Have firearms basically hit a wall? Could we still be using

>>33633330
Firearms are more or less a mature technology, but advancements in material science and electronics mean that they are going to keep improving in small ways for the foreseeable future. Best example is the recent handgun optics revolution.

>>33633330
As long as dense pieces of metal flying at high speeds are still deadly then I'd say yeah.

>>33633330
Because now small arms are chump change. In full scale war artillery, missiles, and bombs will be doing most of the killing. They get overlooked because in 1st world countries they're just not the primary method of killing anymore.

Effectively yes.
Furniture will become more and more streamlined and lightweight, but the actual mechanics of an AR-338 from 2117 will likely still be the same as an AR15 from 2017
The next breakthroughs will be in ammunition and optics, with telescoping and smart ammo progressing well enough and smart sights and the like showing promise.
Then there's airburst weapons, which I suspect will probably gradually replace 40mm grenades for most infantry roles if given enough time.

>>33633387
This. Drones are going to be the main fighter of any first world force. You can still kill ragheads over seas without pissing everyone back home off.

I wouldn't think so. Giving every an infantryman a rifle capable of fully automatic/burst fire is still a fairly new thing, so I expect to see that technology get advanced in coming decades for sure.

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Ways I can see it improving:

-Caseless ammunition which is not shit
-Smart ammo
-Auto-fire/auto-aim
-Airburst
-Weaponized body implants

>>33633330
We already are using 100+ year old designs (mosin, kar98)

>>33633526
Poor third-world insurgents use those, not modern professional militaries

>>33633516
Smart anything has no believers that actually use guns. Airburst will be a thing and from there delayed detonation; what you didn't mention is mechanical magazines that use a loading mechanism that takes up half the space or less of a traditional spring. I don't think bullpups will ever pick up, better to empty and load a new mag quickly than have a longer barrel and longer mag that takes twice or thrice as long to load and requires moving the gun off your shoulder.

>>33633526
>>33633576
M2 Browning is coming up on it soon. The occasional 1911 too, don't forget about those.

>>33633576
Whatever remington derivitve the most dedicated snipers use is a mauser action, just fine tuned.

- Improved frame materials; better polymers and newer shit like carbon fiber
- Improved optics systems, "smart" optics should have been a thing years ago but the military is slow to pick up on tech that is considered vulnerable to wear and tear. That and no existing small electronics company has wanted to invest in the tech.
- Improved ammunition types. Electro-chemical propellants, telescopic ammunition, possible non-combustion caseless ammunition, magnetically oriented flechettes, etc.
- Improved internal structures with more controlled synthetic elements than conventional metals. Acutely controlled barrel harmonics, 'smart' matter constructions to reduce wear and tear on vulnerable components
- Programmable internal elements such as self-adjusting barrel alignments to facilitate 'smart bullets', airburst ammunition, etc
In terms of the raw physics of gun ergonomics, yes we've pretty much peaked. Any new design is just variations on a theme. The components of guns themselves and their functions are what's going to improve.

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Would something like this, a revolver with cylinders turned into the equivalent of magazines, be possible?

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>>33633516

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>>33633884
>>33633922
is school out today ?

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>>33634036
No

>>33634036
The revolver one is a legitimate question since tbe timing of the action is extremely important to not fuck up which means finding a way to build semi disposable cylinders that can be easily and quickly swapped, that are properly timed, and can contain magnum pressures, all while being relatively inexpensive.

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>>33633884
>a revolver with cylinders turned into the equivalent of magazines, be possible?
Revolvers with magazines have existed for at least 100 years.

http://www.forgottenweapons.com/early-automatic-pistols/landstad-1900/

Discarding sabot slugs. I want to see what a .308 sabot with a .260 penetrator can get up to in velocity without burning down barrels.

>>33633330
As far as cartridge based guns go, yes, until we figure out a new and significantly better ammunition guns really aren't gonna go through another golden age of experimentation

>>33633330
Caseless ammo and recoil mitigation stuff could change up a lot.
It's only a matter of time before we get working exoskeletons so people can lug around fifties.

Would the next advances be in specific calibers and powder loadings?

Take the 300 blk for example. Designed to burn in 9" of barrel, effective up to ~400m, can be suppressed to SMG sound levels.

>>33635453
The trend for over a century has been spitzerization. The future will be that everything uses an intermediate rifle cartridge, even pistols, and 300 BLK is an example of the future of the SMG/PDW round. From there, I think we'll see 5.56 fall away as specific tasks specialize for either 5.7 and 300 BLK or 6.5 Grendel for doorkicking and general infantry duties, respectively.

>>33635611
Unless the LSAT really breaks out of the mold with telescopic ammo, that is