What is going to be the next big gun fad/fashion?

[Abndoc]

I would.. The AR 10 style rifle opens up all kinds of caliber possibility,

 

[alexander45]

i hope

I'm hopping for oppen carry as it's a pain to find a holster that isn't ment to be stuffed down your pants or so high on te belt you can scratch your armpit with the beaver tail

 

[RPRNY]

The hyper velocity sub 30 caliber, in rifle and handgun.

In general, I believe sub 30 cal will be a growth focus for the industry, playing to the long range craze and addressing the boom of new entrants to shooting who have no 30 cal loyalty, low recoil tolerance, and a good deal of AR 15 bias. In specific, with so much growth recently deriving from women, low weight, low recoil, semi auto hand guns in super fast small calibers a la FN 5.7 will be a new trend. My guess is super fast 5.5 - 6.5 mm handgun rounds and new cartridges and light weight rifles in 24 - 26 cal. I also see new efforts to "replace" the AR 15 with non pistol grip, stripper clip (or other mechanism) fed fixed magazine semi autos as designers/manufacturers seek to "beat" anti AR gun regs.

I also predict a niche "steampunk" or retro trend will emerge to replace the already passe zombie craze.

 

[Ky Larry]

I'm curious about how long the craze for Colt Snakes, espcially Pythons, will last. I've never seen anything like the price runup on Pythons.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Neck beards and 5XL purple shirts, sunglasses and an open carried Tapco SKS inside a national burrito chain.

That's what I'm hoping for, despite not having any of that.

 

[wally]

What's the impetus for the other states that can already own them?

I'd wager that the LEO sign-off, photo and fingerprint requirements put a lot of people off, but word has gotten out about how buying them on a Trust or LLC avoids this (result of a lawsuit).

Then with the talk of requiring everyone named in the Trust or LLC to file fingerprints and photos just about the time E-forms came on-line, caused such a crush of applications its crashed the E-Forms system.

I think that if you want an NFA item and are in a area where the LEO sign-off is a major obstacle, you should do a Trust or LLC while you still can!

The only thing keeping RMRs from being more popular than they are is durability problems when mounted to the slide.

I've got a lot of Slide mounted red dots, they are about all I shoot these past few years, and only one has broke -- Burris replaced it without questions or hassles.

The S&W C.O.R.E M&P have a better way to mount them than the rear sight replacement plates, but I really look forward to having something like the Trijicon dual illuminated RMR built in integral to the slide on small carry pistols.

 

[funklord12]

Bullpup long arms. Is it just me or have companies been selling more bullpup designs like the KSG and the tavor?

 

[plexreticle]

New cartridges designed around suppressor use.

Low cost digital night vision.

Programmable scopes with USB interface for changing reticles, BDC tables, recording shot placement.

 

[buck460XVR]

IMHO, the next craze will be small caliber weapons, shooting fast moving projectiles like the .22 TCM and the .17 caliber rimfires. As most voids in the hunting world have been filled and the rush for really Big Bore handguns has tapered a tad, I see more folks looking for a low recoiling, fun to shoot long range firearm, in a lightweight platform, that folks that don't reload can afford to shoot.

 

[PabloJ]

The .22 rimfire will be replaced by .177 and .22 pellet gun repeaters?

 

[Glockula]

Pistol caliber lever and bolt guns. With .22 hard to find and Rossi turning out guns that are more miss than hit these should surge over the next 5 to ten years. Ohio just legalized pistol calibers for hunting as well. If you take out the Rossi's, Handirifles and the Ruger bolt guns there isn't much left under 800 go 1000 dollars. I see some inexpensive plinkers with ugly plastic stocks on the horizon. Just my $.02.

 

[Mr.510]

I think the next doodad craze is going to be cameras built into firearm optics and other stuff to go along with. Or maybe it'll be stand-alone targeting cameras? There are a couple high dollar scopes out that stream live to your smart phone... or Google Glass headset using wifi. You could see the crosshairs and what they're pointed at all the time with a headset. Best thing ever for firing from cover without exposing yourself, or clearing a building. The tech is everywhere, cheap, and reliable.

 

[45_auto]

Verb
wain (third-person singular simple present wains, present participle waining, simple past and past participle wained)

Come on, if you're going to justify your misspelling with a definition, at least post the whole thing!!

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wain

wain (third-person singular simple present wains, present participle waining, simple past and past participle wained)

1.Common misspelling of wane.

 

[RustyShackelford]

UAVs, drones, new laws.....

I think in the next 10-20 years(2015-2025), the rise in personal drones/UAVs will increase. Small drones(or "quad-copters" as my friend who owns one calls it, ), will be armed or have DV cameras, alarms, OC-smoke, PA systems, etc. Law enforcement will deploy them then they will creep slowly into the private sector.
Cities & local governments may restrict or ban them but these robots will be common. TV ads & media displays will help sales.
The FAA & law enforcement may balk at first but they can't prevent these devices from being made or sold.
Hacking or illegal use may be a issue but those factors can be addressed.

 

[benEzra]

I predict a wholesale rejection of military pattern guns, unless we get caught up in another protracted engagement.

More likely is that the old "military pattern" becomes so mainstream that is no longer considered "military pattern." That's what happened with military-style bolt-actions; they became so ubiquitous between WWI and the 1960s that people eventually forgot that Mausers and derivatives like the Winchester Model 70 are military-pattern rifles, and eventually came to see them as quintessential civilian rifles. IMO, the AR platform is already at that point; they are no longer just in the mainstream, they *are* the mainstream.

I agree with those upthread who see a progression toward lighter rifles/carbines (more pencil/sporter barrels and fewer HBARs), and a shift away from quad rails toward free-float tubes with attaching points for short rail segments. I think there is a future for electronic optics for sport/range/competition use, and I think a 1-20x variable with built-in rangefinder and dynamic BDC, that can deal with bright sunlight to a darkened home hallway with enough dynamic range not to be washed out by a weapon light, would be awesome on an all-purpose carbine if it were reliable enough. Who knows, at some point we might see more widespread integration between weapon optics and wearable enhanced eyewear, but my crystal ball is fuzzy on that one.

Small optics for pistols, or as secondary optics for rifles, will become more ubiquitous as prices come down.

We might start seeing some domestic steel-cased ammo if metal prices go up again.

 

[Mike OTDP]

I'll revise and expand my comments....

Micro-red-dot sights will become standard for many pistols.

More and more firearms will be electric. They will come with a powered rail (or other fixture), with the battery pack in the stock or pistol grip. Electronic triggers are harder - Morini has made them work quite successfully in free pistols, but getting a repeater to be really reliable has been much tougher. That being said, it's a question of engineering execution, not technical feasibility. And the average shooter will be in for a surprise when he shoots one - and finds out just how poor his mechanical triggers were.

Now, some fashions I'd like to see (and probably won't):

a. Mid-grade .22 pistols that aren't pot-metal plinkers.

b. Really high-quality muzzle-loading firearms. Not those blasted in-lines, either.

 

[Midwest]

The .22 rimfire will be replaced by .177 and .22 pellet gun repeaters?

I could see that happening especially if the .22lr shortage goes on for another year.

.

 

[Hullraiser]

Integrated suppressors would be my desire. Low tax stamp price with shorter wait times would be a nice compliment.

 

[wally]

Integrated suppressors would be my desire

I could see a rash of innovation in integrated SD pistols and carbines, but ....

Low tax stamp price with shorter wait times would be a nice compliment.

Shorter wait times (NICS-like) would be a requirement and not too many folks are happy handing over a bunch of cash and taking nothing home for 5-10 months

 

[Furncliff]

There has been a surge in the number of female gun owners and shooters. It's quite possible that this will continue. The firearms industry will need to work harder developing products to meet the needs/demands of the female shooter. Some companies are already inching into this market, but just painting a gun pink probably will not cut it in the long run. I bet my daughter would like the new Glock 42.

 

[taliv]

furncliff just beat me to it...

i don't know what the next trend will be, but it will be probably be driven by women.


it would be nice if the next trend was actually proficiency in shooting guns instead of saying "it's got about 100 rounds through it" when you trade it

 

[Midwest]

There has been a surge in the number of female gun owners and shooters. It's quite possible that this will continue. The firearms industry will need to work harder developing products to meet the needs/demands of the female shooter. Some companies are already inching into this market, but just painting a gun pink probably will not cut it in the long run. I bet my daughter would like the new Glock 42.

I remember watching "Sons Of Guns" and Stephanie was going to start a line of firearm products for women.

Maybe Stephanie could start her own show and call it "Daughter's Of Guns" and the show would be entirely about women and firearms. It could probably be popular.

.

 

[David4516]

I happen to like DA/SA pistols. I think it's perfect for carry. You can carry a round chambered and the long DA trigger pull makes you less likely to accidentally fire the weapon. Follow up shots are crisp single action and make it easier to shoot accurately. They're the best of both, you get the added safety of the DA and the accuracy of the SA... what's not to love?

Also you get true "double strike" ability with most DA/SA pistols. Most of the striker fired "DAO" pistols aren't really double-action at all. You pull the trigger a second time and nothing happens until you rack the slide...

Also somebody else pointed out that the military standard pistol is DA/SA.

So with all this in mind why would this action type "finally die"?

Programmable scopes with USB interface for changing reticles, BDC tables, recording shot placement.

This sounds like a pretty awesome idea to me.

There has been a surge in the number of female gun owners and shooters. It's quite possible that this will continue... I bet my daughter would like the new Glock 42.

This is probably the next big thing (female friendly firearms). My wife just bought a glock 42. Everybody said that the gun would be a big flop because it wasn't a 9mm "just" a .380 ACP. But the huge numbers of new female shoots will buy up guns of this type...

 

[BSA1]

Well dang it. You fellas beat me to predicting revolvers.

So I am going to predict guns in other colors than the usual black, blued black and stainless steel. We are ready beginning to see finishes like pink Camo.

 

[justice06rr]

Now everyone is screaming for smooth keymod rails with rail sections only where you need it.

Screaming for Keymods... not so much.

More manufacturers are adopting it and pushing it. But you don't see every rifle out there outfitted with one, nor do you hear your average AR owner asking for it like water in a desert.

This is coming from an AR enthusiast. I don't even see Vets or LE officers with them.