Anything really new in firearms since 1950?

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Materials and manufacturing methods (usually as cost-cutting measures), certainly. In addition to more plastic being used, there is also investment casting and MIM instead of forging, and CNC machining instead of hand fitting. Firearm design? Very little, at least that could be considered revolutionary. A couple of things that could be considered innovations - electric primer ignition and caseless ammunition - either were unpopular in the marketplace or still have technical hurdles to overcome, respectively. And it goes back even further. Flintlock ignition was state of the art for over two centuries, and smokeless powder in a self contained cartridge didn't come along for a century after that.
 
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Other than using plastic for the frame of a pistol, have there been any real innovations in firearms since 1950?
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Plastic parts and aluminum frames in a rifle? The AR platform comes to mind.

IMHO, there is a heck of a difference in guns since the 50s. Even if the same gun has been continually produced for that long (1911 comes to mind) the new high quality models can be much more accurate than the 50s versions.
 
Maybe not new exactly, but the newer wonder 9's and their relatives have became much less picky about what they will eat. A fair amount can be said about improvements in gas operated guns overall also.
 
Better bullets.
Better powder.
Better optics.
Better out of the box rifle accuracy.
More reliable affordable semi-auto gas-operated shotguns and rifles.
The .44 Magnum revolver.
Affordable over & under shotguns.
Mass quantities of reloading equipment and components.
JHP & JSP pistol bullets.
Tritium night sights.
9MM pistols in the USA.
Shotgun Choke tubes.
Pistol scopes & red-dot sights.
Synthetic stocks.
Weapon TACK light rails & lights.
DA auto-pistols in the USA.
Laser sights.
Pillar & chassis bedding.
Range finding & Mil-Dot scopes.
Scopes that are 100% reliable.
Titanium & Scandium frames & cylinders.
LEGO Set rifle assembly & mods anyone can do.
Fiber Optic sights.
7 & 8 shot magnum revolvers.
.22 Magnum revolvers.
Really powerful auto-pistol calibers like the 10mm.


Ahhhh!
I got to rest.

But theres way more!

rc
 
If you like wood stocked blued hunting rifles, then no. Everything else, heck yes.
 
Rotating breech lock bolt closure on the Winchester Model 88 lever action rifle, fiberglass barrel on the Winchester Model 59 shotgun, all-load capability in modern gas operated auto shotguns, laser and red dot sights for handguns, AR platform for rifles, just to name a few.

But realistically, most of my firearms can be dated back to the 1800's in function, caliber and design.

Pretty amazing, really.

Dan
 
In the big picture, NO. Small material changes, same design. Nothing new. I don't consider plastic frames and stocks a quantum leap.
 
The 1911 was adopted before WWI, in, well, 1911. The design itself dates to late 1890s or early 1900's.

The Luger Parabellum was adopted in 1908, along with 9mm Luger / Para / NATO round still in use today (in various loads but still the same design).

There simply isn't much room for improvement of a basic, simple, working, time proven mechanical design, it seems. Either that, or there wasn't much money put into R&D on handgun side, seems most of it went towards developing SMG's / assault rifles.
 
Seems there's been a large leap in the performance of bullets in regards to hollow points.
Also things have been getting more compact. handguns, subguns (MP7, P90), carbines (m4 & other short intermediate caliber rifles), full power rifles (KelTec RFB, Desert Tactical SRS)
There hasn't been the quantum leap I was expecting in the 80's when I read about things like the caseless rifles such as the HK G11.
 
Seems there's been a large leap in the performance of bullets in regards to hollow points.
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JHP handgun bullets were not even widely available commercially until the late 1960's / early 1970's.
The Super-Vel company lead the charge.

Before then?
If you shoot a revolver, you shot lead bullets.
If you shoot a bottom-feeder, you shot FMJ-RN.

Cause thats about all there was then.

rc
 
I go with the opinion that there have only been incremental improvements, no major innovations. Several ideas that were new have gone the way of all things like the Winchester 88 as already mentioned. I had one in .284. It was difficult to use in real cold weather due to the mechanical disadvantages of the action. You needed a prybar to open the action and a hammer to shut it in -20F weather. One other idea that came along in the 60s was the "Gyro Jet" pistol and rifle. It didn't pan out either. I have a fairly new model .45, a Ruger P345. Other than manufacturing technique and materials it's much the same as my old 9mm S&W model 39. Ruger is still selling basically the same MK somethingorother .22 pistol that they sold in 1950. Not all that much difference between the first MkI and the current 22/75. The Ruger 10/22 has been pretty much the same for almost 60 years now. Browning's 45 is well over 100 years old now. It's much the same in the Aircraft industry. Airliners haven't changed much other than slight improvements and size since the Boeing 707 came out in 1954. In a lot of things we're reaching the limit of our materials and technology. It's been a long time since anything really new came out in anything that isn't related to electronics which is still not a mature technology.
 
Intended firearm use has changed and driven the need for new technology.....we once fought for freedom in the world using peep sights and ball ammo. Now ammo manufacturers tell us we're faced with the walking dead phenomenon....somehow I think these new threats could still be taken out with peep sights and ball ammo.
 
M16, red dot sights, night vision. More accurate ammo and generally better mass produced guns. But I cherish my old blued steel guns.
 
Jeff Cooper listed the Marlin Co-Pilot (made by Wild West Guns), the Styer Scout Rifle, and the Blazer R-98 (pull straight back bolt action) as the only major advances.
 
Better metallurgy: stainless steel, stronger aluminum alloys (like scandium alloy), well machined titanium, etc.

That has allowed more power overall, and more power in smaller packages: think S&W 500 Mag, and Boberg micro 9.

As a result, we've learned a lot about handling big recoil: the grips available for today's hard recoiling guns are great.
 
Metalstorm; electric ignition bullets stacked horizontally across multiple barrels. The main designs produce truely devestating rates of fire, though a lot of their inital projects have fallen by the wayside, probably because no military wants to invest in a brand new weapon system and all the new ammo to go with it.

The US marines are the only ones going forward with a 3 shot underslung grenade launcher, if I recall. Chunk, chunk, chunk; no reload, no moving parts.
 
CAD for guns
Micro ammunition
PDW
DAO pistols
Electronic sights
Fire control chips
Standardized calibers
Caseless ammunition
Variable ROF
STANAG magazines
Customizable modifications
1 MOA accuracy benchmark
 
Guns are far better. Ammo is far better. Better steel. Better alloys. Introduction of polymers. A pistol produced today can withstand treatment that would have worn out a comparable gun 60 years ago. A rifle off the shelf today would outshoot an expensive custom gun from the 1950s.
In caliber, 10mm, 40S&W, .357SIG, 41mag. In rifle calibers there is no end to innovations.
In finishes, earlier you had blued, parked and nickel. Today you have many finishes that will withstand tremendous tests.
Higher capacity, lighter weight, more lethal. Those are the trends.
 
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