Most influential innovation in past 20 years

Not really an innovation but as a self admitted fan of almost everything Ruger I think Ruger has done a lot for the little gun market in the last 20 years.

Think the LCP, LC9 and the LCR guns.

Kel-Tec and Seecamp were admittedly there first, but Ruger I think really made the guns for the masses with wider distribution and decent customer support to back them up.

P.S. Like a lot of other folk have mentioned already 20 years is almost nothing as far as 'gun years' go.
 
Pistol grips with interchangeable parts included to allow owners to customize the pistol to their preferences. Particularly in self-loaders.
 
spacecoast said:
Red dot sights are a lot lighter and smaller (and more durable) than was possible 20 years ago.
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I was thinking about that too. I think that maybe the biggest innovation in the past 2 decades is the evolution of red dot sights from a novelty to a practical handgun sight. Battery life, durability and size have all improved to the point that it actually makes sense to have one on a practical duty weapon. And the ability to cowitness iron sights with the electronic sight means you aren't dead in the water if the sight does quit working.

Biggest? Maybe. Most influential? Probably not. Not enough people are moving that direction yet. I think that maybe in the next 10 years we'll see the mainstream start to discover what the enthusiasts are already aware of.

We already have a couple of major manufacturers making optics ready guns but they're obviously competition oriented. When they start extending that feature toward the more practical offerings in their lineup and the volume sales of the sights start bringing the price down, I think that things will really begin to move towards the idea that the standard setup for a practical handgun includes an electronic sight.
 
The only thing about 3D printing is OP asked about influential. In ten years 3D printing might have a large influence, but as of right now i don't think it has had much influence. Mattel has reintroduce "thingmaker" as a $300 3D printer. That is going to find its way into a lot of homes and some of the higher definition sets are coming down in price, but as of right now homemade firearms or accessories are having no discernible effect on the market IMO.
 
I'm going with something that is not actually the gun it's self but something that has brought the education and availability of firearms to it's highest peak as any other time in history. The computer via the internet.
 
rep 1954, I think you are absolutely right. Like everyone else I was looking for innovations in hardware, but the real innovation is in access to information and hardware. Great insight!
 
That said, what would you say is the most influential innovation in handguns from the past 20 years?
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If your world began in 1995, then you missed out of a lot of things that happened previous to 1995. The semi conductor revolution of the 1980's really changed business and manufacturing.

I'm going with something that is not actually the gun it's self but something that has brought the education and availability of firearms to it's highest peak as any other time in history. The computer via the internet.
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I like this. From the late 80's to the mid nineties, what personnel computers there were, were stand alone. You created a file, saved it to a floppy disc, and handed it off to someone. Technical data packages were on paper.

The internet allowed us, the shooters, to compare data and opinions. It is of course not perfect, primarily because I am always 100% right in all things, but hardly anyone agrees with me on anything :) , but at least we are free to exchange information, good or bad, without Corporate filtering . In the past, you sent a letter to the editor and these Corporate Magazines filtered that information to keep their advertisers happy. Thus, what the public saw in the mass media of the day, was cleansed of any negative information, actually cleansed of any objective information. As anyone has figured out, what is in print is primarily the creation of Corporate Advertising Bureaus and is designed to get you to buy. What is in print is inevitably positive, always supportive, regardless of what actually happened was true or not. I do remember the sales campaign for the Bren 10. It was oh, so positive and wonderful in print, even though the pistol was a failure in practice. Dr Martin Fackler used to rail against this, politely though and without gales of anger, but it was evident he was frustrated with the mis information about the stopping power of bullets and cartridges presented in the popular media. I just looked for the article that I have where he points out that Cops and Soldiers were being killed, because the performance information in print magazines, was so false. Agencies were actually influenced in their buying decisions by what they read in Gun Magazines, but Gun Magazines are not objective, and their articles are simply Corporate Ads in a paid medium. Good guys died because of the mis information. In fact, still are.

Gunwriters are still shills of the gun industry, but now, we can tell each other about our woes and travails with crappy firearms. We can compare notes. We can tell each other what has worked, and not worked. This is very important and if you read the print media, totally frustrating for them. They are not in control of the message or content anymore and they are mad about it.

That more than anything else, is the biggest change in the last 20 years.
 
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Probably the most innovative action design in the last 20 years has got to be the reverse pull or bullpup Boberg action. Due to it being an exclusive patented design, it may not see widespread acceptance unless licensing agreements are sold to other manufacturers.

The advancement of 5 axis CNC machining has now made complex parts easily made. Three axis machine operations often limited engineers to compromise on complex designs.
 
I think the biggest innovation has been demand. There is a demand today for firearms of all kinds that I never imagined. That demand has created a supply that has created innovation at every turn. New materials, new designs, new manufactures, and so on.

We can probably argue until the cows come home where that demand comes from, but it's there and without it, nothing happens.
 
In the last 20 years, it's hard to say. In the future, I think 3d metal printing will change many things - I think that's the next technological revolution in the works.

As for something which will probably be of increasing importance and will usher dramatic changes - I think in time we will see soft bullet resistant vests become lighter, cheaper, less obvious and more widely spread as material science advances.

This might usher a new era of high speed small caliber cartridges for handguns aimed at defeating the lighter soft armour - something like the FN's 5.7x28mm and similar. Although that is too older then 20 years now, but right now there is no real need for shooters to go for such rounds. If bullet resistant clothing becomes something really affordable then this might change.
 
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I'd have to agree with Micro 9mm's.

Also, suppressor technology has changed considerably in 20 years.....not to mention the sophistication of "solvent traps", i.e. suppressor kits for those who want to register them on a form 1.
 
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Another vote for red dot sights. At 60 years of age, my eyesight isn't good enough any more to shoot handguns at distance without them. I have UltraDot 30s on two different revolvers, and can shoot both eyes open and still be plenty accurate for hunting at 75 yards rested, and 50 offhand. Scopes add too much weight to the handgun for offhand shooting, and they become a rest only weapon, while the UltraDots add only 5-6 oz. including the mounts. They also stand up to repeated HEAVY loads in 44 mag and 45 Colt (340 gr. @ 1200 fps).
 
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