What do you see as the next BIG EVOLUTION in gun design?

I'm willing to bet that caseless ammo will be the standard, at least for military weapons, by the end of this century.
 
1) Virtually recoiless pistols using advanced physics to absorb most recoil.
2) 2nd on the pistol mounted video camera switched on by the grip recorded to a USB drive in the back strap.
 
Carbon fiber (or something similar) slides on semi auto pistols. Not that I like the idea, but I see someone doing it. The Glock-oholics would love it.
 
kozak6
The biggest advances will be to make guns cheaper.

Plastic frames and receivers are well established. Plastic trigger groups are starting to spread.

MIM will be improved and be even more widely used.
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Guns are already being made cheaply.

The advancement will be when the lower cost reaches the consumer!
 
Caseless ammo. Smart bulletts which can be fired and forgotten. There was a sfy movie which the bullett locked on a target and then followed the target until it struck. With circuits being developed at the molecular level this is a real posibility.

For the military the caseless ammo will be packaged and shipped in the magazine. Rounds will be dual purpose ceramic cased. Mini shape charges which penetrate body armor.

The battle field will become a more dangerous place.
 
More sophisticated, lighter weight ranging optics, and . . .
lighter weight recoiless designs.

Never underestimate how soft our society is becoming.
 
Gun powder (or something replacing it) that doesn't convert lots of it's energy to heat. No muzzle blast, no muzzle flash and no special equipment needed. Of course a substance that can rapidly go from solid to gas fast enough to launch a projectile but doesn't generate heat would revolutionize more than just guns. There could be such a thing as a stealth hand grenade.

I could also see electronic triggers make their way into shooting. Probably not "combat" type weapons, but IPSC was created partially as a way to test new ideas and equipment. The world of competitive paintball has long since moved from mechanical triggers to electronic ones. Combat paintball still uses mechanical triggers of course ;).
 
The military is currently experimenting with "telescoped" ammo. I wonder if that has a civilian future.

Carbon fiber (or something similar) slides on semi auto pistols. Not that I like the idea, but I see someone doing it. The Glock-oholics would love it.
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Recoil operated pistols need a certain amount of mass for proper functioning, and I don't know if brittle carbon fiber could take the beating.

I could also see electronic triggers make their way into shooting.
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There are some Olympic target pistols that utilize electronic triggers. I would imagine, though, that the biggest barrier to their widespread adoption is legal. I would think the BATFE would generally classify them as readily convertible to full auto.

There was the Remington Etronix a while back that actually used electronic primers, but that was a horrendous failure (although it wasn't the rifles fault).

I wonder if something like that could make an eventual comeback.

Gun powder (or something replacing it) that doesn't convert lots of it's energy to heat. No muzzle blast, no muzzle flash and no special equipment needed. Of course a substance that can rapidly go from solid to gas fast enough to launch a projectile but doesn't generate heat would revolutionize more than just guns. There could be such a thing as a stealth hand grenade.
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I don't know about that. High pressure gases tend to make a heck of a lot of noise regardless of temperature. It's just that gunpowder makes it easy to make hot high pressure gases.
 
I believe that the next biggest development in the firearms world will be in ammunition, as opposed to the guns themselves. Thing's in the handgun world haven't really changed all that much since the days of the 1911's introduction. Most handguns still use the same operating principles with slight tweaks here and there.

The biggest limiting factor currently is the ammunition our guns use. We've been using the same smokeless powder metallic cartridges for over 100 years now. The only changes we've seen in the last 100 years have been different sized bullets with varying amount of powder. There needs to be a major revolution in ammunition design before there can be a major revolution in firearms design.
 
Plastic firearm construction on pistols, revolvers and long gun in the USA. All machined firearms will come from off shores from Brazil, Philippines or Turkey.
 
I don't know about that. High pressure gases tend to make a heck of a lot of noise regardless of temperature. It's just that gunpowder makes it easy to make hot high pressure gases.
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Yep, as long as bullets are propelled by violently expanding gases there will be a "boom" when the gasses expand out of the muzzle.

Some day we might be able to use electromagnets to do the job (railgun), but our battery and electronics technology have a long way to go before we can fit that in a handheld weapon.
 
I foresee Glocks and 1911s holding hands and getting along. Hi-points and HKs sitting proudly next to one another... In the line for the furnace.

Or, more nose bleed safety functions to make our handguns more better for the safety of boys and girls and birds and squirrels.



I think what we need for the next big evolution in guns is an advancement in propellant. Caseless ammo? Perhaps a liquid propellant that burns more efficiently? Much the way smokeless powder changed the game from when black powder was used. Along with this new propellant there will be new bullets, new casings (or a lack thereof) and, new barrels to deal with the pressures. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some folks working on it right now. http://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/detail/344925
 
Future of handguns

Does any of you remember the DARDICK invention of 50+ - years ago?
It was a Automatic-Revolver that shot "Trounds". I expect a new step
in that direction.

This is the 21st Century. How about a "Faser" like on Star Treck?
 
I predict more things being made in China

plastic slides with metal inserts for all contact/impact parts.

Mold-your-own grips (like the mouthpieces you boil)

miniaturization: Smaller laser/light units

True incorporation of lasers into the pistol frame so a large number of batteries could be stored/used for long life. With all these replaceable back-straps it's apparent that there is a LOT of extra space in the grips that could be used/filled up. I bet you could fit the electronics of a Crimson Trace Laser laser grip inside the hole at the bottom of a Glock alone. And some batteries. All it would take would be a contract and a few years development.

lots of safeties
lots written warning tabs/stickers
RFID paired with electronic holster to log when gun was drawn, GPS location and perhaps start an audio recording. (okay that one was a little tin foil hat-ish)
 
How about "prescription" open sights?

You know, us old buggers who wear prescription glasses to make us see better, we'd like to get prescription sights to make us shoot better... :D
 
Noise will be considered an old-fashioned byproduct of shooting. They will greatly improve noise reduced systems--but they wont be 'silencers', but dampening feilds or audio dead-zones around a pistol that keeps sound from traveling more than a few feet.
 
Energy weapons

Reliable, compact distance stun weapons

Regular sized handgun and rifle target seeking ammo - AI, image processing, laser seeking - like that.
 
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