And we have a winner. The M4 is an AR platform in modern military use, but that does not make every civilian AR a "modern military weapon."
lurker wrote:
it is the current issue weapon, but it's essentially a 60+ year-old design, based on late ww2 german innovation, so arguably 75 years old. weapons development comes in fits and starts, especially so with firearms. since industrialization in the latter half of the 1800s made smokeless metallic-cartridge breech-loading magazine fed repeaters possible and practical, we've experienced a century and a half of rapid advances, much of it driven by the needs of war, with corresponding changes to the theory and practice of warfare, but we may be near the end of that chain. what's next, improved sighting systems, target acquisition, caseless ammo to simplify the firing/loading process? energy weapons to dispense with the ammo question as we've known it completely? we're waiting on the next development, maybe a new paradigm altogether? meanwhile humanity via culture is struggling to catch up and understand the consequences of what we've already done, .
Mm, proven technology. You almost make it sound appealing.
The only thing that holds me back from a Garand is the recognition that I enjoy handguns more.
What's next is probably drones. I feel like further advances in infantry small arms are like the Patton saber - futile. Energy storage is a problem for high-power lasers. Pity, because they are fun and I am a huge fan. But even a black-powder flintlock has practical advantages in energy transfer and wound mechanics.
Drones make me think about learning to shoot shotguns.