Next Big Advance in Handguns

[bobjones223]

Caseless ammo perhaps? Hard telling. I will think on this more.

+1 on this.... storage space would be decreased, mag profiles smaller and not having to pick brass. The reloading industry would not let this happen though!

I have always invisioned a small charge located in the back of the projectiles.

 

[indiucky]

I have always invisioned a small charge located in the back of the projectiles.

So did the Volcanic Arms Company.........It worked better in theory then...

 

[Leadeye]

Big improvements in handgun firepower have been around for some time, they are just heavily regulated.

 

[Thor]

Plasma. 40 watt range.

 

[indiucky]

Big improvements in handgun firepower have been around for some time, they are just heavily regulated.

The gun that made the 80's roar....

 

[markholst]

Does anyone REALLY think we are ready for a self defense gun with any major part of it electronic? Last thing I want to think about is charging my gun before I leave the house. Hell, I forget to charge my phone more often than I'd like to admit.

 

[markholst]

I think its a little ironic to talk about several kinds of tech that involve computers, electronics, etc. presumably for guns to be used for self-defense...and yet we refuse to acknowledge that the technology to keep a gun from being used by an unauthorized person may be perfected to the point where it is at least as reliable as a standard, modern gun.

I think this is coming and I think it is a good thing.

Agree with others that as long as the government stays out, I'd be kinda cool with it. HOWEVER, they had better come up with something better than fingerprints though. It only works half the time on my phone!

 

[markholst]

Can someone explain how caseless ammo would work using short, simple words? Google isn't much help as I keep finding links to WHAT it is. I want to know HOW it would work. I can't get my head to wrap around not having a propellant behind the bullet. As far as I know, there are only two ways to make something move, push or pull. OOOOOOOOO - is that it? Does it somehow create a vacuum in the barrel that pulls the bullet?

 

[Bigtanker]

Can someone explain how caseless ammo would work using short, simple words? Google isn't much help as I keep finding links to WHAT it is. I want to know HOW it would work. I can't get my head to wrap around not having a propellant behind the bullet. As far as I know, there are only two ways to make something move, push or pull. OOOOOOOOO - is that it? Does it somehow create a vacuum in the barrel that pulls the bullet?

Do a search on YouTube. It will give you some basics. But basically there are two designs. The first uses a standard type of gun. The cartridge is a bullet and propellent together in some type of case that burns up upon it being fired. The ignition is electronic.

The second type is all the cartridges are placed in a barrel front to back. There is an ignition source for each individual round. The Metal Storm (video below) uses this kind of system.
[video=youtube_share;AEu9LLQpOF8]http://youtu.be/AEu9LLQpOF8[/video]

 

[Ggreen]

This is simply amazing. I could see it going bad though if it was used by a sicko to video a murder.

hornady video camera on bullet

[video=youtube;Uoz_g1R3Asw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoz_g1R3Asw[/video]

We all know this was april fools right?

 

[Good on paper]

I thought the bullet cam video was great, not so over the top so you'd catch the joke unless you knew the release date

 

[oldpink]

Regarding caseless ammo, look up the Heckler & Koch G11.
It's a fascinating gun that fires even more fascinating ammo, but there are some inherent disadvantages of this intriguing type of ammo over conventional ammo, not the least of which is price.
Maybe they'll find a way to make it cost effective and reliable enough to replace the basic design of ammo that has served so well for approaching 150 years now, but it'll take some doing.

 

[russc2542]

the gist of caseless ammo is that MOST of the propellant is behind it. Even if it doesn't seal perfectly initially, there's only one exit and the bullet will be carried along with the gasses until it seals the barrel and captures pressure like a conventional firearm.

 

[worddoer]

What do you guys think will be the next big advance/thing/evolution in handguns? Just curious if anyone can see into the future.

I think we have plateaued with cartridge based man portable firearms. We might see changes in the materials used and some slight changes based on those materials. But for the most part, at this point, we are working on removing flaws and increasing the durability of existing firearms. I believe we will not see remotely the same level of development of firearms/weapon systems/action operating systems that the last 167 years has brought us.

I think micro optics is what we will see developing now. Imagine a factory pistol with a military grade reliable red dot optic that is 1/2 or 1/3 the size of a RMR with a 10-20 year battery life at half the weight. Think of a rifle optic that is the size of a micro Aimpoint that has magnification, infrared technology, night vision, recording and live transmitting abilities, and selective firing and tracking capabilities (think super advanced tracking point)....all at the same time. This can all be integrated into existing cartridge based firearms with little changes to the firearm itself. That is probably where we will see significant progress in technology in the next 50 or so years. At least IMHO.

I don't see another revolutionary change in weapons technology (like the self contained cartridge based revolution) until we can develop directed energy weapons that are comparable in weight and size and reliability and firepower to our current technology.

 

[Good on paper]

Honestly the only way any advance to any firearm would be to take a sample of John Moses Browning's DNA and clone him so he could invent the weapon...again. And I'm sure it would still be a .45
Just a poke at the 1911 guys (me being included in that club)

I think worddoer is right, there will be small advances in materials and manufacturing and likely integration of processor based sighting systems. The only major change I can imagine in my lifetime would be caseless ammo.
It seems like I read about interest in a 'shoot by wire' trigger but I imagine legislation would turn the clamps down on that because it would be too easy to hack the system and have an easy full auto fun switch.

 

[SpartanHD]

Double stack 1911s that are reliable!!!

 

[Good on paper]

Double stack 1911s that are reliable!!!

My Rock Island double stack 9 has run over 500 reloads in the last few weeks since I got it without a hitch, I haven't 'fixed' it yet

 

[SpartanHD]

My Rock Island double stack 9 has run over 500 reloads in the last few weeks since I got it without a hitch, I haven't 'fixed' it yet

Cool. I will trade you mine straight up so you can fix it and we both have working pistols!! Win win

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Optics, probably.

 

[Good on paper]

Cool. I will trade you mine straight up so you can fix it and we both have working pistols!! Win win

What brand and model is it?