Thanks all, for sharing your imagination with me. I appreciate it.
Well, you have all put your 2 cents in, so I might as will tell you some of my thoughts and share some of my wishful thinking. Before I begin, a couple of side notes:
(1) I am a bit fond of obscure calibers; and
(2) I do not mean to step on anybody's toes by suggesting that these be produced... I just like the idea of them. That doesn't mean I think you are an idiot for not agreeing with me that they would be cool guns to have.
Furthermore, I will not answer the question of "What would you need a __[insert type of gun here]__ for?" That is the question that Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Harry Reid and a million other gun-grabbers are asking about every gun you and I own. I will not ask it, I will not answer it. This is a free country. We own stuff because we want to and we can afford it. Nothing else should really matter.
So here are my hopes for the future of handgun development:
1) A modern 7.62x25mm Tokarev chambered handgun. I could see this as being pretty easy to do, as it would mostly just take lengthening a 9mm's grip, trigger bar, slide (lengthening the slide would effectively be lengthening the ejection port), and the barrel's locking block/chamber. Whether this is done as the Smith and Wesson "M&P 762," or the Ruger "SR-762," or the Glock "41," doesn't really matter. Hell, it could be an M9/92 based Beretta "97." The draw back is that the platform cannot really be shared like others can. Por ejemplo, the .45 platform can be used as a platform for 10mm, .38 Super, or 9x23mm Win (or even .400 Corbon, .460 Rowland, 9x25 Dillon or .40 Super, if you like the exotic rounds). A 9mm platform can serve as a .40 S&W, .357 Sig, .45 GAP or even a .30 Luger platform. Though not factory available, there are commercial conversions for most of these, and readily available custom conversions for all of them. The main necessity is a similar cartridge OAL. What is there that matches the length of the Tokarev round? Pretty much nothing, but that will not last for long. So if one of these guns came out, you would probably see a dozen new calibers that shares the approximate length of the Tokarev; halfway between the 10mm length and the length of most magnum cartridges. (These might range from straight walled .30 calibers, up to shortened forms of the .44 AutoMag) Some of these new calibers might actually give those of us who are caliber whores the chance to spend our money with reckless abandon all over again (now that we have converted our Glocks to shoot every caliber in the rainbow and have money accumulating in our savings account). It might also make the recoil junkies wet their pants at the arrival of a commercially available caliber that makes even more noise than the 10mm! But everybody else would probably just sigh and roll their eyes at these new calibers. However, I would still love to see something like this happen.
2) A competitive alternative to the Desert Eagle. Considering that wheel guns, on the whole, seem more expensive than semi-autos, I have to wonder why a .500 S&W magnum costs less than a .44 Magnum DE. As a reloading newbie, I would be interested in a new .50 caliber semi-auto magnum cartridge that does not have a highly rebated rim like the .50 AE; maybe a cut down Win Short Mag (which is kinda rebated itself... so, oh well). I would also like to see it available in LOTS of calibers, some of them more obsolete, but all of them super fun, like the .44 AutoMag, the .475 Wildey mag, 10mm Magnum, 9mm magnum, .45 Win Mag, etc. I would also like to see a few of these necked down to a size approximately .05" smaller than the original caliber. This would mean necking a .50 caliber to a .45, a .475 to a .44, a .45 to a .40/10mm, and a 10mm to a 9mm. This magnum semi-auto would need to have a far lower bore axis than past semi-autos to raise any eyebrows, and to make it more shootable. If it were going to be gas operated, I would put the gas port above the barrel, like most gas operated firearms, instead below the barrel, like the DE and the Wildey are (I think the Automag does this, but I'm not positive). That would change the bore axis height, probably significantly. The gun would also need some pretty awesome looks, as one of the things that makes the DE so iconic is its readily identifiable and proportionally correct shape. I would think that new magnum would have to look a little like a pistol from a video game, like the one used in Halo: ODST or something. Not madly disproportionate, like something in Gears of War. Making it have the old Luger look (thinner barrel protruding from a larger, thicker receiver, such as the Wildey or Automag) might be attractive to those who go in for nostalgia or those attracted to the "classic" looks of guns, but most of them are taken to wheel guns, 1911s, or even real vintage Lugers (or Lahti L-35s, as one of the posters has mentioned). Since these kind of people probably wouldn't go for a big ol' magnum caliber semi-auto, any way, I wouldn't suggest a company try and tackle that crowd's blessings.
3) I would be interested in a 5.7x28mm-based round that has a neck expanded to accept a .277 (.270 caliber) truncated cone bullet (I love TC bullets, their JHPs and FMJs tend to feed far more similarly, and so more reliably, than for round nose bullets), and trimmed to give an overall length that would allow it to be shot from a .45 platform gun (like the Glock, M&P, or the new Sig). For those who like obscure calibers, you should be thinking that this sounds a lot like the obscure and defunct 7mm Penna, which it does. In a .45 double stacked magazine's place, one could have a magazine built kind of like the Surefire Mag5-60, quadruple stacking them. The bullets might not be overly formidable individually (my calculations show a 75 gr. bullet at 1240 fps tops, 65 gr. at 1330 fps, 55 gr. at 1450 fps, assuming similar powder capacity to the 5.7), but having 35+ centerfire (i.e. reliable) rounds in a single magazine would certainly keep the bad guys running for cover. You could fire that thing all day and not have to reload. An extended magazine could probably facilitate entire boxes of ammo. This gun's tactics would be closer to the swarm tactics of ants than the charging tactics of an elephant, but we see in nature that both are effective offenses as well as defenses. Obviously, one would need a new slide and barrel assembly on any platform, but this kind of conversion is available after-market for calibers as disparate as .22 LR and .50 GI for the Glock 20/21. So even if not a factory offering, I would certainly buy a conversion kit.
4) A .460 S&W Magnum that also chambers a .410 Shotshell (though my current residency would prevent me owning one). Just for the sake of novelty, a truly daring company could make it a semi-automatic revolver, or a 6 o'clock barrel position revolver, or both (like a Mateba... what a sweet looking piece of steel that was). I don't think I would want the entire upper assembly to slide if it were semi-auto; maybe it could have something like a gas piston that could simply cock the hammer, and allow the rest to operate like a normal revolver. The problem with that is that the hammer cocking = cylinder turning equation is what makes the occasional revolver malfunction such a bear to deal with. Also, every time you decocked and recocked the hammer, you would get a rotation of the cylinder, which is not that great for a gun that automatically cocks the hammer after every round fired. There would also be a problem with the .410 being able to cycle the action, which would certainly require it to be DA capable. Of course, theoretically, you should also be able to shoot .45 LC and .45 Shofield, or even .45 ACP with half moon clips (not that I would personally ever want to) out of this thing, so maybe an adjustable gas system would be called for. Obviously, this platform could be shared with the .500 S&W, and even be translated into a 7-shot .357 Magnum/.38 Special/.357 Maximum gun. A truly adventurous company could make this into a 8- or 9-shot .327 Mag, trimmed and machined a little here and there to lighten the load. One other thing, (since this would probably already be a friggin' super-expensive gun, might as well go all out) there could be a minor for/aft reciprocation in the cylinder that allows the cylinder gap to be severely reduced or eliminated when shooting, but expended to aid cylinder rotation when the action is cycled. That should allow these behemoths to fire the already ludicrously big-n-fast rounds at even higher velocities.
5) A 5.7x28mm pistol that is neither $1300, nor weighs 4 metric tons (i.e. Mastepiece Arms MPA57). Because my Five-Seven is probably the most universally fun gun to shoot, I think that more people should have the opportunity to experience the sheer pleasure of this round for themselves. Truly, between my brother (who also has a Five Seven) and I, we have never let somebody shoot the Five Seven who didn't think that it was a total kick in the pants to shoot, and want one for themselves. When told the price of these wonderful little gadgets, though... well, the sickened look on the faces of these poor souls, who realize that they will likely never again enjoy this level of pleasure, is enough to bring tears to my eyes. It also brings a sense of relief that I actually have managed to acquire one of these gems (even if I didn't get to eat for the six weeks following the purchase).
6) Another 5.7 chambered handgun. But this one is severely different in its structure. Imagine a Ruger 10/22, with a 6"-8" barrel, and the stock cut down to the hand grip. The fore-end would come out and be close to flush with the end of the barrel (almost like a Mannlicher stock for a pistol). The rotary magazine would be necessary to keep the grip completely wood, and highly swept back, and also necessary to keep the magazine flush with the bottom of the wood fore-end. This would look much like a modern rendition of an old 18th century dueling pistol, and would probably be made illegal by congress, because it would be too much fun to shoot. Hell, something like this in a .22 LR would be fun enough. But a center fire cartridge that would actually do some severe damage to a bad guy in a social-work scenario? Cool beans. I think the old flint-lock pistols are very elegant, but I am not really close to the idea of muzzle-loading (yet), and I would kind of rather stick with smokeless powder. But one of these in a grey laminate base with all else stainless... maybe one with a walnut base, and two-toned metal parts, to give it that Kimber CDP sort of color scheme. Oh, even do something with maybe a cherry or ebony base and some sort of tasteful engraving on the receiver and barrel with an antique finish or super-nice bluing (I am not personally drawn towards engraved weapons, but on something that looks like an old wig-wearing gentleman's gun, it might work... who knows?).
Whatever. I certainly do not have the knowledge and skills to actually produce these myself, and I doubt we will see Smith & Wesson make a magnum caliber semi-auto soon, or Glock revealing a Tokarev chambered offering at the next Shot-Show, or Ruger coming out with a 10/57 dueling pistol. I can dream, can't I? But, you know, I guess if people talk enough about what they want, maybe somebody will start listening.
