be next.

Airplanes started off as gas engine, propeller driven machines. The technology was leap frogged by the jet engine planes (in the 1940s)

So what will leap frog " modern guns" ???
Guns are a mature technology, the only real change since WW2 was the introduction of plastics.

Your best bet for guessing is to look to science fiction novels/movies - Honest!!

My guess would be a laser gun with a portable energy source.
Range ??? Have to be better than 1000 YDS

Seeing how guns have not changed in 60 years, I"m sure that the
change is coming soon. <20 years
JD

[Creeper]

Your best bet for guessing is to look to science fiction novels/movies - Honest!!

Maybe... or sometimes, not so much.

The "new" Total Recall shooter? A Chiappa Rhino.

[Auto426]

I also feel that the next big jump in firearms technology will be with the ammunition and not the firearms themselves. The metallic cartridge has been in use for over 150 years now and is the main limiting factor in modern weapons design. I believe the military is already spending money on research and development to replaced brass cased ammunition with either polymer cased ammunition or a switch to firearms that used caseless ammunition. Either case would result in a weight savings for your typical soldier, which is likely to be offset by carrying more of the new lighter ammo.

I believe that lasers and rail guns are still a good ways off, and won't become common place until some major advancements are made in power generation and storage. The military has working prototypes of rail guns, but their major drawback is the massive amounts of electricity they require to operate. The results of the tests are extremely promising though, since the guns can fire projectiles faster and farther than any current gun in the Navy's arsenal. We very well could see a return to vessels that resemble and fight like battleships.

[freebird72]

I hate to tell you people this, but the governments already have laser guns, plasma guns, bullets that go where you want and can make sharp turns on a dime(much like a remote controlled car), lightsaber type weapons, and much much more.

Now, how will the civilian market change? I would assume a big increase in laser type technology. Lighter, but stronger materials. Guns that only shoot when the "real" owner has control if it in hand. ID tagged guns.

I see a big increase in ways of keeping guns away form the normal civilian. I also see a increase in ways of keeping track of people who have guns. Make no mistake, they are coming for our guns; from the little .22, to the 50BMG.

Be prepared my friends, hard and strange times are coming for us.

[drail]

Disposable guns. Like everything else we buy now. It will be cheaper to throw it away and buy a new one than to have it repaired.

[BlueTrain]

We probably don't know what hard times are.

What was the last big thing for firearms? Not so easy to say. But chances are, it won't be revolutionary. It will be evolutionary. You probably won't even realize it.

Here's one example. Optics.

There's nothing revolutionary about optical sights. They've been around since before my grandfather was born, which was 1876, I think. But look at photos of soldiers. American, British, Australian. They all have rifles these days with optical sights. That is, the infantry does. That would have been considered something else when I was going through basic. And judging from on-line catalogs of hunting rifles, hunters are expected to use them, too. It isn't revolutionary but it isn't L.L. Bean going to the woods with his .25 Remington autoloader anymore.

I also don't see non-metallic cartridges going away very soon either. In fact, one could say that maybe metallic cartridges may have been the last big thing in small arms, just before smokeless powder, high velocity cartridges, and automatic principles, to mention just a few. I doubt metal prices even enter into the picture and anyway, steel cases have been successfully used for a long time. However, tank ammunition is mostly combustable, so possibilities abound.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

No matter what, someone will post that the 1911 is best.

[Ben Towe]

The fragility of caseless ammo is it's biggest drawback. It works in an Abrams tank, because, well, it's an Abrams tank and virtually nothing in the world but other Abrams can destroy it. Not the same for an infantry soldier. It would turn into a really bad day if you dove for cover and broke all that nice caseless ammo all to pieces.

Rail guns on Naval ships could be a potential, but anti-ship cruise missiles may have already condemned them. I also doubt you'll see any real Naval spending and upgrades until another Naval power rivals ours, which is decades away at best, and may be almost unattainable at worst; the sheer tonnage required to even come close would take many years to build.

Optics will continue to evolve, as they have rather rapidly over the last thirty years. I would love to see reasonably priced rangefinding scopes. Not really sure I'm up for laser guided bullets though, that kind of takes the fun away.

We might see limited use of electrically fired ammunition for long range competition, for the simple reason of it's huge reduction in lock time.

[Pendragon]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say:

advances in gas/pressure/noise and flash management

integrated suppressors, better gas operation and less flash for hand guns.

also, I would like to see an end to the 1986 mg ban...

[Rachen]

Firing pins that stamp a micro-serial number into the primer of a cartridge with each round fired...

IF THOSE FREEDOM-HATING STATISTS GET THEIR WAY

[huntinaz]

Plasma Rifle in 40 watt range?

Hey, only what you see pal