What firearm innovations have you seen in the last few years?
Mr. Perfect
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What innovations have you seen in firearms in the last few years? Anything worth noting? Anything as "revolutionary" as Stoner's design of the 1960s or the HK plastic framed pistols of the 1970s? I think it is safe to say we have seen a lot of innovation in the arena of bullet design. But what about the guns that fire them?
What is out there making guns more accurate, easier to shoot, or more manufacturable?
About the only thing I can think of is the merger of additive manufacturing technology (aka 3D printing) and firearms.
This tech has put gun manufacture into the hands of the masses. It has also opened up design, allowing designers to use organic and exotic shapes not manufacturable using traditional means. And while the latter point is true, I have not personally seen this borne out in any new gun designs. I have seen folks file sharing and making their own guns on a scale not seen before.
What else are you aware of?
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Comments
I remember when the Remington EtronX was going to be the next big thing that fizzled rather quickly
not as much gun as sights, the cheaper reflex sight is starting to replace the redot, I love the choice of 4 different recticles with my bad eyes......
Honestly, nothing. The only guns I see advertised to death, is the AR15. I do see many changes in new or different powders, sights and parts though.
The "new" plastic cased ammo for the military to reduce weight. Of course it is only a new concept if I ignore the couple of boxes of plastic cased 223 that have sat in my ammo stash for about 15 years. Maybe a great concept for the military but for those of us that reload, it is kinda useless. Bob
I suppose you have to ignore the ages old shotgun shells too.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Not so much with firearms,but optics have improved greatly.
Was going to say the same thing!
CNC used on stocks and grips.
I tend to agree on the AR stuff. Seems all you see now is “black guns,” whether rifle, shotgun, or pistol. All marketing is to that side of things. If you’re looking for wood and blued steel, you have to hunt for it.
I always thought the multi caliber Medusa revolver was a wonderful idea.
Just a bit off your original topic Mr. Perfect, but as many previous posters have broadened it somewhat I'll add to it too. savage170, as for electronic ignition, I had a Voere VEC-91 along with a few other Voere rifles. BobJudy, I brought home a few plastic cased .223 cased ammo from the Shot Show in Vegas about 15+ years ago. KenK/94Bravo, I also am a big Kel-Tec fan. I bought 2 Sub-2K's w/ consecutive S/N's years ago. I also had the P-32 and P-11. It got to a point where I couldn't easily rack the slide so Kasey sold everything for me and I bought a S&W EZ-slide 9mm. A couple of other unusual items were a Gyro-Jet (from the '60's) and more recently a Mateba .357 semi-automatic revolver. That's all folks.
I would say threaded barrels and muzzle breakers.
laugh all you want, but i want the entire line of Hi Point carbines. 380, 9mm, 40S&W, 45acp and 10 mm. hehehehehehe
Wow discusdad, you have a real gold mine there!
Just my 2 cents
Being able to assemble or make your own guns every part and tool and instruction out there then along comes 3d printers machining tools that don't cost a arm and leg . Sadly I don't have any but cost is nothing like it was 40 yrs ago
As a kid I never imaged the day I could assemble a rife or pistol using a wide varity of patrs and prices of my choosing
close to what I use to build model cars and slot cars picking out the best parts fom different kits or like Legos for you younger guys and gals
My head spins ant the amount of new Wizz bang calibers that come down the pike no way I can keep up so I don't even try
carbon fiber barrels have made rifles lighter
I like the convertible grip option for many of the new handguns on the market. Eliminates the one size fits all design and makes the gun comfortable for more people.
Second the whizz bang calibers! Only put out to sell and make money. Most not needed, I for one had to have a 300 blackout.
Well, we're talking about advancements and wood and blued steel are as old as guns.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Isn't that kind of old though?
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I think this is about as much innovation as exists presently. Mostly other things are new designs based around existing technology.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
In the world of traditional custom muzzle loading gun parts, CNC production of flintlocks has made the closest tolerances in history. Along with modern steels used, I have been blown away with this aspect of OLD meets NEW!
Gun kits are being made and sold by a friend (Jim Kibler) that can be put together, finished and shot in about a weekend's time. All with the most basic knowledge and minimal tools needed. The end results of these kits are quite up to par with the likes of builders like myself who have been building from blank hunks of wood for over 20 years.
Other than going to injection molding to manufacture firearms I don’t really see a lot of new innovation in the mechanics. Now I will say Savage arms introducing their safety trigger years back was quite ingenues. And I think all the new powders that have came out over the last 40 years have helped firearms performance. Example, the powder Little Gun made it possible that the 17HMS was able to become so successful with its performance as a small caliber rifle.
Well now, that is a fair point. Guess I got distracted there for a minute.
There have been no significant innovations in a very long time. It’s hard to innovate a design so simple and perfect as the gun. explosion happens, pointy thing goes flying out the end of the tube really fast, sometimes faster. Hole appears somewhat close to where you were aiming. Repeat.
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
You laugh, but he who laughs last laughs longest. They may be ugly but they are dependable and affordable to many who cannot afford a Thousand dollar gun for protection in our troubled times. Another "point" for Hi Point is if it is confiscated you are only out a few hundred bucks as apposed to yer Hi Dollar state of the art target special. My carry is a 28 year old Firestar.
While I am not a big fan, I did have a precusor Grendal. Kind of a hoot, but they tended to break firing pins. Those I have handeled, strike me as not ergonomic, but I agree he is breaking diamond in the rough ground.
Night sight quality
Red dots