Posted on 05/24/2014 4:15:56 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
It’s always fun predicting the future. People do it all the time because it is entertaining to imagine a world that we or our children will one day have the chance to experience. We’ve seen fictitious movies do this from time to time since the beginning of film. There was the hoverboard in ‘Back to the Future’, the jet packs in ‘The Rocketeer’, teleportation in Star Trek, and the list goes on. Some of these inventions have already become a reality, while we are still awaiting the arrival of others.
Another Star Trek prediction, was that of the Replicator, which was used to basically 3D print objects, especially food. These have already begun to take shape in current times, in the form of 3D printers. MakerBot even calls their consumer level 3D printer the ‘Replicator’. Sure it may not work the exact same way, but its close enough.
Now, one video game development company, Sledgehammer Games, is trying to predict the future in their upcoming video game. We’re sure that most of you are well aware of the Call of Duty video game series. ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’ is currently scheduled for release this coming Novembmer. In the game, which takes place in the year 2054, Sledgehammer Games will try their hands at predicting the future themselves. One of the more notable futuristic ideas in the game, is that of the 3D-Printer Rifle.
According to gameinformer, the 3D-Printer Rifle will print its own bullets. There is no doubt that Sledgehammer looked at the future and saw the upcoming 3D printing technology as something that will catch on in more aspects than what it is currently being used for. This gun is loaded with a canister of liquid, then ‘racked’ by the player by pulling back on the bolt. Once complete, the gun will begin to 3D print its own bullets. While this is happening, players will be shown the number of bullets that have been printed, on a digital ammo counter.
The 3D-Printer Rifle – according to gameinformer
In today’s world, we are still debating the impact that 3D printing will have on the future of weaponry. Many people worry about the ease in which anyone can, and will be more able, in the future to print out their own guns on 3D printers. This takes the idea a step further, and adds the ability for the gun to print its own ammunition. Wouldn’t that be a scary thing? In today’s society, one thing that provides a little peace of mind, is the fact that bullets can not yet be printed. Perhaps it won’t be long until this is no longer the case.
Discuss this futuristic prediction, and let us know if you think it will ever become a reality, in the ‘Call of Duty – 3D-Printer Rifle’ thread on 3DPB.com
“In today’s society, one thing that provides a little peace of mind, is the fact that bullets can not yet be printed.”
What an idiot.......
CEO of a company and he probably doesn’t know about reloading.
Hey, just what you see, pal!
:-)
He’d wet his little girl panties if he saw what I have set up.
Cool; finally you will be able to really be killed by a bullet with your name on it.
...and Skynet becomes conscious when?
Paper with the density of lead?
‘Cause without it, velocity falloff as a function of distance would make only close range weaponry possible.
What I personally think is more likely as an advance in military weaponry on the personal level will be Liquid propellant that will be metered out as to the level needed for a round to do it’s job and the rounds/bullets will be in a separate magazine or ‘magazines’ depending on their intended usage. I could see a rifle with two or more magazines with solid, explosive and ‘less than lethal’ rounds for use as needed.
Plasma rifles are here, in the stun-gun variety. Don’t need to wait until 2054. Should be no problem increasing the strength of the plasma beam to be lethal. 2005 article:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7077#.U4Ff5cagTnc
A nonlethal weapon designed to use a laser to induce a high energy state in gases is currently being funded by the United States military. The leading tip of the incoming beam ionized the target material, while the remainder is absorbed by this newly created plasma causing it to expand rapidly. This rapid expansion not only has an effect similar to a flash-bang grenade, but also creates an extremely strong EM field which is tunable through the output of the laser itself. This EM field stimulates nerves throughout the body triggering muscle paralysis and/or intense sensations of pain. There have been concerns that the technology may be unethically used, as it is possible to stimulate pain nerves throughout a person’s body creating unimaginable levels of agony
The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away…
It concerns so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs), which fire a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something solid, like a person (New Scientist print edition, 12 October 2002). The weapon, destined for use in 2007, could literally knock rioters off their feet…
This appears to be the result of an electromagnetic pulse produced by the expanding plasma which triggers impulses in nerve cells…
The contract, heavily censored before release, asks researchers to look for “optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation” - in other words, cause the maximum pain possible.
Doubtful.
It’s one thing to sinter metal powder in to a structural component. It’s another to assemble chemical mixes that can create a cartridge.
Not sure it would be much of an advance. 3d printing would still require mass that the soldier would have to carry around. 3d printers don’t make new mass. So the “stuff”/mass would weigh at least as much as the ammo printed from it. If that’s the case, how is carrying four magazines of ammunition any different than carrying four magazines of “stuff” that can be synthesized into ammunition? Not only that, you would have the weight of the printer. And, no physical process is perfect. So the “stuff” would have to weigh more than the ammunition made from it. You would save the weight of the empty magazines—not much.
I should have read your post before I posted.
If the future firearm is different, I suspect liquid propellant, case less, and electric ignition.
From what I’ve been hearing on the gun radio shows and podcasts, the industries might have to innovate somehow and come up with a different chemical mixture for accelerants used in cartridges.
The current supply is expected to start drying up this summer/fall.
Unless its Caseless ammo and some sort of solid gunpowder.
But it does seem a little complicated.
how about rail/coil guns?
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