What's gonna be the next handgun "fashon"

Status
Not open for further replies.

R.W.Dale

Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
11,658
Location
Northwest Arkansas
I've been reading through some old books and gun rags and I've noticed about every 10 years more or less, handgun fads change.

In the 70's it was a wheel gun world. Then came the 80's the golden age of the wonder nine. In the Clinton dark ages everything was plastic phantastic. currently the 1911 brotherhood still holds power.... But for how long?

So my question is what's next?
 
Good question.

Im gonna bet on
A) the re-emergaence of classics (High caliber, larger frame, metal, low capacity)

And also the antithesis-

B) Polymer, low cal, high cap (possibly even things like the FN 57) and med-large frames.

Just based on current trends. I think the smaller pistols aside from mkarovs and pocket defense will be away for a little while.
 
CCW designed weapons.

Autos along the lines of the Kahr PM9 or the newest Keltec 9mm single stack offering.

I'm waiting for someone to re-engineer a revolver to use a chain-fed oval-like cylinder or otherwise reinvent the 6-gun to make it thinner to conceal.

I'm also waiting for the extractor star on a 5-shot 9mm to be moved so the extractor ledge is inside the cylinder where the cartridge headspaces. When you push up on the extractor, it pushes against the cartridge mouth and extracts the cases without a need for moon clips.
 
Prediction:

Other Polymer Gun Mfgs are now eating away at the Market Dominated by Glock.

Glock will come up with a Polymer Revolver to regain shares lost to other semi's and to fill a niche in the small, concealable, less upkeep revolver.

My guess, something to go head to head with the 642 Club.
 
I would venture a guess that the next big fashion would be whatever the military adopts as its new sidearm. :rolleyes:

And for the next, next fashion? If domestic manufacturers follow the trend of Winchester (think Miroku-made "Winchesters", the end of the 94/70/1300, and now some Russian 22 bolt action) I would think the next, next fashion would be anything made in America when guns were made in America. :mad:

The next, next, next fashion? Whichever single firearm the law allows you to have, that has the requisite internal locks, user identification, radio frequency ID serial number, remote disable feature, two round magazine, and shot data recorder (ala Taser). :cuss:

Oh I so hope I am wrong.
 
autos with high quality DAO triggers similar to the direction of the taurus 24/7 and better ccw weapons as someone said earlier, like the kahrs and such, but much cheaper as more people carry as a way of lifestyle. I don't think you'll see too much change in revolvers. They are already as refined as they can be.
 
More widespread use of finishes like Tenifer to resist corrosion.

Better triggers in automatics. Already in progress.

Some fairly compact, light, and powerful gas operated pistol designs capable of handling small cartridges in the 50,000PSI range. Nothing at all like the Deagle.

Improved powders for more velocity or reduced pressure for equal velocity.

A big upswing in very high velocity, very high capacity small caliber pistols like the 5.7x28 or H&K versions. Or something like them, but more effective.

More widespread use of very high velocity/light bullet NATO 9mm loads by the military to deal with body armor.

Smoothbore fin stabilized projectiles fired from pistols at 5000FPS.
 
Standing Wolf-

I do not agree with my prediction, I just "predicted". :p

Ugly? Yes I agree today's definitions totally baffle me as well.

Now I really feel if NAA does get the 32 revolver out into the market place, we may see that as a popular CCW.

If it does take off, maybe more .32 and .22 Revolvers as in yesteryear Like S&W and Colt did , will again be revived.

Just perhaps folks will again appreciate fine craftmanship and demand it. Product will meet standards of old. Pride of ownership and the abilty to pass forward these qualities will again become the norm.
 
Fashions

Hard to predict. These things ebb and flow with gunrag articles sometimes.
Usually closely follows something new and deadly-lookin'...but classic designs never really leave us...or at least not for very long. They may be shuffled to the back of the shelf for a time, but they always seem to re-emerge, ready and willing to take up where they left off.

Some examples that just don't seem to go away are:

The 1911 (of course) Nearly a hundred and still sellin'...and stirring up flame wars on internet forums.

The '98 Mauser.

The M-94 Winchester rifle. 112 years young and still here. Marlin leverguns too. Same concept. Same 19th century technology. Still hangin' in there.

The single-action revolver...notably the '73 SAA and the Bisley.

The double-action revolver. They just keep sellin' and sellin' and sellin'
in the face of 15 and 20-round semi-autos...and they're being carried for
serious purposes every day by thousands of people who understand the nature of a gunfight.

The pump/slide-action shotgun...in spite of all the killer-diller, uber-tactical semi-autos that have a "firepower" edge, whatever that means.

The double shotgun...even the exposed hammer models are regaining a spot in the market, and not just because of Cowboy Action. They're simple and practical.

The Browning P-35. The original hi-cap "Wondernine" has a faithful following for a very good reason. It's a damn good pistol.

The .22 pump rifle. Really now...Does it get any better than this on a lazy Sunday afternoon?:cool:
 
I'm with Tuner. The classics are so called because they got it right the first time. If the user is doing his job the year of manufacture is not too important.

BTW I would add the M1 Garand. MUST be cleaned with GI bore cleaner and the sound track from "Band of Brothers" playing in the background.

Maybe a thread discussing the proper music for cleaning certain guns would be appropriate. ("Magnificent Seven" for Colt SAA, etc.)
 
Well in the '70s and earlier, there weren't a lot of highly regarded semi-autos around. The Sig 210 was very expensive. Writers were always talking about how much work was done on their 1911's, and the Browning HiPower used the 9x19mm, a round not popular until the Glocks and Berettas.
When the '80s came, it was the law enforcement agencies that started the double stack craze, and polymer was part of that.
During the Clinton years, it was really the concealable guns that came out.
During the last several years would be the 1911 craze parallel with the plastic craze. Both are driven by sales. People only buy so many Beretta 92s for their collection.
So I dispute the timeline.
 
Last edited:
Rumor has it that Gaston Glock is going to be announcing a new product today or tomorrow at the SHOT show. According to his own words, it will "be equally exciting" as the introduction of Glock pistols in the US back in '86.

IF that turns out to be true, and I'm not holding my breath, then the next "fashion" in firearms could very well be determined in the next couple of days. Whether you like Glock or not, they changed the face of handguns and ever since then everyone else has been trying to catch up. IF there is a new Glock product and IF it is as exciting as Mr. Glock seems to think it will be, then there is a very good chance that, now that some of the other firearm manufacturers are starting to catch up to Glock, they'll have to start playing catch up all over again.
 
It won't "rock the gun world" but with the advent of the Kel Tec PLR-16 I think the rifle caliber pistol will become very popular.

These AR type pistols have been on the market for some time, I have a Bushmaster, but the almost thousand dollar price has been keeping many shooters, that would like to try them, from buying.

A powerful, fairly inexpensive, round in an inexpensive gun the size of a large pistol has a lot of appeal.
 
Rumor has it that Gaston Glock is going to be announcing a new product today or tomorrow at the SHOT show. According to his own words, it will "be equally exciting" as the introduction of Glock pistols in the US back in '86
Hard to figure out what he could be talking about except some sort of long gun - perhaps the long-rumored uber-tactical carbine?
 
HankB said:
Hard to figure out what he could be talking about except some sort of long gun - perhaps the long-rumored uber-tactical carbine?

Lots of folks are speculating that the new product, if indeed there is one, will be a .40 caliber or 9mm carbine, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Other folks think it's a wrist watch. :scrutiny:
 
Be nice to see Glocks approach to a carbine ...

If it is in a "pistol caliber" it will cause a hell of a stir. There has been a lot of heated debate over whether there should be "pistol caliber rifles",with most of the "debaters" being pretty blinded by the truth. In that there is a place AND NEED for both pistol caliber carbines and higher octane rifles like the .223, .308 and even the 7.62 x 39mm.

I personally hope good ol Gaston is adding a new choice for those wanting a short, ergonomic, quality carbine in the 9mm, .40, and .45 range.

The new Beretta Storm is pretty nice, but won't replace my H&K MP5-SR. :rolleyes:
 
Everyone is making AR's and 1911's.

Cowboy guns are more popular than ever.

I see tomato-colored grips and exotic leather ccw holsters that contain mp3 players.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top