Relevance of firearms in the future

[pandemic]

Random thought:
Pretty soon, maybe already, firearms will be as outdated as bows and arrows when firearms appeared on the battle field. What will happen when the firearm is completely obsolete and outdated?

[choppers]

I will revert back to the begining and start throwing big heavy stones again....Or just throw my now useless but still heavy firearms(gotta recycle!).

[ScaredOnce]

Do you mean by some other increase in technology? If so, then we'll carry those types of firearms. We'll just revise the definition of "firearm" to keep in line with the 2A...

[Emptymag]

Random thought:
Pretty soon, maybe already, firearms will be as outdated as bows and arrows when firearms appeared on the battle field. What will happen when the firearm is completely obsolete and outdated?

Write to your congressmen.



E-11 Blaster rifles must remain OFF the list of plasma projectile arms that are regulated by government bureaucracy.



(This is not the post you're looking for... move along.)

[P-11 shooter]

If you look at guns, the materials change, the propellants change, the projectiles get better, and they are still stuffed into brass cases with a primer.

If we come out with ray-guns then firearms will still be usefull, just as a long bow will still kill somebody just as good as it did in the past.

I see guns getting smarter with more electronics, but the ammo being close to what we have now. I'm sure they'll come out with better propellants so we can shrink the size of the rounds while making them more powerfull.

The bigest change we have now is metal storm.
http://www.metalstorm.com/

It's a gun with no moving parts. The only thing that moves is the projectile. I think this is where the technology will be going.

[pandemic]

LOL.
Yeah I meant increasing technology vs. firearms.

We DO have access to most of the latest and greatest from the military (ie: .50bmg) but there may come a time where, say, plasma rifles are not able to be sold to civies.

I'm wondering how much we can protect at this point. I guess arming the population gives the population the advantage just by pure numbers. I'm not sure what we could do without say, armored vehicles, etc. We're not in the 1700's anymore

[jud4420]

http://www.metalstorm.com/

It's a gun with no moving parts. The only thing that moves is the projectile. I think this is where the technology will be going.

OMFG that is some sick firepower. Did that thing really say a quarter a million rounds a minute?

wow!

[pandemic]

OMFG that is some sick firepower. Did that thing really say a quarter a million rounds a minute?

wow!

Yes, its pretty neat. I have no idea how it works but it's cool.
I want to know what happens in case of a misfire.

[Cyo]

While there has been some progress, firearms really have changed very little compared to other technologies over the past 100 years. The Mauser action, the 1911, the revolver, the lever action all may have had some improvements via materials and design modifications, but they remain generally the same. Ammo is the same in principle, but it's still generally a chunk of lead over an explosive, ignited by a percussion cap.

Now consider almost every other aspect of our lives. The Model T is very different than a hybrid Toyota. A wood fed stove is nothing like a microwave oven. Hell, the computer you are using now has exponentially more power than all the technology used for the Apollo missions. Telegraphs vs Blackberries.

The firearm has lagged. It generally works well enough for what it is asked to do. Until there is a need that firearms in their current condition completely fail to meet, I doubt we'll see evolution like we have in most other areas of life.

My biggest complaint is why don't we have common caseless ammo now? The Metalstorm is a good start, but I'm guessing it's a long time before that helps create a real change to caseless rounds.

[Robert Kayland]

Well, I still shoot a bow and arrow, old school longbow/recurve, so the progress of technology often passes me by when it comes to weaponry.

But I just dig the sport of it all.

That said, if a plasma rifle in the 40 watt range ever becomes available, I might indulge.