"Obsolete" guns
- Thread starter Nightcrawler
- Start date
- Status
Obsolete - is a hard term to apply to guns.
Guns are an almost unique form of technology in that they have survived basically unchanged except as to mfg methods for about a century plus or minus. If we had advanced in heavier than air flight like we have advanced in shoulder fired projectile launchers, the Wright Bros would still be somewhere in the future.
Automobiles would still be steam powered. Travel to Europe would be by steamship. In short, there is a lot of room for improvement in guns, it's just going to take somebody to find the next breakthru because as it is, we are basically stuck back at the turn of the 20th century when smokeless powder became the norm and John Browning made all his breakthrus.
Guns are an almost unique form of technology in that they have survived basically unchanged except as to mfg methods for about a century plus or minus. If we had advanced in heavier than air flight like we have advanced in shoulder fired projectile launchers, the Wright Bros would still be somewhere in the future.
Automobiles would still be steam powered. Travel to Europe would be by steamship. In short, there is a lot of room for improvement in guns, it's just going to take somebody to find the next breakthru because as it is, we are basically stuck back at the turn of the 20th century when smokeless powder became the norm and John Browning made all his breakthrus.Conjuring up a target in my mind's eye, I visualize it the other way 'round...
I think most of us can, if we want to. It's a question of priorities. We live in an age where "most people" think quantity is the same as quality, that more is better. Most people simply prefer to buy three $600-700 guns instead of buying one $2000 gun, and most people are happy with "good enough". At least we are reasonably happy, and prefer to complain about the quality not being what it used to be instead of coughing up the cash to buy a quality product. The manufacturers simply supply what they think their customers demand.
And it's not as if they didn't make cheap and crappy guns a hundred years ago. They made loads of cheap break-top rimfire revolvers, .25 and .32 acp pistols by the million. These are not the guns we think of when we look at an S&W triple-lock or a pre WWI Mauser rifle.
BigG, automoblies haven't really evolved that much over the last hundred years, have they? We still use the same internal combustion engine, air filled rubber tyres etc. Everything is a bit better now than then, but not revolutionary different. Heavier than air flight is still a question of moving a wing through air in such a way as to create lift. The jet engine, you say? The first successful gas turbine/jet engine was tested in June 1903, six months before Orville and Wilbur got off the ground.
Archie
Member
As a matter of function...
I'd say a firearm is obsolete whenever one can't obtain ammunition or replacement parts in a reasonable manner.
Sure, one can make casings for oddball calibers, like 8mm Commission or the 8x56R Siamese Mauser, but the ammo isn't "readily obtainable". The big problem is parts. Can one reasonably get another sight blade, or extractor, or hand or even grips for the doodad in question?
Up untill last year, I had a 1966 Lincoln Continental. But it's just impossible to get replacement electrical system components anymore. The alternators have all been rebuilt several times and they just don't go anymore. Same with brake system components and fuel pumps and such. I just could not maintain the old beast anymore.
Same with guns. Oddly, one can still get parts for Winchester '92s and '94s; Savage 99s, Springfield '03s and the like. The useable stuff is still around. The 1911 is still used by many as a defense gun, not to mention a target pistol. But I'd have to have to find a firing pin for a Bergman-Simplex.
I'd say a firearm is obsolete whenever one can't obtain ammunition or replacement parts in a reasonable manner.
Sure, one can make casings for oddball calibers, like 8mm Commission or the 8x56R Siamese Mauser, but the ammo isn't "readily obtainable". The big problem is parts. Can one reasonably get another sight blade, or extractor, or hand or even grips for the doodad in question?
Up untill last year, I had a 1966 Lincoln Continental. But it's just impossible to get replacement electrical system components anymore. The alternators have all been rebuilt several times and they just don't go anymore. Same with brake system components and fuel pumps and such. I just could not maintain the old beast anymore.
Same with guns. Oddly, one can still get parts for Winchester '92s and '94s; Savage 99s, Springfield '03s and the like. The useable stuff is still around. The 1911 is still used by many as a defense gun, not to mention a target pistol. But I'd have to have to find a firing pin for a Bergman-Simplex.
M67 - I would not derail the thread, but I believe APPLIED automotive technology has evolved W-A-A-Y more than APPLIED firearms technology. There are hydraulics and electronics that Henry Ford would be totally flummoxed by. On the other hand, in the area of current firearms, there is little that would be unintelligible to John Browning were he alive to see it.
Powered flight, first realized in 1903 by the Wrights, has evolved to manned roundtrip voyages to the MOON. Yet the autoloading pistol system most copied today first saw light in 1897 and was improved up thru 1905 - 7. Yes, I think there is lots of room for a breakthru in firearms, just who will do it???
Powered flight, first realized in 1903 by the Wrights, has evolved to manned roundtrip voyages to the MOON. Yet the autoloading pistol system most copied today first saw light in 1897 and was improved up thru 1905 - 7. Yes, I think there is lots of room for a breakthru in firearms, just who will do it???
BigG - I have no wish to derail the thread either, just a short comment.
I'm not saying automobiles haven't evolved quite a bit. But I'm not sure Henry Ford would have been totally flummoxed. Electronics would have been alien to him but I think he would have grasped the concept of a "machine" controlling things like fuel injection. Maybe the same way J.M.B. would have recognized a Glock immediately, but without any knowledge of the chemical processes involved in making the polymer.
Automobiles have changed more than guns, but I think both Ford and Browning would have been surprised they haven't changed more.
I'm not saying automobiles haven't evolved quite a bit. But I'm not sure Henry Ford would have been totally flummoxed. Electronics would have been alien to him but I think he would have grasped the concept of a "machine" controlling things like fuel injection. Maybe the same way J.M.B. would have recognized a Glock immediately, but without any knowledge of the chemical processes involved in making the polymer.
Automobiles have changed more than guns, but I think both Ford and Browning would have been surprised they haven't changed more.
greyhound
Member
Yes, I know revolvers can have failures too, but I hear a lot more complaints about FTF/FTE with the semi autos....
Anyone says revolvers in general are obsolete gonna get a punch in the nose (just kidding).
Anyone says revolvers in general are obsolete gonna get a punch in the nose (just kidding).
- Status
Similar threads
