Remington rifle with electronic ignition

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

dodgestdshift

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2003
Messages
211
Location
Marilla NY. (outside Buffalo)
A few years back, Remington introduced a rifle and cartridges for it with an electronic priming(ignition) system. I thought it was an idea whose time never came. Is it still around? The gun rags went nuts over it when it came out, and then nothing. I haven't seen it since.
 
I would have more interest if the price was equal to the beauties we shoot now. interesting and logical way to ignite cartridges. zero lock time trigger, trigger is actually a microswitch. only the primers make the cartridges different. they're like tiny blasting caps
 
Hmmph!

An answer looking for a problem, IMHO. I would be glad to see the whole idea die a quick, merciful death.
 
The Remington has an almost traditional cartridge, but the primer is made with an electrically sensitive compound instead of impact sensitive primary explosive.

The Metalstorm uses no cartridge at all, instead the rounds and propellant are stacked inside the barrel much like a roman candle.
 
I have to agree with Smokey Joe, it was a solution in search of a problem. I can see the application in a pure target gun, where trigger let off is a major factor in accuracy, but not in a hunting rifle. I think Remington at that time was anticipating laws on "personalized" guns, and an electric mechanism would lend itself to use of a password or fingerprint check easier than a conventional system. They seem to have backed off that period and now have made a decision to help fight proposed gun laws, rather than accommodating them. (Witness their reaction to Zumbo's "terrorist guns" blog article.)

High Standard made a pistol with an electric trigger at one time. It used a solenoid to release the sear, but the .22 LR ammunition was conventional.

Jim
 
Aside from the proprietary nature, expense, and need for batteries; the concept has some interesting features.

  • Much reduced lock time.
  • The possibility for a "perfect" and safe trigger. No creep. No perceptible travel. Consistent break.
  • Slicker bolt operation, due to no need to cock a striker.
  • No need to worry about pierced primers.

I'd like to build my own etronX rifle sometime. I'd build the trigger with an electronic strain gage rather than a microswitch - programmable trigger pull!

Of course, such a rifle will always be a range toy rather than a serious weapon.
 
There was a thread (Here? I don't recall.) where someone was wanting to open small primer pockets to large so as to be able to rebarrel an EtronX to the benchrest caliber of his interest. The electric primers are still available, at a price.

There have been a number of other electrically fired guns. The first I recall reading about was the Fusil Electrique; a conventional looking double shotgun using electrically primed shells, made in France, sold here for a while by A&F.
Krico made a .22 rifle with actual electric ignition, it just put a jolt through the rim of a standard long rifle cartridge. S&W prototyped a caseless submachinegun with an electric primer glued to the base of the molded propellant.
 
Also

Apparently firing pin bounce/harmonics can affect accuracy in benchrest situations. The rimfire people seem interested in this. I wonder if this would do away with it.
 
The lock time on the Etronix was supposedly 120 times faster. Anyone who fails to see the advantage there isn't looking very hard. The naysayers ranting about "seeking a problem" are doing nothing but. Sure it requires batteries. Sure it's not relying on mechanical sear relationships. Sure it's different. But the single most significant aspect they're ignoring is that it works better than conventional trigger systems. I wish the primers were plentiful and common. That is for me a limiting issue. At some point my target only rifle will have an electronically actuated system. An engineer friend of mine has suggested that it's possible to deliver current of high enough amperage to ignite standard primers with similar lock time. Should we work it out, I'm sure the whiners will rise against it. Just remember that every advance in technology came as a result of innovation.
 
An engineer friend of mine has suggested that it's possible to deliver current of high enough amperage to ignite standard primers with similar lock time.
Click to expand...

Done and done. The Kricotronic delivered about 300 amps (I don't recall the voltage, that is left as an excercise for the student.) through the rim of a .22 LR.
 
Yah, and it wouldn't take long until somebody wired it up to a monkey's brain and set the impulse to a picture of a banana.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

jm
 
sounds great until shtf and you run out of 9 volt batteries:banghead: why would they do this, not to mention charge a ridiculous price. just like anything though, Im sure theres someone who will buy it.
 
sounds great until shtf and you run out of 9 volt batteries:banghead:
Click to expand...

So the *&^% what? Not every rifle has to be the ultimate survival tool in case of societal meltdown!

I suppose that a Pardini free pistol is worthless because it's underpowered and hard to conceal?
 
Quote:
An engineer friend of mine has suggested that it's possible to deliver current of high enough amperage to ignite standard primers with similar lock time.

Done and done. The Kricotronic delivered about 300 amps (I don't recall the voltage, that is left as an excercise for the student.) through the rim of a .22 LR.
Click to expand...
That's really cool.

I'd like to see the technology advanced. However, not in a hunting rifle, but in a target rifle or target pistol.

I definitely would not want an electronic trigger in my CCW or nightstand gun though. :uhoh:
 
So the *&^% what? Not every rifle has to be the ultimate survival tool in case of societal meltdown!
Click to expand...

Its really not that important that if you dont have any 9 volt batteries the gun is worthless. What really bothers me is there is no docking station for an ipod in the stock! what if you drop it in the creek? is it going to completely ruin the rifle? it just seems like theres alot better things to buy with 2 grand, including other better designed guns.
 
Target rifle

It's not difficult to make electronics that are impervious to water.

The gun probably cost a decent amount to develop, but not to produce. Remington should be selling them for less in a target/bench gun format, if they are interested in getting them to catch on. As a hunting rifle...
 
Eric, Remington's rifle is completely sealed from the environment it was tested after spending a week in a lake (it passed), it was tested in the extreme cold and heat (passed again). The single 9volt battery got you something like 4000 shots! Seriously on a .22-250 you're looking at three batteries before the barrel is shot out! That being said, my long held contention on new technology is that it needs to be able to do one or more of a few things to get me to buy in:

1) Represent an initial savings to the consumer.
2) Cost proportional to nearest comparable technology.
3) Save the owner money over time.
4) Be such a pioneering thing that it is capable of heretofore impossible tasks which justify high pricing.
5) Represent a verifiable increase in durability/ sustainability.

Please note these 5 are my qualifiers to buy something strictly on the basis of it's technological attributes. I'll buy a rifle that doesn't do anything better than my current one just because I love the way it feels, looks, or whatever!
 
Its not really a new tech idea as thats how most aircraft and naval guns have fired off since the late 1930s and 40s...just the same deal in a rifle is a bit of a pushing a good idea too far is all.
 
For the price they were asking for those things one could see a hec of a lot better accuracy results buying a regular 700 , having the action trued and installing a match barrel and still having money left over.
 
I would be much more interested in an electronic trigger system than I would be for electronic priming, but then I am not a bullseye shooter, and thus the "120 times faster" locktime really isn't applicable to my situation. I am no engineer, but it seems to me that an adjustable electronic trigger and a firing system that controlled the firing pin itself would yield faster locktime without requiring specialized primers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Whatever Happened to Remington Electronic Firing?
2
Replies
33
Views
6K
Art Eatman
A
T
  • Locked
Questions regarding electric ignition concept
Replies
12
Views
760
spyder1911
S
T
  • Locked
35 Remington for moose & caribou
Replies
7
Views
3K
highorder
H
someguy2800
  • Locked
Powder fail to ignite
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
mdi
mdi
arcticap
  • Locked
777 Ignition Anomoly
Replies
13
Views
726
Mr. Melcher
M
Back
Top