Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Have rifles, chamberings, scopes, and bullets finally hit the wall?

Or is it just me?

They hit the fu cking wall way back in the time of the great depression. Some people are just too slow to learn this.

Yeah, that's it.

Speaking of slow.........

Not sure I understand the question....

I think that there have been significant improvements/advancements in bullet and optics technology over the past 50 years, but no similar revolutions in rifles or cartridges. Nobody can predict what will happen over the next 50 years.

I don't see a whole lot of room for improvement for hunting rifles without compromising our sporting ethics. Some would argue we've already gone a bit too far in some ways. We could maybe use some better hunters (I include myself here).

New target games can always be invented or rules changed as new technologies emerge, maybe featuring rapid fire or multiple targets at long range to further challenge the participants. Lots of possibilities exist here ( think 1000 yard dueling trees or some kind of long-range whack-a-mole).

For the military, the sky's the limit. Some of this new laser gear being deployed is amazing. Portable units for soldiers won't be far off.

I hope we are talking about performance, not price!

donsm70

Yes. Hunters are becoming less experimental and more conservative. I would not want to introduce a new cartridge into this climate if I were a gunmaker. It's risky enough offering a once popular round that has fallen out of favor into your lineup. And forget any new lever, pump, or sporting autoloaders.

Pappy348,



This doesn't make any sense to me. For me lighter is better. I purchased a titanium action; an improvement. To go with that I purchased a carbon fiber barrel; an improvement. To go with that I purchased a Kevlar stock and a micro-cell recoil pad to save a few ounces; both improvements. When I was young I carried an eleven pound rifle. Now that I'm in my seventies I carry a seven pound rifle.

We've been killing animals with way more technology than the animals have for generations. What does it have to do with ethics?

i doubt it (assuming I understand the question).

All trends have been toward hitting stuff further away,and using technology to make it easier for shooters.

Hunting will be less of a factor as the number of hunters and affordable hunting opportunities continues to decline. Most shooting will go to the match/tactical guys.I think we are already there.

More shooting will center around target/match /tactical type stuff. And we will see caseless cartridges, remote control rifles and scopes that automatically do the aiming ,compensating,and shooting for those lacking skills.

There will be a decline in basic skills as technology in scopes and rifles compensates for personal competence. We already see these trends in hunting.

"Hitting" will become easier but the trend will be to remove the elements of human error from the equation to the extent possible, thus the decline in personal skill sets. Less stuff to figure out. The gear is gonna do it for you.

I'm one of the dinosaurs who prefer Round Nose Bullets....

so I'm not qualified to answer.

Im the same, hunting distances aside a well manufactured round nose bullet will typically give more reliable expansion and terminal performance at normal hunting ranges of less than 200m. Sectional density and a reasonably fast twist only aid the job.

Nothing wrong with that. Always loved 180 and 220 RNCL out of an Aught Six.

I see you're thinking Bob. I think I've become Elmer Fudd in an ultra tacticool world.

16: Of course I am just speculating. But it isn't hard to imagine. I just saw them advertising bow sights that make 100 yard shots a piece of cake.

Imagine what they can do with rifles,scopes and computer chips in the future?

Have a bunch of .375" 270 & 300 gr Hornady RN. They work very well on jackrabbits,especially the 270 gr RN's.

Like everything else the evolution will continue. As new disciplines are created the technologies will evolve to fill niches or shortcomings. Someday "hunting" may evolve to catch and release with a paintball gun . Think of the technology to allow 300yd shots with a paintball!
As long as there are mice, someone will try to build a better mousetrap.

286 gr. Nosler Partitions work well on hoppers!


ya'

GWB

This has got to be one of the dumbest questions I have seen on the board.

How old are the spiffy little rimfire 17s?

How old is the .204?

How old are the Enduron powders like 4451?

How old are copper monos?

How many years have we had factory ammo that across the board shot as accurately and hand loads and faster?

How many years have we had out of the box rifle that consistently shot MOA groups without a lot of screwing around?

And that very brief list doesn't address figuring out how to use things together like Blue Dot and light Hornet bullets in .223s as UBER performing replacements for .22 lr ammo that is hard/impossible to find.

The improved design and manufacturing processes have given us incredible glass at very reasonable prices. Even blister pack scopes are way ahead of much of the scopes not so long ago.

We are living through the most productive time for improvement to the tools of our sport.