Rifles haven't changed in 100 years

[johnwilliamson062]

If one side was outfitted with any of the modern combat arms; AKX, M4, FAL, G3, etc. in WWII; what sort of affect would it have had on the outcome of the war? Even in WWI small arms were well on their way to taking a back seat to other weapons, but modern arms offer enough of an advantage I feel it would have almost certainly had a drastic effect on the war. That leads me unable to say there have been no advances in the last 100 years.

I doubt very seriously there is a single world record concerning a wheeled vehicle from 100 years ago that is still held. That makes it impossible for me to say the wheel has not changed.

I didn't watch the video, but I bet I can make similar statements for almost everything it features.

 

[Photon Guy]

Ever hear of the Baker electric car? They were entirely electric and were made over 100 years ago.
There's a whole bunch of Teslas where I live and it seems they still roll on pneumatic tires and use hydraulic disk brakes, more technology we got right a long time ago.

A Baker has nowhere near the range and horsepower of a Tesla.

On the other hand the .30-06 rifle round is over 100 years old and still widely used today. The M1917 Enfield which shoots the .30-06 round is one year short of being an antique and its still a good rifle today. People still shoot the M1917 Enfield today. I doubt, however, that you will see a Baker or for that matter a Model T Ford on the road in this day and age but you will still see people who use and shoot M1917 Enfields.

 

[Photon Guy]

It seems kind of primitive to me, don't get me wrong though, I have plenty of respect for the advances we've made in firearms, but the same thing can be said of the internal combustion engine, technology is wringing out every drop of efficiency it can out of these controlled explosions, but it seems like we should be thinking about moving on to something else.

Maybe I just watch too much science fiction...

Science fiction makes use of controlled explosions too it just has different methods of producing them such as matter/antimatter.

But lets face it, there is some extremely primitive stuff that is still widely and commonly used today, the knife for instance.

If you think we should move on from controlled explosions what should we move on to? Magnetic propulsion perhaps? Lasers?

 

[B.L.E.]

A Baker has nowhere near the range and horsepower of a Tesla.

But it would be a good match for modern golf carts, which our neighborhood also seems to be full of. People hop into them and use them as neighborhood utility vehicles, and there isn't even a golf course in our neighborhood.

 

[briandg]

It seems that you agree with the guy that there is nothing new under the sun. the antikythera was the first adding maybe a thousand years ago, the first water clock was maybe a thousand years ago, we first invented the corrosion battery hundreds of years ago, penicillin is hundreds of years old, as are vaccinations, cancer treatment, chinese muskets and wooden cannons.

because even the phone system, all they way up to the cell system have precedent. Telegraph wires led to the entire international communication system, marconi built the first radio, Even these things were put on paper long before they were created. If you must delve into history and insist that almost nothing available today hasn't got a precedent almost a century old, I guess you win the argument.

 

[ttarp]

If you think we should move on from controlled explosions what should we move on to?

Beats me, I lack both imagination and originality.

Magnetic propulsion perhaps? Lasers?

Sounds good?

On the flip side, machining technology has improved from beating metal with hammers to EDM machines and 3D printing. I don't have any answers here, I'm just curious what the next breakthrough will be.

 

[briandg]

They may be incredible.

We will not go to the stars, invent invisibility, matter transportation, plenty of other impossible stuff.

There will be amazing things built on the things we have now, and a few incredible new things.

 

[SIGSHR]

For lack of a better term, gun owners seem to believe in the notion of "classical". Cf the longevity of the M1911, the single action revolver whether a Colt or a copy, etc., the belief that the pre-64 Winchester was "just right", etc.
Biggest change in rifles IMHO has been the replacement of the bolt action for military use by the semiautomatic and in manufacturing techniques-molding and stamping in place of machining, etc.

 

[briandg]

I just got to wondering.

In the past 100 years? Lets talk about some serious innovations that dont even remotely have a genesis in the past.

Blood typing and transfusion.
X ray examination.
MRI
PET
CAT
Indium scan and other isotope scans.
joint replacement/
Gamma knife surgery
lasers
CRT

Looking at medical developments alone, the greater achievements are just beyond stunning.

 

[Gunplummer]

X-rays have been around a while. I may not be 100 years old, but remember going to the shoe store before I was in school yet and sticking my feet under the x-ray machine. I was recently talking to someone about changes in our lifetime. I saw Sputnik 1 pass over. For most of you, it seems as if there is no change because you were not around to see it.

 

[Ricklin]

History

Professor Roentgen discovered X-ray in 1896.

Your trivia for the day. What does the X in x-ray represent?

The good professor chose X as X is the unknown variable in mathematics. Thus X represents the unknown.

 

[briandg]

That's about the same time that a workable prototype of an X ray machine was first created. In all seriousness, pretty much anything involving the use of radiation or use of radioactive isotopes can be counted as 100-150 years old. We discovered radium just short of the turn of the century, that really was a turning point in a great deal of modern life. If nothing else, nuclear power provided power that would have otherwise been produced by fossil fuels.

 

[agtman]

Dudes, .... we're an engineered species, fed technological advances over time at critical moments across human history.

Modern engineers have tried and failed to lift and move various large Pyramid blocks in Egypt, let alone the 1000-ton foundation blocks on which the Balbek complex in Lebanon was built.

Pre-B.C. humans didn't do it using twigs and ropes while chanting magical incantations. So who did?

Wasn't us, ... unless Mr. Spock was supervising.

 

[B.L.E.]

Professor Roentgen discovered X-ray in 1896.

Your trivia for the day. What does the X in x-ray represent?

The good professor chose X as X is the unknown variable in mathematics. Thus X represents the unknown.

You know, sometimes I suspect that he just liked the way "X-ray" rolled off the tongue, much better than "Roentgen rays", man, that's a name as hard to pronounce as "Hodgdon". Maybe not that hard to pronounce, but it's hard to figure out how exactly to pronounce it from the spelling.