Gun & Ammunition Sales & The Election

[tombogan03884]

True, the basic technology has just been tinkered with,  e.g.,  Glock figured how to bond a minimal metal rail to a polymer frame and Sig figured how to make it work without the bonding.   Chiappa fires out the bottom of the cylinder (probably not the first to do so).   But yeah, besides single shots, five basic designs.

Basically the same is true about rifles and oh-my shotguns are probably even more static. 

What would be a game changer in firearms?   How about a handheld Rail Gun?  And with Tesla's help, batteries to support that might be around the corner.   

Even if someone came up with a PPK size .45acp that had the recoil of a .22, the noise level of a bb gun, and the capacity of a 92, it's still just 80 year old da/sa.   


 

The only new development in firearms in the last century has been materials, stainless steel , plastic and aluminum.
Double stack mags ? Hell, The Mauser C-96 was a double stack, there were at least 2 that competed against Colt in the 1907 pistol trials.
But they could do something about the looks of them.
If plastic is so versatile why do they all have to look like bricks ?

[Solus]

My guess for an improvement in current firearm design would be a reliable "Fire by wire" system.

Pull weight would be adjustable as would trigger movement.  No movement would be required to fire, just for personal preference in "feel" 

It could be adjusted so it broke at the desired weight and fired with exceedingly minimal trigger movement if desired.  Reset would be the same....just a lessening of finger pressure and very minimal movement.

This would also be the solution to one of the biggest drawbacks to bullpup designs.

[billt]

........My guess for an improvement in current firearm design would be a reliable "Fire by wire" system.

Remington tried something like that with their whole Etronix System on the Remington 700. They utilized a special primer with battery powered electronics, that decreased lock time. It was a dismal failure. Today these guns are nothing more than novelty collector guns. It was a good idea, but customers rejected anything electronic. Much like they reject all of this so called "Smart Gun" technology.

People scoff at the idea that, "big brother could somehow render their guns useless", by messing with the electronics involved. Gun people are funny that way. Remember the big primer scare? People actually believed that ammunition manufacturers had the technology to make primers "go dead" after a certain specified length of time. Even though guys like Steve Hornady made the case that no such technology exists, and never will. They believed it anyway. So much so primers were at shortage levels for a few years, because people were hoarding them. Much like they are now with .22 ammo. Gun people are old school. Look at how many reject Polymer in guns. Even though it's been around for the last 30 years.

[billt]

I remember back in the 60's when BB gun manufacturer Daisy introduced the VL-22. It was an air rifle that fired special caseless .22 ammunition. The ammo came packed in long, clear plastic tubes. Ignition was accomplished by compressing air into the chamber rapidly, which in turn would heat it hot enough to get the caseless powder charge burning, that was attached to back of the bullet. Much like the way a Diesel engine operates.

The guns were pretty inexpensive when they came out. But the ammunition cost more than regular .22 L.R. ammo at the time. And it was less powerful, and difficult to find. The ammo itself was also very delicate, and the powder charge would break off the back of the bullet, and crumble easily. And it was effected negatively by any rain or humidity that would cause misfires. The end result is these are now prized collector guns, along with the caseless ammunition. Another good idea that never was accepted in the gun industry.

[Jim Kennedy-ar154me]

I am of the opinion that the technology, while not totally perfect, is close. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. About the only thing I could think of is to fire the firearm by thought or have it aim itself both of which could probably be done with existing tech if someone wanted to.

[Sponsor]

[les snyder]

there is some old technology out there that is getting a fresh look...I know there are a lot of SOCOM people looking at the 6.5 x .308 (260 Rem) for an AR10 size platform with out to 1500m potential...to make use of the high ballistic co-efficients of better than .600 for the 150 grain range of projectiles...

[tombogan03884]

M25 operator has a VL 22 and has commented on it before.
It's the only succesful caseless ammo gun and ATF killed it because Daisy didn't want to jump through the hoops.
I think they should bring back the "Minie" bullet and put the propellant inside the bullet which would eliminate the propellant chipping issues Walther ran into. Two problems with caseless ammo, combustible primers that don't mess up the action, and a method of clearing the chamber with out an ejection port.
Electronic ignition is a waste of thought, it over complicates a perfected system, many of the fiddly bits are doing more than one thing, secondly, battery life is finite, mechanical triggers never run out.
Rail gun would be OK  but until battery technology advances it's not practical, again, batteries have finite life. Another draw back, for hand guns, is excessive velocity. A 45 ACP at 1100 fps is fine, the same bullet at 4000+ would be over penetrating into the next state.
I don't care if the technology changes. I'm talking esthetics. You look at 3 revolvers and with out thought you can pick out which is the Ruger, the Colt, and the S&W. Modern semi auto designs are all Glockish plastic bang bricks. ADD SOME F#CKING CHARACTER, is that so hard ? Or are modern gun makers that lazy and uninspired ?
Next full aize pistol I buy will probably be an EAA Witness, it's the only non 1911 that doesn't look like every other damned pistol in the store.

[billt]

......Next full aize pistol I buy will probably be an EAA Witness, it's the only non 1911 that doesn't look like every other damned pistol in the store.

Don't forget about the Desert Eagle / Jericho pistols. They are all steel, reasonably priced, run good, and are available in both .45 ACP and 9 MM.

[Big Frank]

Tom if there was a pistol version of a rail gun spitting out a bullet at 4,000 FPS it wouldn't weigh 230 grains. It would weigh maybe as much as an aspirin tablet. It would have a lot of penetration up close but shed velocity fast because of the light weight and most likely crappy aerodynamics too. But we'll never see battery technology develop to the point of making it practical.

[tombogan03884]

Why can't Ruger  beef up their 22Mk I-IV series ?
Put a lug on either side of the reciever riding in helical grooves in the bolt with locking lugs on the bolt head and chamber would provide a locked breach system as strong as most semi auto rifles.

Tom if there was a pistol version of a rail gun spitting out a bullet at 4,000 FPS it wouldn't weigh 230 grains. It would weigh maybe as much as an aspirin tablet. It would have a lot of penetration up close but shed velocity fast because of the light weight and most likely crappy aerodynamics too. But we'll never see battery technology develop to the point of making it practical.

Actually in a pistol 45 at 230+grains might be the way to go. Control the velocity by adding or removing weight.

Yes, because they've been screwing around with sub caliber rifles since 1896 and they haven't worked yet as advertised. You just use more bullets Everytime countries go through a phase  of adopting they wind up returning to calibers of 6.5 mm or greater and if they are countries that actually use their military rifles they shit can 6.5 as well.
We've already seen some of this in Asia with the return to 7.62 X 51 do to long ranges in Afghanistan.
It will take a long time because rechambering an entire army is expensive, but you will see calibers below 6 mm fade out again.