[KenW.]

what does everyone think the next big breakthnrough in handgun design could be?

I'm not talking about known designs becoming produced in know calibers. Real breakthroughs like space-age aircraft compsite materials in frames which could be ever lighter than polymer or aluminum. Increased use of titanium, or maybe magnesium?

Any thoughts? What trends are likley to emerge?

[Shoobee]

A lite handgun is not good for you. So it won't be "compsite" materials.

I am thinking that magnaporting will become more universal on all barrels.

Scopes and rangefinders will also become integrated.

[lathedog]

I'd look for things that make guns cheaper to manufacture, or make guns work with an new type of ammo that is cheaper to manufacture, or both.

Use of something other than lead for the main weight/mass of the bullet might drive other design criteria. That is a "next breakthrough" for all small arms.

Caseless propellents are another "next hurdle". Or maybe a propellent that still goes into a case, but comes out of a nozzle as a liquid or fluid then hardens.

I concur that lighter weight means nothing without lighter recoil. Maybe it is time for some large company to revisit gyrojet technology.

Electronic ignition has reared its head a few times in the last few decades, and works well, but no one likes it. Eventually that will stick.

[KenW.]

For composite materials I'd agree with you two. Unless its a pocket pistol in a minor caliber, the felt recoil will increase dramaticaly.
I do like the caseless principle. A solid block of propellant integral with the pistol magazine, but replenishable... Things that make you go "hmmmm".

[Hossfly68]

The Igun, with useful apps like a built in range finder and a round counter? LOL

Maybe as copper and other metals become more expensive we'll see composite or ceramic bullets. And I've always thought it would be neat to have a pistol sized, magnetic rail gun. It'd be silent and would only require a battery.

[wildehond]

I would like to see catridges without the case left over after the round is fired. That will solve a lot of issues.

[mr.trooper]

* Stronger materials that allow for the same or higher pressures in smaller packages.

* Advances in propellents that give higher velocities within standard pressure

* New methods of bullet construction that allow for more optimal bullet behavior

What if your Glock 19 could withstand a continuous diet of +P+ ammo? What if you could get +P velocities in standard pressure loads? I think that's the kind of stuff that will change in the future.

[earlthegoat2]

Porting barrels has been around for ages. If it was the next big thing it would have happened decades ago. There is a laundry list of advantages and disadvantages of porting and the concensus is that for the most part the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

[Rembrandt]

GPS guided caseless ammo, gun made of polymer, carbon fiber, and ceramic composites.

[19-3Ben]

I am thinking that magnaporting will become more universal on all barrels.

Porting barrels has been around for ages. If it was the next big thing it would have happened decades ago. There is a laundry list of advantages and disadvantages of porting and the concensus is that for the most part the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

Exactly what I was going to say. I feel like in the 90's it was kind of a "thing" and it has come and gone every so often, but really most people see it as a novelty. I should note that there are a few exceptions where it might be useful, but for the vast majority of applications... I just don't see it.

[19-3Ben]

Oh, and just so that I can productively add to the conversation... Some sort of adjustable iron sights that can shift their POA based on an input of bullet grain and velocity. You know, like a sight system that does the zeroing in for you.

It could be handy to take a 9mm pistol to the range and punch in that I am shooting 115gr practice ammo, and have the sights move accordingly. Then before I put it back in my holster, input that I am switching to 147gr. +p for carry, and the sights then readjust.

[Ric]

Steel firing assembly inserted into a polymer slide
Like they have been doing with frames.
If S&W has a steel barrel shroud, why not polymer?

[Peter M. Eick]

Next big breakthrough?

My guess would be an all plastic gun. No metal at all. Carbon fiber nano tube construction with a plastic barrel of some type.

Basically take the plastic handguns currently being made to their logical next step.

[KenW.]

From my experience with USAF aircraft using composites, I know they are not terribly abrasion resistant. The barrel would need to be lined with something very durable.

Graphite, boron, and the like are strong, stiff, and lightweight; but they wear easily through abrasion and friction.

[barnbwt]

A sturdy new top-break revolver capbable of handling magnum-rounds...



..A man can dream, though, a man can dream...

TCB

[MachIVshooter]

Real breakthroughs like space-age aircraft compsite materials in frames which could be ever lighter than polymer or aluminum.

You mean like this?:

http://www.thegunsource.com/DisplayPic.aspx?PIC=29231

You wouldn't want to go much lighter than the 11 ounce scandium S&W 340PD; Most people cannot tolerate that gun, even with .38 +P loads.

The technology exists to make guns smaller and lighter. What doesn't exist is a buying public for a gun so light and so small that you can't aim it and it damages your hand to fire it.

* Stronger materials that allow for the same or higher pressures in smaller packages.

* Advances in propellents that give higher velocities within standard pressure

* New methods of bullet construction that allow for more optimal bullet behavior

Again, it's all been done to the extent of practicality. There are propellants that would give a 9mm gun 10mm power, but who would want to fire it out of a 12 ounce pistol?

The limitations are more biological than technological. Same as we could make a smart phone the size of a postage stamp, but no one could manipulate it, and you'd need a magnifier to read text on the screen.

[KenW.]

With new, workable technology there will be a paradime change. Better performing loads with less felt recoil alowing the use of lighter frames may be possible with other breakthroughs; who knows? It might be true that we've gone about as far as possible with current tech available, the future is just around the corner.

I just want Han Solo's blaster, or the Dex's Blade Runner pistol.

[Deus Machina]

I don't think they really have much to go, without a military HUD unit or something to tie into.

Handguns, I'm thinking perhaps just smaller and lighter with new materials.

Especially if something comes along like a recoil reduction unit. Maybe a weight on the inside that works against the direction of recoil. I mean, one that actually fits in a gun that one could holster.

Outside of that, yeah, maybe a range finder, that would adjust the front sight for distance.

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

Red dot sights becoming the norm for service handguns.

http://www.pbase.com/image/133448764.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekGVF9vexAw&context=C4ea7f43ADvjVQa1PpcFNDkXAxWNWpRe37n5pTDEPzZjokqT9UmDQ=

After all they are extremely common on rifles nowadays. Just like lasers, they weren't that great when they first came out but now they are extremely common on handguns.

[KenW.]

A sight such as that will spur developments in the holster industry.
They'd need to be quite durable. meaning If it gets bumped hard in a scuffle then I have to go clear a house, will it still be spot-on target? What about an integral tac rail on top of the gun, not just under it?

Bluetooth connectivity between your weapon and your shooting glasses could serve as a HUD. You'd always know what is in your sights.

[MachIVshooter]

They'd need to be quite durable. meaning If it gets bumped hard in a scuffle then I have to go clear a house, will it still be spot-on target?

If it can take the forces imparted during recoil as a slide mounted device, I should think getting bumped would be no problem at all.

I am curious how long they can handle that.........

[barnbwt]

An "Inertia Compensator" that negates felt recoil (I'll need a bit to work out the physics...)

A 5.7x28 round that truly is "as powerful as a .45"

A way to conceal a 5" N-frame in a T-shirt

Seriously, I think bullet/propellant advances will lead to even more overlap between different chamberings, causing a few to die out, sort of like how the 16ga became largely uneccessary with the advent of magnum 20ga.

TCB

[19-3Ben]

If it can take the forces imparted during recoil as a slide mounted device, I should think getting bumped would be no problem at all.

Yeah but that's very different than having the gun in a holster at your 4:00 o'clock position when you get jumped by the badguy and fall on it. I'm 165lbs. If I were to fall backward onto my gun, I'd want to make sure the sights still work.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Gyro stabilized barrels and non-mechanical triggers. Also, barrels that are not on top of the gun, but centered and aligned with the arm.

Built in lasers that automatically mechanically adjust the barrel's point of impact to the laser's to point of aim.

[MachIVshooter]

Bluetooth connectivity between your weapon and your shooting glasses could serve as a HUD. You'd always know what is in your sights.

That would be cool, and we already have the technology to do it.

non-mechanical triggers

Been done, failed miserably (Remington EtronX)

Built in lasers that automatically mechanically adjust the barrel's point of impact to the laser's to point of aim.

Well, it kinda exists already:

http://www.gundigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Eliminator-2-375.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XmgZztE8_0U/TisT8JNtm-I/AAAAAAAAAd4/QWrEvrG4sEU/s1600/BurrisEliminator.jpg

What you'll see is the opposite; Rangefinding lasers that adjust to the rifle's POI. That's what the Burris Eliminator 3 does, except there's no external laser - The dot moves on the crosshairs inside the scope to show you where to aim once it is ranged (it also compensates for angles and windage).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrZqycXo9m8&feature=related

I don't mean to seem insulting, but some of ya'll really need to just google this stuff. Many of the things some of you think are coming (or would like to see) already exist.

[Vern Humphrey]

I am thinking that magnaporting will become more universal on all barrels.
As will hearing aids for shooters.;)

I'm an old curmudgeon, and I say there should be only one hole in a barrel, and it should run from breech to muzzle. I don't need any gun that needs more than that one hold.

[Drail]

Disposable guns made from recycled 2 liter soda bottles. Heck, we're halfway there now. Sadly, they will cost just as much as a good all steel gun.

[Doghandler]

A GPS chip in the back of your neck with a heads up display so that you can't miss your shot. Of course it's up to the computer whether of not the bullet actually launches. Same for your ability to run red lights.

We should start spending more money now on the arts. Fine arts. Like traditional shooting. For the sake of history.

[Vern Humphrey]

Disposable guns made from recycled 2 liter soda bottles.
And with sights on the side for Gangsta style shooting.:D

[Iramo94]

As soon as we get a camera that is as good or better than the human eye, that Bluetooth integration will become a reality. The camera will be pointed in the direction of the barrel, and an inboard computer will find what a camera on the glasses is seeing, then superimpose a crosshair of what the gun sees onto the glasses's field of view. But until we get tiny cameras that see as well as we do, the systems will be unreliable.

[KenW.]

It worked for Robocop.

[sirsloop]

Seems like as newer and newer stuff comes out I want to shoot more revolvers and more single shot pistols. Heck... gotta get a muzzleloading pistol and deer rifle this year...

[MachIVshooter]

As soon as we get a camera that is as good or better than the human eye

Why would that be requisite?

FWIW, while the human eye is something like 500MP when you multiply rods and cones and do some other goofy math, we have limitations that digital imaging does not. More importantly, the average human perceives a 300 DPI digital image at reading distances to be photograph quality.

The image produced by a cheap, simple VGA camera has plenty of resolution when the screen is only an inch and a half.

Besides, we're talking about a HUD, not high resolution surveillance.

[hhb]

I'll stick my neck out! ELECTRONIC IGNITION

[Mot45acp]

Plasma rifle....40 watt range.

[KenW.]

I posed this question in the handgun section.

[MachIVshooter]

I'll stick my neck out! ELECTRONIC IGNITION

I already covered that. Remington tried it (EtronX), and it was a dismal failure.

[Smith357]

Caseless Ammo - They have been trying to figure it out for 150 years starting with the Volcanic. Once the get it right it will change everything.

Electro-Magnetic Propulsion - A hand held rail gun, or just plain portable, would be a serious game changer.

Direct Energy Weapons - Laser Blasters would be pretty cool.

Smart Projectiles - Guided bullets that change from penetrating to fragmenting depending upon need.

[wlewisiii]

Not too sure about scopes being integrated, but an integrated red dot type sight could be easily built into the frame of both autos & revolvers as noted above. Done with co-witnessed irons preferably.

But I'd bet that next real change is if someone makes a practical caseless round.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I already covered that. Remington tried it (EtronX), and it was a dismal failure.

Yeah. As soon as a technology is tried once and didn't work perfectly, it is never tried by anyone ever again.

[MachIVshooter]

Yeah. As soon as a technology is tried once and didn't work perfectly, it is never tried by anyone ever again.

It's been almost 20 years, nobody bought it then, no other manufacturers tried it, and the "benefits" are dubious, far outweighed by the detractors.

In theory, the no moving parts except the trigger is a good idea. In practice, it makes no measureable difference in accuracy, is more failure prone than a mechanical system, and requires an additional component beyond ammunition and firearm. Can you imagine having that trophy animal in your sights, only to discover your rifle's batteries are dead? And what about in a SD situation :eek:?

The EtronX trigger group:

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/arcignition_silo71.jpg

But I'd bet that next real change is if someone makes a practical caseless round.

I just don't see it happening. The rounds work fine, the problem has always been the platform. Even once you get the chamber sealing squared away and the loading system worked out so that it doesn't damage the ammunition during feeding, there is still the heat and carbon/debris issue, and no one has found a practical way around that. Brass cases do more than just house the primer, charge and bullet-they're a heat sink, and they also take the carbon with them when they leave, in addition to other tiny debris that adheres to the brass during firing and gets extracted with it. Caseless ammo makes chambers look like the inside of gas piston tubes. The only way to fix that is a propellant that is 100% consumed during firing, leaving no residual deposits (which still does nothing for the debris and heat problems).

I know I seem like a pessimist in this thread, but it's kinda hard not to be when you've followed these developments from concept to prototype, sometimes to production and eventually to failure.

[Armed012002]

Doesn't brass also expand to seal the chamber when fired?

I vote for more effective and practical sound suppressing technology.

Sound suppressors have been thought of as mostly a novelty, but more and more people are buying them despite government regulation. The AAC TiRant and Silencerco Osprey are very effective and allow reliable operation in Browning style operating systems with a Nielsen device and light weight construction.

I think it would be very interesting to see integrally suppressed handguns.

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I just don't see it happening. The rounds work fine, the problem has always been the platform. Even once you get the chamber sealing squared away and the loading system worked out so that it doesn't damage the ammunition during feeding, there is still the heat and carbon/debris issue, and no one has found a practical way around that. Brass cases do more than just house the primer, charge and bullet-they're a heat sink, and they also take the carbon with them when they leave, in addition to other tiny debris that adheres to the brass during firing and gets extracted with it. Caseless ammo makes chambers look like the inside of gas piston tubes. The only way to fix that is a propellant that is 100% consumed during firing, leaving no residual deposits (which still does nothing for the debris and heat problems).

The HK G11 firing the 4.73x33 mm caseless ammunition was about to become the standard issue rifle of West Germany but was stopped because of the reunification of Germany. Them Germans got it working good enough, it could be continued where they left off.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

It took hundreds of years from the advent of gunpowder to get where we are now. 20 years is nothing. In the year 2312, if we haven't destroyed ourselves or had a new Dark Ages, we're not going to be using mechanical hammers and strikers.

[MachIVshooter]

The HK G11 firing the 4.73x33 mm caseless ammunition was about to become the standard issue rifle of West Germany but was stopped because of the reunification of Germany. Them Germans got it working good enough, it could be continued where they left off.

The G11 was as close as we've come, but it still had problems. Gas sealing issues were never fully resolved, extraction of failed rounds remained a major problem, and even the final generation of the ammunition was not as robust and element-proof as cased rounds; If the coating wore off in any spot, moisture would wreck the rounds in short order.

The G11 worked, but it was far from combat-ready.

And while caseless ammunition still shows promise, it doesn't really have any advantages over conventional ammo. The purpose of the G11 was ROF to increase hit probability, but in the end, they settled on conventional ammo to feed the G36 and MP7. The ACR tests also determined that it was not a significant enough improvement.

Maybe we'll see them, but I suspect that no further development in the 20 years since the project ended is indicative of the future for caseless rounds. Besides, what would us handloaders do in our spare time? ;)

[ORHunter79]

Metal Storm Pistol. It's already in the works.

Here is a vid (not great quality) from youtube. http://youtu.be/Mlu56e8nLI4

[MachIVshooter]

Metal Storm Pistol. It's already in the works.

Yeah......a decade ago. Discovery channel/military channel/history channel ran episodes featuring them very frequently in 2003/4. I remember it well. The VLE is a very interesting concept, but afaik, still has a lot of bugs to work out.

[doc2rn]

I was thinking multiple round variant pistols like on Judge Dred: Flare, full auto, double whammy! Even a palm reading protection device to prevent someone else from using it.

[Straight Shooter 47]

I actually think we will see firearms overall, but especially handguns, being made ever
so cheaply, cutting every possible manufacturing cost to make the cheapest weapon and make the most money. I do not..anytime soon..forsee "the next step" in gun design
like for instace Glock did in the eighties. Adding more lights,lasers, rangefinders, gadgets,
ect.ect. is not weapons "evolution". Personally, its the OPPOSITE, imo.
A weapon firing caseless ammo would be deleted IF it worked. Ive held caseless ammo in my hand before, and Im damned if I know why we dont have this in general production by now. Maybe new alloys or coatings will come along, but actual DESIGN changes I do not see coming soon at all.
A revolver will look like a revolver and a semi auto will look like a semi auto for the next forseeable future.
Also-I see even more gadgets and contraptions coming out that are supposed to make
"shooters" hit easier, faster, farther,ect. with the least effort. All for the people who wont take the time to LEARN firearms, sights, sight adjustment, and the like. Much like the current "tactical" crowd we see today.
Ever know that one "old guy" who can hit anything with about any weapon he picks up?
Without a laser, or rangefinder, or some tactical nonsense, just iron sights?
Well, THAT guy isnt being catered to anymore.
Hope this is a good FIRST POST.
Hi fellas!

[ORHunter79]

I can't believe I almost forgot about these!!!!

Though hunting might be an issue.

162938

[MachIVshooter]

I was thinking multiple round variant pistols like on Judge Dred: Flare, full auto, double whammy! Even a palm reading protection device to prevent someone else from using it.

That's pretty much what the metalstorm VLE concept was, though more on par with reality. Electronically fired, 4 individually selected barrels, rounds stacked with poweder charges between them.

http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content/vle045.jpg

[Mauser lover]

What happens when the Firestorm concept runs out of ammunition? Is it a super long reload? Looks interesting.

As far as caseless ammo is concerned, we have had that for over 100 years...... the problem with sealing the breech was fixed by the french in the Chassepot with a simple rubber ring- a gasket on the bolt, to seal it. The only SLIGHT problem was that the rubber ring would deteriorate after several shots. I don't really see caseless ammo being accepted in the near future, and if somebody else does accept it, I will simply be stubborn, and stick to my obsolete, steel revolver, that takes simple cartridges with a soft brass case:evil:

[shotgunjoel]

Built in lasers that automatically mechanically adjust the barrel's point of impact to the laser's to point of aim.
That would be neat, and I could see that happening.

I'd like to see plastic shell casings. I know that people have tried it before, but if it would work the weight and money savings should be pretty good.

[481]

That would be neat, and I could see that happening.

I'd like to see plastic shell casings. I know that people have tried it before, but if it would work the weight and money savings should be pretty good.
Plastic cartridges have been done before and never really caught on. IIRC, there was a firm (can't recall the name right now) that marketed such 9mm ammo in the late 80s and into the early 90s. The cases had a brass case head and the rest of the case was made of either red or blue plastic with ridges that ran the length of the case. Looked like little shotgun shells.

Looks like this firm is marketing polymer cased ammo:

http://extremepolymer.blogspot.com/

Although, I doubt that such handgun ammo will ever catch on, it is neat to see such innovations in the field. Perhaps, one day.......

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I think polymer ammo, or some form on non-metal ammo will catch on eventually. Plastic was invented in the 1860s. How long have humans used and shaped metals? Millennia. We haven't even scratched the surface of what plastics will be doing 100, 200, 300 years from now.

Never is a long time.

[mg.mikael]

Plastic cartridges have been done before and never really caught on.

While they haven't caught on yet, I do see the potential. However if polymer/plastic cartridges will ever gain popularity and earn a bigger market then metal cased ammunition TWO things will have to happen....

1.) The cost per round will have to be less then a standard metal/brass round cartridge.
2.) The weight will have to be substantially less the metal cartridges.

With the weight reduction there could be big benefits with military contracts, since your average foot soldier would be able to carry more ammo on them with less weight restrictions. With cost if the round is just a few cents cheaper then the competitor selling metal cased ammo then most people are going to chose the cheaper product if both rounds perform the same.

[Skribs]

My issue with metal storm was that your POI would change with each shot, since you effectively have a longer barrel with each shot.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

What about magnetically accelerated metal slugs? No powder or cases needed.

[Skribs]

What about magnetically accelerated metal slugs? No powder or cases needed.

Takes a LOT of power for these to be effective. From what I understand, the Navy still hasn't figured out how to fit their railgun on a ship with a small enough power source. Whether you're talking railgun or coilgun, in both circumstances you'll need a big enough power supply and a conductor which is capable of carrying the energy required to create the magnetic field. I also foresee issues with some of the magnetics affecting circuitry if you have any computers anywhere near it.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I also foresee issues with some of the magnetics affecting circuitry if you have any computers anywhere near it.

I think in the long run (the next 300-500 years) that will end up being more of a problem than the power issue.

[Armed012002]

I also foresee issues with some of the magnetics affecting circuitry if you have any computers anywhere near it.

The military already has a lot of experience in this area. For example, the E-3 AWACS and B1-B bomber are hardened against an electromagnetic pulse emitted during a nuclear explosion.

Protecting circuits from a rail gun would be less difficult than protecting circuits from an EMP.

As for a power source, doesn't the Navy have nuclear reactors? That's a heck of a power source for powering a rail gun :D

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

But if there are guns with magnets that powerful, everything else has to be shielded too. Not to mention all of the ferrous metal in everyday life.

[481]

The military already has a lot of experience in this area. For example, the E-3 AWACS and B1-B bomber are hardened against an electromagnetic pulse emitted during a nuclear explosion.

Protecting circuits from a rail gun would be less difficult than protecting circuits from an EMP.


All minor compared to the thermal issues that'd need to be resolved. There are no reasonably portable power sources (that could be carried by one person) capable of producing the power necessary to run such a weapon and once that considerable issue is solved, conductors that could fit inside a weapon of such a size that wouldn't vaporize under those high currents are not presently available.


Vacuum energy anyone?

[MachIVshooter]

What happens when the Firestorm concept runs out of ammunition? Is it a super long reload? Looks interesting.

The barrels are also the magazines.

AFAIK, they only built a couple of the VLE prototypes, nothing production. They're more focused on launchers/cannons

http://www.metalstorm.com/

For example, the E-3 AWACS and B1-B bomber are hardened against an electromagnetic pulse emitted during a nuclear explosion.

Well, kind of.

It's really difficult to protect against the E1 component. Faraday cages and the like just won't help with that. Nuclear EMP is not the same as coronal mass ejection; A high altitude detonation of a pure fission nuke would be devastating, even to "hardened" facilities. Hard to protect against 50+ kV/m2. If you're curious about weaponized EMP, you might find it interesting to look up "Operation Fishbowl".

That said, protecting sensitive electronics from high energy power sources and cables is nowhere near as difficult. Railguns aren't flux compression generators.

[barnbwt]

Folks should keep in mind the Navy rail guns throw a throwing-dart sized tungsten penetrator at around Mach 7. The problem, I've heard, isn't power generation, but that the rails (barrel) turn much of their mass into plasma after one shot and have to be replaced. A gun throwing mass at bullet speeds is more feasible, but man-portable power generation is crummy and inefficient at present. That, and the heat dissapation would limit you to muzzle loader rates of fire. I'll bet a backpack mounted leafblower motor could power a coil-rifle, though. But I'd feel a bit silly hunting with that...

TCB

[Skribs]

The railgun the navy uses shoots a 40-lb bullet. That doesn't sound throwing-dart sized to me.

EDIT: Hmmm, some sources say 40-lb, some say 7-lb. Either way, still sounds bigger than a throwing dart.

[larryh1108]

Personally, I would see any advancement in firepower to be electronic in nature, kind of like present day tasers but without the cables. A shot of electronics enough to cripple the CNS for a short period of time would do the trick better than lead if it would work if your hit was anywhere on the body. I guess it would be like the phasers used by the Star Trek commandos. Also, the anti-gun crowd would be more receptive to it as well. Maybe not in out lifetime but with technology advancing at the speed of light I say it's only a matter of time, and not that much time, before it becomes a reality.

[bbuddtec]

I'm with KenW, although I'd trust hard-wired via lanyard, and the video options thereafter, oh boy.

481- Love the vacuum thought, perhaps a magna-vac culmination, that fired my brain up lol, good one!

[KenW.]

I really don't believe the NEXT big breakthrough is 300-500 years away as stated in a post just up from here.

I'll still say optical sights similar to a HUD (ala robocop) are just around the corner. Could be used on any firearm, not just pistols.

[nonseven]

Yeah. As soon as a technology is tried once and didn't work perfectly, it is never tried by anyone ever again.

It actually worked perfectly. Just no one wanted it. However they are still making ammo for it, and quantities are rising.

[Ky Larry]

What if we're looking at the this from the wrong end? Not to hijack the thread, but what if the next major break thru isn't in a weapon? What if it is not the ability to shoot? What if it's the ability to not be shot? Invisibility is a very real possibility in the near future. Just thinking.

[KenW.]

What if we're looking at the this from the wrong end? Not to hijack the thread, but what if the next major break thru isn't in a weapon? What if it is not the ability to shoot? What if it's the ability to not be shot? Invisibility is a very real possibility in the near future. Just thinking.

Well, as the OP, I asked about potential breakthroughs in the design of the weapon. Seems we've been on point.

[Armed012002]

While more evolutionary than revolutionary, have one firearm that can fire multiple cartridges will become more common.

[MachIVshooter]

While more evolutionary than revolutionary, have one firearm that can fire multiple cartridges will become more common.

Modularity has been in vogue for awhile now, and we have some pretty decent designs. But I agree that we'll see more advances in this department, specifically those making the conversion more efficient.

[hhb]

Electronic ignition

[mljdeckard]

Energy weapons. No recoil, no feed and ejection mechanisms, no bullet drop, etc. There is a lot of commercial industry driving more compact and more powerful batteries, this will make it possible.

[fireside44]

There won't be any real developments. It will stay the same except they'll find a way to make junk guns cheaper while charging more money and marketing it as improved. Pretty much what we've been seeing for ten or fifteen years now. Yay.

[Doghandler]

Somehow shortsighted and UN-entertaining, fireside44, but, non-the-less, depressingly true. Just for some more fun depression I'm betting the Fascists and overnight speculators will drive up the price of raw commodities after the election without care for who won.

You can run your own personal drone with GPS and real time video today. Who says you can't attach a projectile launcher?