Dig out your crystal balls folks!!
After some toying with the idea of a Remington Etronx rifle on another thread, and deciding against it as it looks like ammo will become very scarce, I got wondering what the next major step forward in firearms technology will be.
Many never thought the Glock "plastic pistol" would catch on. Now everybody makes "high tech polymer" frames.
Putting a plastic stock on a hunting rifle wasn't considered not that long ago, now seems it's the rule rather the exception.
Anyway, wondering what the next leap forward will be. Not talking fads here, but real advances. Seems I've always been a few years behind the times techno-wize, so looking for some insights.
Will it be the ever elusive caseless ammo?? Wouldn't that put a hurting on reloading suppliers!!
"Smart Bullets" that you can guide around the other side of the tree to get that pesky squirrel??
Self-cleaning barrels that never foul??
Give it your best guess (or insider information) and predict what the future holds, or maybe just what you'd like to see.

How about shooter's eye/brain hooked into rifle's sighting?

I think the next big thing will be weapons with built in bio-metrics as a form of safety. It could be a finger print reader on the trigger that only arms the firingpin when the owner of the weapon touches it. They could also incorporate a palm reader into the pistol grip. Overall I think safety will be a big issue in the future as to appease the gun-control freaks.

As a reloader, it would be great if ALL the powders would be temprature insensitive, instead of just a few.

Also, everyone seems to be seeking the holy grail of a non-recoiling firearm that still has the accuracy and long range punch.

I vote for auto ranging scopes with programable bullet drop compensation.

Some of the innovations have been ignored...not that they can't be produced, but so far, shooters have stayed away in droves. Really want a round where only factory ammo is possible as in caseless ammo? Control the ammo, and by defalt you control the ability to shoot....same can be said for specialty primers or unique case sizes to a lesser extent.

On the whole, rifle shooters are the more conservative....more so than pistols shooters (jury is out on shotgun shooters...but the majority still seem to prefer walnut and steel to anything else). Even if you personally don't like plastic/hi-tec guns, the fact remains that they are popular with hadgunners...not so popular with rifle shooters (except for plastic stocks...and even that took a long time to find acceptance).

It isn't that new innovations in rifles haven't been tried...it's that they've not sold well.

Are much more willing to bolt on a new accessory (after all, can un-bolt as well)

Electronicaly zooming and range finding scopes would be nice.

I like that idea too about the laser rangefinding scope. Hey heres a safe prediction.... Companies will continue to ride the trend of bigger magnumized bullets. It's just a matter of time before someone steps up to challenge the 500 S@W.

I think the future for scope will be programable trajectory/bullet drop. Concentional crosshairs inside the tube will be gone and it will be light beams similiar to a pilots HUD system.


Advances in recoil reduction and caseless ammo are good bets also.

I'll settle for a laser and/or flashlight than comes on automatically when my finger hits the trigger. The technology is there, I just don't think it's been applied. I'm not talking about a pressure pad, I mean a gun that can electronically sense when my finger is on the trigger. If you don't put your finger on the trigger, the systems are dormant. It would sure beat trying to find a switch in the dark! :eek:

PJ

Had a High Standard 10A...it was well used when I got it in the late 1970's. Kind of a bull-pup design with a built in falshlight (the "Dick Tracy" comic strip popularized the gun). "Innovative" is often just a rediscovery of something that had been tried before...today's flashlihgts are way better than the misrible thing built into the High Standard (old style bulbs...leave it on..filiment gets hot...shoot and the bulb dies).

Not too sure I like the trigger/laser idea...would kind of promote 1/2 way pulling the trigger in order to turn the laser on...not too good an idea.

Will say that the green lasers are much more visible than the orange/red ones...visible for a much longer distance....so long as we are wishing, add that in as well.

The laser rangefinder auto adjusting scope is already in use, at least on a trial basis if not commercially sold...is going to be pretty expensive at first (so were digital watches when they first come out).

I really like the concept of the binocular/range finder myself. Usually, I spot animals well out of range of my rifle and have to plan my stalk according to topography and cover. With the rangfinding binocular, you could evaluate the animal (make sure it's legal, or full curl sheep, or what you are after, etc...) find it's distance, then find the distance to an object to get to unseen (rock, tree, etc...). Then after sneaking to the rock or tree, do another evaluation of the animal, or make sure it is still nearby and quick ranging of the animal, then set up for the shot. So far, I haven't seen any of the binocular/range finder combo's with enough magnification or of good enough optic quality to discount carrying both. Guess that's the reason I haven't bought a range finder yet.

I think Swarovski makes a laser rangefinder scope already, it will be a simple matter to make it adjust to the trajectory of the rifle with our ever more capable and compact electronics. The new military weapon that's been reported somewhat, has this stuff built in, so it's out there. I think it's called a OICW.

The binocular/rangefinder combo is already here, although not common yet.
Leica makes the Geovid, which is expensive as heck, with outstanding optics and a very good laser RF, too.
I have recently seen ads for Leupold and Burris bino/RF combos, but haven't seen them in the flesh yet.

I think the future for scope will be programable trajectory/bullet drop. Concentional crosshairs inside the tube will be gone and it will be light beams similiar to a pilots HUD system.
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Saw it at a gun show last year. It's already here. I can't remember the manufacturer, but a guy was displaying a new long range rifle in some strange caliber (40-something rounds that looked more like artillery shells) with a scope that had a computer attached to it. You input all kinds of parameters like elevation of rifle, elevation of target, distance to the target, wind speed and direction at both locations (if you have it), and a bunch of other stuff, and the scope makes all the adjustments for atmospheric conditions, bullet drop, etc. He claimed it to be effective out to 2000 yards.

I was watching something the other night regarding military technology, and they said they're wanting to do away with lead-core bullets and use some type of tungsten alloy that will have the same behavior as lead. If they do, it'll probably make ammo more expensive. OTOH, removing lead from bullets would give the anti-gun crown one less thing to use against us.

here's an innovation for ya.... how about microgyroscopically stabilised forends and stocks :)

No more shake.... perhaps even no more flinch. Would *really* screw up techniques though.

heh, get the gyroscopes powerful enough and you could help muzzle flip.

here's an innovation for ya.... how about microgyroscopically stabilised forends and stocks :)

No more shake.... perhaps even no more flinch. Would *really* screw up techniques though.

heh, get the gyroscopes powerful enough and you could help muzzle flip.

Talked this one over with some tech. people. Laser grid at 25 and at 50 yards to locate bullet's path...fast servos on the target frame at 100...computer move target holder to where bullet is going...evey gun is a one-hole-grouper.