Wondering if we will ever see a true quantum leap as it relates to ammo performance anytime soon, and how? Smokeless propellants and smaller diameter, more streamlined bullets when used in conjunction, are what I consider a true quantum leap over BP, and large caliber lead bullets... Dang, imagine seeing the 8mm Lebel in action for the first time. Sure, smokeless propellants have changed in many ways in the 130+ years since Paul Vieille brought us Poudre B; stabilizers, anti metal fouling via tin/bismuth incorporation, flash suppressed, double base, ball propellants, etc... But at the heart the basic formula is very much the same, with marketing and hype seeming to be alive and well.
Reloaders like you and me with many decades of press time, have seen so many propellants come and go, and in reality almost all of us could get by very well with maybe 10, tops. Bullets too have obviously greatly improved, with hybrid mixes, lead composition variation, electro jacket bonding, very tight control of diameter, weight, jacket variation and ogive, plastic/'rubber' meplat designs, partition style, good expanding copper bullets...
I like to think of scenarios that could truly be considered a quantum leap, but can not be done with conventional components we have today; How about this fantasy, or similar:
A 6.5 bullet that has the same external dimensions as a current conventional, high B.C. 140-150 grain bullet, but weighs 300 grains, able to be driven to 5000 fps in a rifle capable of having an avg max working pressure of 200,000 psi? Not even gold of depleted uranium could do the bullet I describe, but can you imagine a rifle that say if proofed at 260,000 psi, has a working pressures at the stated 200,000 psi! Not sure what metallurgy could do this today, without a rifle weighing many times what is practical, or what cases could be used; guess a rail type gun for the velocity w/o propellants, but hardly practical now.
Well, at least it's fun to speculate, imagining a whole new dawn, and a true quantum leap in ammunition, and firearms technology. What have you thought along these lines?
Reloaders like you and me with many decades of press time, have seen so many propellants come and go, and in reality almost all of us could get by very well with maybe 10, tops. Bullets too have obviously greatly improved, with hybrid mixes, lead composition variation, electro jacket bonding, very tight control of diameter, weight, jacket variation and ogive, plastic/'rubber' meplat designs, partition style, good expanding copper bullets...
I like to think of scenarios that could truly be considered a quantum leap, but can not be done with conventional components we have today; How about this fantasy, or similar:
A 6.5 bullet that has the same external dimensions as a current conventional, high B.C. 140-150 grain bullet, but weighs 300 grains, able to be driven to 5000 fps in a rifle capable of having an avg max working pressure of 200,000 psi? Not even gold of depleted uranium could do the bullet I describe, but can you imagine a rifle that say if proofed at 260,000 psi, has a working pressures at the stated 200,000 psi! Not sure what metallurgy could do this today, without a rifle weighing many times what is practical, or what cases could be used; guess a rail type gun for the velocity w/o propellants, but hardly practical now.
Well, at least it's fun to speculate, imagining a whole new dawn, and a true quantum leap in ammunition, and firearms technology. What have you thought along these lines?