Next Quantum Leap???

I doubt it
What we see in mature technologies are incremental advancement.
So to have a big leap we’d need to see something break the current gun, bullet/casing/powder/primer paradigm.

My gues is that cost and government restrictions are the leading cause of a paradigm shift not occurring. That and a massive investment in the current technology.

Maybe they will come up with rocket-powered ammo or caseless ammo .... Oh, that's right, it already happened over 50 years ago. Daisy and Gyrojet both had variations of that. And the 'Rocket Ball' developed in the mid19th century also had a go at it.

I think the next leap in ammunition will be in the form of the ignition system. Electronic primers were here but need to be made more practical and affordable before they can become mainstream.

I always wondered if plastic explosive could be a good propellant

The future is laser and magnetic weapons. Electricity is amazing, we just need to get it more powerful and in a smaller package. The military has been testing laser weapons and railguns for decades.

Just like fossil fuels, we will eventually stop relying on combustion to do our work for us.

Speaking of plastic: Maybe not in projectiles or propellants but Lee Precision is announcing a new concept in automatic reloading presses which has everyone talking. Speed, efficiency, value, speed...https://leeprecision.com/auto-breech-lock-pro.html

I'm certain that given the capitalistic nature of our economy other manufacturing firms will be scrambling to catch up!

Stew0576 said:

I always wondered if plastic explosive could be a good propellant

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It burns way way too fast, and the power needed to ignite it would be more than enough on its own.

Thought it was ignited with a spark?

Stew0576 said:

Thought it was ignited with a spark?

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Negative, plastic explosives are by definition stabilized. They need heat and pressure to ignite, usually by means of an electric or nonelectric explosive blasting cap made of highly sensitive RDX or similar compound. The cap alone will take part of your hand off.

Goes to show that you know less than you think, would have been fun though

Galil5.56 said:

Wondering if we will ever see a true quantum leap as it relates to ammo performance anytime soon, and how?

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Yup. I expect handheld railguns with chemical batteries, or possibly hi-cap capacitors, in my lifetime.

Smart bullets are also an interesting avenue; I can imagine applications of a sintered metal bullet that turned back into sand-sized particles at 0.5 sec flight time, and would never ricochet.

Telescoping shells. There’s another modified notion.

It's doubtfull there will be any such "quantum leap" to be had with powder/projectile weapons.

The science and technology behind powder/projectile weapons is very mature and very well understood. The limits have been pushed on all the frontiers associated with this and radical performance increases just aren't going to happen any more.

And not only that, but computer design and modeling has advanced enough that performance predictions can be made for about any engineering design before actual production begins.

If we gravitate away from powder/projectile weapons, then yes...I imagine some practical quantum leaps in performance could be made. But we have a ways to go there, as well.

thomas15 said:

Speaking of plastic: Maybe not in projectiles or propellants but Lee Precision is announcing a new concept in automatic reloading presses which has everyone talking. Speed, efficiency, value, speed...https://leeprecision.com/auto-breech-lock-pro.html

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Why not? We already have plastic Glocks.

Stew0576 said:

I always wondered if plastic explosive could be a good propellant

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No.

Plastic explosives (Composition B and C4 for example) DETONATE. Detonation is a chemical reaction propagated by a shock wave -- which moves at the speed of sound within the material. Detonations tend to occur at speeds greater than 20K fps. A characteristic of detonation is brisance, which is defined as shattering power. Plastic explosives would shatter a rifle's action as if it were glass.

Propellants, on the other hand, DEFLAGRATE. Deflagration is burning. They burn rapidly (but not nearly so rapidly as detonations occur) and produce enormous amounts of gas at high pressures. It is the expanding gas that drives the bullet down the bore.

Railguns. As battery technology continues to improve, thanks to huge, economy-wide pressures/incentives, handheld rail guns might eventually get very powerful while being of manageable weight.

I can see the future now, Railguns in California limited to 10 amps @ 10v with 10 shot batteries (that must be lead free) and can't recharge faster than 10 minutes.

Uh oh a dangerous black plastic Hi-capacity battery charger, better ban those....

I’m reminded of some old .303 British ammo loaded with cordite that I have. Interesting stuff to shoot.

Firearm tech always moves slow. Too big a jump won't catch on.

I always think of HK's caseless ammo and Remington's electric trigger.... Too crazy for us folks that hate change.

I am looking forward to laser guns, though.

In a decade or two we'll see caseless telescoped ammunition in which nothing is ejected. The projectiles will be shorter and lighter for the same terminal performance. This is already a reality in the new 40 mm canons the army is considering and Textron has prototypes in 5.56, 7.62 and 6.5. The army is pursuing it heavily to save on carried weight and improve terminal performance.

It seems like a great idea and has the potential to be a quantum leap. The lack of a case to carry around and eject is revolutionary.

https://taskandpurpose.com/army-bae-40mm-cannon/

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/news/a27414/plastic-ammo-textron-cased-telescope/

I expect to see electric solenoid actions. The reason is twofold. The first is that it will allow the shooter to tailor when the action cycles. The second is that it will provide a loophole for getting around semi-auto restrictions because it would not fit the legal definitions of semi-auto firearms.

I also expect to see a form of percussion revolvers built around modern primers and smokeless powder. This too will be a reaction to bans on cartridge firing handguns.

Along those lines, I expect to see a revival of high power pre-charged pneumatic rifles. The basic technology is on the market, I just expect it to be more common.

think the next leap in ammunition will be in the form of the ignition system. Electronic primers were here but need to be made more practical and affordable before they can become mainstream.

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Back in the mid 80s Krico made their Kricotronic rifles imported Beeman, mostly rimfire but a few centerfire rifles as well. They used a single 9v battery and electronically ignited regular ammunition.

This is most of the email from Robert Beeman back in ‘09.

“Beeman was the exclusive importer for Krico firearms from about 1986-88. What you are referring to is the Beeman/Krico Model 340 ST Kricotronic - listed on page 961 of the 27th Ed. of the Blue Book of Gun Values for $550 in 60% of new condition to $1295 in 100%.

The Blue Book GV has three errors regarding this - they will be correcting them in the next issue. 1. The Kricotronic system is not (as listed in BBGV) an electronic trigger as found on several brands of match guns but rather it is electronic ignition of conventional primers. An electronic spark instantly and without any mechanical movement ignites the primer when the trigger is pulled. (This surely would give forensic investigators fits - no firing pin mark on fired cases!). 2. Several of the Krico centerfire rifles also displayed this astonishing system- evidently ahead of its time, it was not well accepted and was not produced after 1988. 3. Beeman Precision Arms Inc. was the U.S. importer of Krico firearms about 1986-88 but was not listed as an official importer by BBGV. Also, we imported very few (ten??) of these special guns, and extremely few (50??) were made - so the values are probably well understated.”

And the one from Arndt Kiregeskorte.

““Dear Morris,

there was only a small number of this rifles built in the early 80th.
As KRICO was not strong enough to penetrate the UIT-Match rifle business we stopped the project.
In the mean time we offered our know how to REMINGTON, ANSCHÜTZ, WALTHER and more companies in this business, but these are to conservative to see the advantages of this firing system.
We are still looking for a potential partner.

Best regards
Arndt G. Kriegeskorte
KRICO & falko
Kriegeskorte Handels- GmbH
Nurnberger Stra?e 6
D - 90602 Pyrbaum
“

I found it very interesting that he offered the technology to Remington, after all they later tried the concept in 2000-2003 with the Etronx that failed because they wound up having to use special primers.


Here is a write up from 1985 on the 340.

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kricotronic:+electric+thunderbolt.-a03659515

Such is life, couldn’t afford one back then, can’t find one now...

SharpDog said:

In a decade or two we'll see caseless telescoped ammunition in which nothing is ejected. The lack of a case to carry around and eject is revolutionary.

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Not really so revolutionary, caseless ammo has been around for 170 years.

"The Rocket Ball, patented in 1848 by Walter Hunt, consisted of a lead bullet with a deep hollow in the rear, running a majority of the length of the cartridge. The hollow, like that of the Minie ball, served to seal the bullet into the bore, but Rocket Ball put the cavity to further use. By packing the deep cavity with powder, and sealing it with a cap with a small hole in the rear for ignition, the Rocket Ball replaced the earlier paper cartridge with a durable package capable of being fed from a magazine. The cap was blown out of the bore upon firing. The Rocket Ball was used in magazine fed lever action guns, allowing the first easily manufactured repeating single chamberfirearms.[1]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Ball