Gunpowder has been around for quite a long time, for just
over a thousand years. Historians have been able to trace the origins of the
first weaponized use of gunpowder to sometime before Genghis Khan and the rise
of the Mongol Hordes that swept through China. When gunpowder reached Europe,
sometime during the Thirteenth or Fourteenth Centuries, the first cannons and
hand held weapons were invented. Those early muzzle loading muskets were large
and heavy, and required a sort of bipod to be used properly. Musket technology
continued to advance until the earliest breech loading muskets came onto the
scene during the late Eighteenth Century. Breech loading muskets were the first
weapons to use self-contained cartridges, and were much easier and more
efficient to load than the earlier muzzle loading variety.
Improvements to technology and warfare proceeded on an even
pace, until the late 1800's when modern smokeless powder was invented.
Smokeless powder was a vast improvement over black powder. Cartridges could now
be loaded much hotter than any black powder weapon; this meant greater
projectile speed which increased accuracy, projectile distance, and penetration
power. The first application of smokeless powder was for military use, but it
was soon adopted for hunting and personal use.
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| Various rifle cartridges, most people will never shoot anything over .40 caliber |
Smokeless powder has improved over the past 100 years;
modern powders provide bullets with ever increasing speed and power. However,
the technology has remained the exact same. A cylinder is filled with primer
and powder, capped with a bullet, and then inserted and fired from a firearm.
Why are we still using weapons that are based on technology developed during
the 1800's? There must be modern alternatives to this process of shoving
exploding powder filled cartridges into a gun and hoping the gun will fire, and
not blow up in our faces as has happened many times throughout history.
Over the past century there have been a few attempts to
replace weapons that use gunpowder. The 2013 Annual of Guns & Ammo magazine
featured a story that was originally printed in the year 1965, the topic was
something called the "Gyrojet". This weapon used a rocket type
projectile that was far more advanced than anything that uses exploding powder.
The various guns ranged in caliber from 7.52mm through 20mm could be fired at
various velocities, without any perceptible recoil. The Gyrojet could have
revolutionized the world's understanding of small arms technology.
Unfortunately, it never gained the interest of either military or civilian
customers.
Modern science has developed several alternatives to powder
filled cartridges. Among those alternatives are: electric guns, directed energy
weapons, and some other ideas using advanced technologies. Directed energy
weapons, such as microwave weapons, have been in military use for decades; but
it is unlikely they will ever be popular or made available to the civilian
market. Perhaps the most practical and realistic option for the near future is
the electric gun. The electric gun uses an electromagnetic pulse to propel the
projectile down the barrel of a gun. This allows the projectiles to reach
incredible speeds, with far greater power and distance than any gunpowder
weapon. The History channel featured an episode of its "Modern
Marvels" program dedicated entirely to the electronic gun, about 20 years
ago. The US Navy is beginning to place "rail" guns of some of its vessels;
these are the same electric guns that were featured on the History Channel
program 20 years ago. The Navy estimates that when fully implemented the rail
gun will be able to shoot projectiles for distances of more than 100 miles. The
rail gun technology can be miniaturized and adapted to civilian style weapons;
however, traditional gun manufacturers would be put out of business as a
consequence.
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| A schematic of an electric gun |
I am not certain how long the use of gunpowder in weapons
will continue. For the present, the use of electronic guns is still in the
experimental stages. Millions of people own gunpowder firearms, and those guns
still get the job done, so gunpowder will still be around for the foreseeable
future. But if electronic guns ever become available for civilian use I might
buy one, or I might not; it depends on the price.