The future hunting rifle.

[Kachok]

With the changes in the rifle market being as rapid as they are I was wanting to hear what others think will be the end result of this rapid evolution, what traits will change in our hunting rifle of the future? In very recent years we have had such remarkable changes as adjustable triggers, free floating barrels, short action magnums, and bedding blocks becoming commonplace even among budget rifles. What is next?
I have a few ideas of what might be to come:
Modular rifles, Savage has been stealing much of the rifle market because of how the rifles are configured, an amature can take them apart, change caliber, barrel, stock.....pretty much anything, and put it back together like a pro, the competition is not going to sit ideally by forever and let them keep that whole market.
Those rifles that do not go modular will become more refined to try and capture the traditional market, I am expecting someone to rival Sako/Tikka smoothness very very soon, and in a mid range rifle no less.
Assult rifle hunting is going to grow, and with that will come a cartrage that will turn an AR platform into a real hunter, I don't see the 6.8 filling that role due to it's low bullet weights and marginal ballistics, maybe the 6.5 Grendel but I am looking to see something with a bit more mainstream appeal.
More extream rifles. I forsee more rifles of wildly different proportions, featherweights will get smaller and lighter and target/long range hunting rifles will become more and more extream as accuracy fine tuning reaches it's physical limits.
Cartrages will evolve more slowly, the classics die hard so they will be with us for many years to come, but the evolution of the short action high performance cartrage will continue. The WSSMs were a little ahead of their time, but expect to see some very small very high intensity cartrages for the future featherweight rifle.
6mm, 6.5mm and 7mm calibers will grow in popularity as improvement in bullet construction improve small caliber performance and external ballistics capture more attention.
Integrated suppressors. We are becoming more and more lax with the notion of silencers, even while hunting, and it is only a matter of time before someone gets a bill passed to legalize built in suppressors for entire product lines to prevent hearing damage. Not the special forces grade wisper quite kind, but enough to take muzzle blast down to sub hearing damage levels.
I am sure some of that sounds crazy now, but bedding blocks and free floating barrels were wild ideas not that long ago. I would like to hear what you guys think.

 

[Haxby]

I'm not seeing the rapid evolution.

6mm, 6.5mm and 7mm calibers were some of Mauser's first, well before 1900.
Remington Short Magnums go back to about 1965.
I was hearing I should free float the barrel and glass bed the action on my Winchester in about 1975, and the idea wasn't new then.

Computer controlled machining will continue to improve, but manufacturers will continue to cut costs in the interest of profits.
Optics and synthetic stocks are the biggest change I've seen. Synthetic receivers might catch on, and electronic optics might take off.

 

[Kachok]

I know people were bedding actions back then, but factory bedding blocks and free floated barrels are rather new. Remingtons 6.5 and 350 short mags were ahead of their time and never caught on, shame really because I think the 6.5 Rem Mag is superior to the 264 Win Mag, and the 350 packs real 35 Whellen firepower into a short action. Short mags never found their place until the WSMs which started in 2001. I have a 270 WSM and I consider it to be a fantastic hunting cartrage, shoots flatter then any of my 7mm rem mags in a short action with 2" less barrel and alot less recoil.
While the 6.5mms have been around since the 1890s they have been largely overlooked by the US market until recently, now the 6.5 Creedmore 6.5 Grendel, and 6.5x47 are becoming fixtures at the local shooting ranges, and the 6.5-284 is now a commercial cartrage. I still think the old 6.5x55 is as good as any of them, but what do I know

 

[Bio-Chem]

I've got to agree with the comment above. Manufacturers are constantly repackaging things and calling them new when in reality they aren't that new. This is one of those sciences that has been pretty well known and played with for well over 50 years now. wildcat's will always be played with. some will come and go, but in actuality people are still going to go out and buy rem 700 30-06's and continue to take every animal on the north american continent.

the fact we can go out and buy rifles for under $600 that promise MOA acuracy with 3 shot groups is pretty damn awesome in my book. Hell, just today i went out and shot my fathers rem 700 .30-06 which is older than I am (I'm 32) I got 5 shot groups in 1.3" I got my Win mod 70 featherweight classic made in 1993 to group in 1.4" I felt like I had a good day.

I'm sure i'll continue to buy other rifles in other calibers. I may play with some wildcat's (the 6.5-06 intrigues me), but honestly with those two guns what am I missing out on other than variety for the hell of it? Their is nothing up to Elk that I wouldn't feel comfortable hunting at ranges out to my ability level.

Having said all that if anything I would like to see more effort placed into powder development for the handloader. I like the idea behind superformance. truth is pressure=velocity, and we can only go so high with pressure safely.

wait.......what was the question? sorry for the ramble

 

[TurtlePhish]

Cartrages will evolve more slowly, the classics die hard so they will be with us for many years to come, but the evolution of the short action high performance cartrage will continue. The WSSMs were a little ahead of their time, but expect to see some very small very high intensity cartrages for the future featherweight rifle.

Your other stuff seems reasonable, but those cartridges are serious barrel burners. .243WSSM has a barrel life of like 800-1000rds. Unless your average not-gun-guy hunter learns how to change a barrel or is willing to pony up for a rebarrel job, I don't think overbores are gonna become super-mainstream.

 

[Kachok]

Just the evolution of the rifle, I used to play with Rem 700s and Winchester 70s too, but my Tikka is a whole different animal, lighter, smaller, smoother, and MUCH more accurate. Friction bedded action and free floated Sako barrel, it is so good that I cannot do it justice anywhere but on a shooting bench, and even then I feel like it is capable of more that what I can shoot, and I am pretty darn good by any standard.

 

[Kachok]

Your other stuff seems reasonable, but those cartridges are serious barrel burners. .243WSSM has a barrel life of like 800-1000rds. Unless your average not-gun-guy hunter learns how to change a barrel or is willing to pony up for a rebarrel job, I don't think overbores are gonna become super-mainstream.

I was not making reference to the 243 WSSM per say, just the super short action, a friend of mine shoots his 25 WSSM all the time and he is still on his factory barrel. 47gr (max load) of powder through a .257 cal is no more overbore then a 257 Roberts and I have never met anyone who called the Bob a barrel burner.

 

[CmdrSlander]

I think we are going to see an increase in the popularity of existing smaller calibers for wider varieties of game via new bullet designs. I predict this because the materials required to make ammunition are finite and thus will only get more expensive (thus making larger calibers more expensive and eventually prohibitively so.

 

[TurtlePhish]

I was not making reference to the 243 WSSM per say, just the super short action, a friend of mine shoots his 25 WSSM all the time and he is still on his factory barrel. 47gr (max load) of powder through a .257 cal is no more overbore then a 257 Roberts and I have never met anyone who called the Bob a barrel burner.

I was just using it as an example. I wouldn't be surprised at shorter, fatter cartridges but the WSSMs are extreme. If the .25 works, though, I guess it works. Only know about the .243, and even then only from research when I was thinking about an AR chambered for it.

 

[Kachok]

I am not a 257 cal guy, but had they released a .264 WSSM that could give me .260 Rem power in a 39" long 5lbs rifle with accuracy to match I would be buying a new rifle, supply of factory ammo, and how popular it gets don't make a darn, I make my own ammo anyway, and I could care less about what other people think of my choice in caliber as long as I am making tiny little groups and putting meat in the freezer. I am a small guy, and 4 foot long 9lbs rifles never thrilled me.

 

[Bio-Chem]

the .257 vs .264 debate rages on! haha. does .007 really make that big of a difference? hahah. (please no james bond jokes ) Both kill deer right?

 

[Kachok]

the .257 vs .264 debate rages on! haha. does .007 really make that big of a difference? hahah. (please no james bond jokes ) Both kill deer right?

Yes and no, no the deer won't feel the difference between the two calibers at identical levels of energy/mass/momentum, yes the 6.5s have a better selection of high BC bullets that resist wind drift and retain energy out to much longer ranges. Plus I have always managed to get 6.5s to group super tight for me and I already have a huge selection of nearly every 6.5mm bullet you could imagine for reloading .257 cals have a 1:10 twist good for throwing light bullets very fast, .264 cals have a 1:8 twist for throwing heavy bullets very far.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I hope to see less plastic and stainless in the future and more walnut and blued steel.

 

[Kachok]

Well I like "plastic" and stainless on my Tikka, that "plastic" is a fiber/matrix composite which is very light and strong, and feels much better then tupperware that others use. There are other rifles that just look and feel alot better in Walnut/Blued though.