I read the OP and was thinking Railgun. But that’s probably more than the average guy can fire from the shoulder.
I thought these guns where scfi and not possible borderline being too big.
So no army people in the future will not have guns like that.
But they aren’t. They’re normal caliber, they’re not heavy, they don’t have unmanagable recoil, and they exist today.
You’re correct that guns that are too heavy to lug around and/or have too much kick to put to your shoulder will not be the personal weapon of the soldier of tomorrow. But the real world examples here just a r e n ’ t s u c h g u n s.
They’re normal caliber, they’re not heavy, they don’t have unmanagable recoil, and they exist today. (repeated for emphasis.)
And you were wrong. They’re normal caliber, they’re not heavy, they don’t have unmanagable recoil, they exist today, and guns similar to them will be in use by future armies.
May be it is the plastic that is giving to the illusions it is big and futuristic. It looks a lot like some scfi movies than the plain gun that look so 20 century http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/storymaker-weapon-firearm-us-infantry-army-rifle-pictures-12040911-514x268.jpg
http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/11/files/2012/03/0312_afghan-shooting.jpg
Pictures of the above actually being held by people so you can see how big (or small) they really are:
Anschutz MSR RX 22
Kriss Vector CRB
Kel-Tek RFB
http://www.guns.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/erika_RFB_169511.jpg
This is what is known as a “bullpup rifle”. It looks weird and futuristic if you aren’t familiar with the type (google bullpup rifle for lots of images from different manufacturers) but it’s really just a compact assault rifle. By placing the trigger in front of the magazine the overall length is reduced, which makes it easier to swing around while sweeping through buildings and such. While technically the weapon has the same barrel length and should be as accurate as a traditional assault rifle, the forward way that you hold it affects your aiming and reduces the long distance accuracy. The overall weight of the weapon is reduced since the design essentially eliminates the stock on the rear end of the rifle.
The next image is another bullpup so I didn’t bother finding someone holding that. Bullpups are small. That’s the whole point of their design. They are short so you don’t whack the barrel against the door frame as you rush into a room.
Sig MPX
http://files.tactical-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Preview-Sig-Sauer-MPX-Gun-Review.jpg
These are all relatively small weapons.
Okay it is good to know that those guns you listed and my list you quoted above are not more powerful than the guns they have now.
I think it is the cosmetic look that give a illusions it is big and futuristic and like in in sci movies.
It may look all futuristic, but it’s basically the same size and weight as a “regular” rifle, and works more or less the same.
I remember reading an article in a dentist’s office about a new Colt revolver. It was a whole new frame & design, complete with ammo designed for the new shell, intended to have the most muzzle energy of any handgun.
Evidently, the history of big handguns took a sharp upward turn thanks to the movie Dirty Harry, where Harry explains to some punk about the amount of energy imparted by his big Colt 45. That started a trade war between American handgun makers to increase muzzle energy (mass times velocity squared), reaching the point of this new handgun that was effectively an elephant gun, requiring substantial new technology, and very strong arms to fire with the most powerful ammo. No doubt most folks would load it with lower-energy ammo just to avoid hurting themselves.
It was fascinating to read how the handgun (revolver) frame and ammo were co-designed to achieve maximum energy, and how many technical issues had to be addressed. The article explained that the frame would be used for a whole line of different revolvers with different features (all of which I no longer recall, but more significant than pearl-inlaid versus plain handle inserts).
But most amazing wast the statement that it actually packed more punch than a typical elephant gun! In a .45 revolver!
Exactly. Sort of–I was taught by a hollering Drill Sergeant (or was it Navy) in a movie, never to use the word “gun” with a handheld weapon.
Is that true?
Anyway, here’s the “gun” I thought of when I saw OP hed. With same proviso.
Minor nitpick: Dirty Harry’s gun was a Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum.
[QUOTE=Harry Callahan]
Uh uh. I know what you’re thinking. “Did he fire six shots or only five?” Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow you head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?
[/QUOTE]
(often misquoted as “Do you feel lucky, punk?”)
After the movie, Model 29s became scarce. People were buying them faster than Smith and Wesson could make them.
Harry Callahan uses the Model 29 throughout all of the Dirty Harry movies. In Sudden Impact, he switches to an AMP Auto Mag Model 180 after his Model 29 is kicked into the water.
The movie did kick off an arms race of sorts between pistol manufacturers, exactly as you describe.
When was this arms race? S&W developed the .44 magnum cartridge. Ruger, through shit-ass good luck or industrial espionage depending on your POV, got a revolver to market ahead of them. The .44 mag remained the most powerful production handgun cartridge for a long time. Freedom Arms,a boutique manufacturer, legitimized the .454 Casull from its wildcat status and, eventually, some other manufacturers started making guns to use it as well. Then, in recent years, S&W introduced a couple crazy powerful cartridges for use in a revolver big enough to be crew served. This all took place over a span of fifty years or so. Colt was never even a player in any way that mattered. Less of an arms race than just S&W wanting to keep the handcannon fans buying, IMO.
Always handy Wiki on weaponry in movies and television.
You are probably thinking of Full Metal Jacket. The used gun differently than I will in that scene and the were using “rifle” instead of the more generic “weapon.”
Individual weapons are “weapons” or something more specific like pistol, rifle, or nomenclature. A crew served weapon can rightly be called a “Gun” in the Army. Things like a medium machine gun can be hand carried but are technically crew served so you can get away with calling it a gun. I never saw someone have a cow about calling an actual gun a weapon though. The other way… it’s a weapon!
“This is my rifle! This is my gun! This is for killing! This is …”
And then there are the Herstal FN 5.7 guns. The P90 is used by the US Secret Service because the weapon is concealable under a jacket and the 5.7mm round is very powerful for a small bullet. The P90 does not look like a typical rifle. Top picture in random link:
http://blog.zombiepandemic.com/Forum/tabid/65/aft/4137/Default.aspx
The FN 5.7 pistol is light and very accurate, I have one and it is the most accurate pistol I have ever fired. I can reliably hit targets at 100 yards, beyond the accurate range of most other hand guns. It holds 20 rounds, 30 with the extended magazine, and has been referred to as an assault rifle in pistol form.
Thanks for the correction and the tidbits!
Obviously I misremembered a lot of the details from an article 10 years ago. I bet this is the article I read:
The success of the Smith and Wesson Model 29 after Dirty Harry did eventually lead to quite a few hand cannons being developed. You’ve got the .50 cal. Desert Eagle, the Zeliska .600 Nitro Express, and the Magnum Research BFR, for example. Ok, maybe “arms race” is a bit much to describe it, and admittedly now that I think about it a lot of the hand cannons have come from Smith and Wesson. However, before the Model 29 there wasn’t much out there other than the old Colt Peacemaker .45-70. Hand cannons in general got a great big boost from Harry Callahan.
The Zeliska and Magnum Research offerings are cartoonishly proportioned pieces that use rifle cartridges. They are handguns only in the sense of lackng shoulder stocks. This discussion has a point only if we are discussing cartridges designed to be used in handguns from their beginning.
The .50AE is a respectably powerful cartridge, but its main claim to big gun status is the whole .50 caliber thing. In terms of performance, it is no better than middle of the hand cannon pack.
The Colt SAA (Peacemaker) was never chambered in the .45-70. .45-70 is a 19th century military rifle cartridge. Colt did offer their revolver in the much smaller .45 Colt aka .45 Long Colt. Until the advent of the .357 magnum (developed by S&W) the old .45 Colt did rule the roost as most powerful production handgun cartridge. That word “production” is a key point here. There have been all manner of very powerful wildcats or commercial failures (like the Mars pistols) along the way.
It wasn’t made by Colt. It was the Peacemaker design chambered in .45-70, which as you noted is a rifle cartridge. That was the whole point, a big, oversized rifle cartridge in a handgun.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/worlds-largest-pistol/
I don’t know how many were produced, but it was more than just a one-off.
The woman in the picture better hope it’s not loaded, because it looks to me that if she actually fires it the way she’s holding it, she’s going to get seriously hurt. :eek:
My point was that this was one of the few hand cannons with oversized rounds available, and things like this were pretty rare until after Dirty Harry came out.