The Case For A Caseless Pistol Round - Not Much New Here Then:

Am I alone here or does anyone one else think this too .. I recall hardly ANY innovation in small arms development in the last five years.

Now I am thinking about this as I key it - so there may be something that I'm forgetting - but all I can recall is double barreled old dog 1911s (2011s?), double barreled heavyweight pump-action 12 Gauge shotguns, and new, bigger chamberings of existing gun models .. not exactly "cutting edge".

There must be a heap of frustrated inventors somewhere mumbling into their powder tins 😏.

 - Oh yeah - that interesting part-polymer Ruger LCR revolver was way back in 2008-2009 - & then Kimber astonished the world in 2016 by introducing their snubby  K6 .. a S.S. 357 revolver no less .. that caliber and design dates from 1934 !

Kimber K6S - Really Innovative.
- Well The Grip Uses Blue Rubber.

I've become so bored with yet another (& another !) - one after the other - 'improved' AR15 type rifle being lauded as *NEW* when everyone should know that the design originates from the late 1950s .. or, then yet another "new" historical 1911 iteration from the same old metal hackers.

- So some 1911s can be tuned to a nice trigger feel ... Get over it.

 Here's a service announcement - different shaped lightening holes in a trigger or strange patterns of checkering-stippling on the front-strap DON'T MAKE FOR A NEWSWORTHY GUN.

I do appreciate that "there is nothing new under the stars" - but this is ridiculous.

 It's saying a lot when the nearest thing to something 'innovative' as heralded by the 2017 shooting writers was *"A NEW 1911"* - the H9 from Hudson - surely neither new nor a 1911.. a high capacity striker-fired 9 mm that features an attempt to combine a straight-back trigger action with a bottom hinged safety insert.

"The Truth About Guns" .. This is New?

- Have you ever wondered how it is that 15 or 17+ rounds of 9mm will double stack into a center-fire pistol's grip - but those weedy "two-two" magazines only take ten tiny cartridges? - Well one clever chap has designed a 'divider' to keep two lines of rimmed rounds separated until they emerge at the top feed lips & get stripped-out .. at Kel-Tec.
Kel-Tec may be the one bright innovative spark .. their double stacked .22"WMR magazines for their PMR-30 pistols may lead the way to double-stacked high capacity .22" LR magazines for handgun grips - they've certainly patented one such (US 8,776,419B2) - all we need now are the 33 round pistols to emerge soon. (and for them to work).

It seems that they are making & selling 500 PMR-30s every week - despite it not being easy for shooters to get the full load of 22 Magnums into the mags.

Kel-Tec PMR-30 Certainly Is INNOVATIVE.

That's 120 rounds In Four Mags of 'Two-Two-Magnum' Shown.

Now - What about "Caseless" ammunition ? .. surely this is a neglected opportunity for something really new in handgun design. We all know that caseless rounds may "cook-off" when blasted by the hundreds in continuous rifle fire - but in a handgun?? - They could do it back in 1856! - Think of a really low fixed barrel axis with high capacity feed systems .. no slides banging to-and-fro - no ejection port 'stovepipe jams' !

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We all must be concerned about criminal nutter killers and possible new limitations & Bans imposed on lawful shooters - but is there a parallel risk - of shooting sports dying here from boredom and a serious lack of new young shooters?

We seem to be experiencing 'conservative' governments with no new ideas legislating conservative shooters, who use the products of a conservative industry. - If they & the industry and retailers don't start to invest in new developments and to put some support out into the shooting world - they risk continued mergers and 'rationalization' - why do we need 100 odd makers to build three or four only gun designs?

If I was an executive of a profitable gun maker / seller I'd be searching for new ideas - & I'd be sponsoring and building shooting ranges and promoting fun competitions such as "bowling pins matches" and "Cowboy Shooting" at reactive targets with prizes and entry fees donated to worthy charities doing free medical & eye surgery etc. - something like "GlockSport" with the Junior grades supplied with free match ammunition.

.. But that's just me.

P.S. If you think 'Caseless Ammunition' is interesting - check-out the Voere Vec-91 rifle linked here:

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/04/09/caseless-wonder-vec-91/

- It's worth also reading the comments below the main story & adverts.

And the Daisy V/L Rifle story Link here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_V/L

- And the Heckler & Koch G11 here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_%26_Koch_G11

It seems that the caseless propellant can be ignited at least three different ways .. by a primer, by electric ignition, or by 'hot air' 😁 Maybe the antique 'Volcanic' rounds with primer & powder both wholly contained in the hollow base of the bullet might be modernized nicely.

http://www.guns.com/2011/04/19/the-case-for-caselessness-the-volcanic-rifle/

VOLCANIC Pocket Pistol 1854ish.

Caseless Ammo. Repeater

Marty K.