Future of bullets

What is the future of bullets?

Will they become useless soon for combat?

What will take the bullets place?

I believe that we will see the ferther development of the bullet. We may even see something like a homing bullet before they are gone.

Originally posted by Russian
What is the future of bullets?

From what I have noticed in trends of and usages for "bullets" as you call them, in short.
Smaller and more accurate.

Will they become useless soon for combat?

Combat, never. The traditional metal round will always have it's place in a combat situation.
Possibly, with the increased need for non trauma causeing means to stop individual or masses, the bullet could become replaced with sound or sonic pulse.

What will take the bullets place?

Anyones guess is as good as the next, how ever the increased need for non violent means of interdiction, or at least a less fatal means.

Weapons that use the conventional "bullet" have already seen replacement, from rubber rounds to water cannons. In reguards to the traditional bullet, sonic and visual means have been looked into. As for what will take it's place, in all reality, nothing.

Originally posted by jetsetter
I believe that we will see the ferther development of the bullet. We may even see something like a homing bullet before they are gone.

Can you find any info on any kind?

I do not think there is much info. What I am talking about is pretty far down the road. I herd it on some TV program on TLC awhile back though. It would be very hard to control a bullet in mid flight. I am thinking that some sort of very small missile will replace the bullet if the homing thing never gets down.

The metallic catridge has been around since around 1825. The first metallic catridges were for "pin fire" revolvers first produced in the late 1820's. The rimfire has been around since the 1860's and the centerfire has been around since the 1870's. In the 1890's, the rimless ammunition was first produce (makes semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons possible). About 30 years ago, some ammunition makers were attempting to develope caseless ammunition (bullet and charge with no brass casing) but efforts did not produce viable results. The metallic cartridge solves a lot of technical problems and would be a tall order to replace.
1. Convience - quick reload - especially with preloaded clips - very nice in a fire fight.
2. Structual integrity - throw a bunch in your pockets - crawl through mud and slime - load in firearm - still shoot.
3. Long term storability - put a box of ammo on shelf - come back twenty even thirty years later - still shoot.
4. Seals the breech - when a brass cartridge ignites, the pressure expands the brass and forms a seal in the chamber of the firearm thus preventing gas leakage around the breech - gas leakage around the breech is not good for your weapon.

Originally posted by jagdflieger
About 30 years ago, some ammunition makers were attempting to develope caseless ammunition (bullet and charge with no brass casing) but efforts did not produce viable results.

Of course that was yesterday. Today H&K, is the leader for caseless projectiles.

Being more prone to "cook off" than in standard firearms, which also are prone to "cook off", the caseless cartridge has been tested and fielded in small numbers.

Nice find and post ADVISOR. One of the problems 30 years ago was that the developers were still attempting to use current weapons rather than develope a new one to use caseless ammo. The action of the standard semi-automatic or fully automatic firearm can put some strange stress on a catridge which was a problem then. If you shoot reloads enough, you might have seen the situation where the extractor rips the rim right off the spent casing and then the next round gets totally jammed into the remains of the previous round still left in the chamber. This is a rather sticky wicket if it happens in you collectors Pistole Parabellum. I see that H&K solved the problem of sealing the breech without the use of the brass catridge. Of course machining tolerances can be maintained today much better than a few years ago. However do not fear, brass ammunition will still be manufactured for many years to come. Well at least until the NWO takes over. (You could still buy pin-fire ammunition in Europe up into the 1930's even though the manufacture of pin-fire pistols ceased in the 1860's.)

Check this out.

guns.connect.fi...

The next evloution of the bullet.

I believe, Tacos that crap icecream will take the place of humans, and they will shoot meat out of their tace guns.

Shattered OUT...

I foregot where but I heard that they wanted to use a high power laser in propelling caseless ammo. Anyone here anything about this??

Oh and the STEN british version great piece got one myself

I think they have developed bullets for different situations like the fragment bullet and others but i think in time the laser will probably take its place. just my opinion though.

The OIWC uses a flat tragectory grenade round that can be set to explode over a distance or on impact or lob and explode over a time period.

Perhaos we will in the future use laser guns, or plasma guns. Or perhaps some liquid in the bullets that will burn something out within seconds.

How about the electronic ballistics systems being developed by Metalstorm - www.metalstorm.com...

Or, the Close Quarters Shock Rifle, purported to be non-lethal - xtremeads.com...

[edit on 16-6-2004 by hideous_toejam]

One of the problems for high-tech bullets must be the geneva conventions.

Bullets which 'could' fragment are forbidden, as well as any that carry a noxious chemical other than for illumination.

This means that sophisticated bullets in use by most domestic law enforcement are outlawed for use on a foreign adversary. Fragmenting or expanding/anti-windshield bullets are considered 'dumdums' and are not allowed, even if end over end or expansion is not their intended performance.

I think this is one of the arguments used for keeping Al Qaeda operatives prisoner at Gitmo. They were not legal combatants because they had no recognizable uniform or sign, and used hollow pt. bullets.

Allowing the enemy to claim you are inhumanely skirting the law of land warfare gives him a definite rhetorical superiority. If one or more western nations ever repudiate the geneva accords, it will revolutionize warfare.

the Pope once outlawed rifling, or square cross-section bullets, for use against a Christian foe.

Political considerations have always shaped warfare.