3 ms·

I can't see weapon tech falling much below the 1850s. I can imagine short-term or more localised effects. The USA could be viewed as an outlier, given the amo

by manarth 10y ago

I can't see weapon tech falling much below the 1850s. I can imagine short-term or more localised effects. The USA could be viewed as an outlier, given the amount of gun-ownership: 22% of the population (and as some people own many guns, the total number of guns is more than 1 gun per person). By comparison, less than 1% of the UK population own a gun. So in some countries, there may be guns around for the taking, but in other countries, those guns will be in the hands of very few people. I'd imagine a period of a year or so where more primitive weaponry took precedence, during which we would have to relearn how to make tools, weapons and ammo without the benefit of technically advanced manufacturing.

Spooky23 10y ago
No way. If civilization implodes, a brisk trade in AK-47's would develop.
- manarth 10y ago
  a brisk trade in AK-47's would develop Sure, popular gun, available in large numbers (outside most western countries). How long would it take for them to become commonplace in western countries/Europe? Hypothetically imagining a trade in AK-47s between Turkey and the UK (around 3,000 km), how quickly could those guns (and ammo) be moved, in enough numbers to be significant? Would the traders be threatened along the way? Would that trade be on foot (maybe 20-25 km per day), or would they still have the advantage of car/truck/air transport? Would the trade give enough value to account for the traders' risk? I think that an immediate, catastrophic societal breakdown would give a year or two of extreme regression, during which archery might be useful. Given a couple of years for the reappearance of traditional techniques (such as hand-crafted blacksmith work) or the redistribution of AKs, things to change. All that said, it's all guesswork…for all I know, one week without electricity and we could all be Mad-Maxing. On the one hand, our guesses are based on little except media dystopia fiction like Mad Max and Waterworld, on the other hand, our exposure to those genres could influence our actions to bring about those very outcomes. So, er, I'm just going to fill up some waterbottles and go stock up on cans of corned beef and archery kit. Although they're definitely not stored at my home, no sirree.
  - LyndsySimon 10y ago
    Given the collapse of civilization, I'm confident that I could be producing basic automatic weapons (submachineguns) in less than a month. Six months on the outside before I could be turning out high-quality automatic rifles. The hardest part would be the barrel rifling, but even that is doable. This is without electricity, of course.

by manarth 10y ago

Spooky23 10y ago

No way. If civilization implodes, a brisk trade in AK-47's would develop.

manarth 10y ago
a brisk trade in AK-47's would develop Sure, popular gun, available in large numbers (outside most western countries). How long would it take for them to become commonplace in western countries/Europe? Hypothetically imagining a trade in AK-47s between Turkey and the UK (around 3,000 km), how quickly could those guns (and ammo) be moved, in enough numbers to be significant? Would the traders be threatened along the way? Would that trade be on foot (maybe 20-25 km per day), or would they still have the advantage of car/truck/air transport? Would the trade give enough value to account for the traders' risk? I think that an immediate, catastrophic societal breakdown would give a year or two of extreme regression, during which archery might be useful. Given a couple of years for the reappearance of traditional techniques (such as hand-crafted blacksmith work) or the redistribution of AKs, things to change. All that said, it's all guesswork…for all I know, one week without electricity and we could all be Mad-Maxing. On the one hand, our guesses are based on little except media dystopia fiction like Mad Max and Waterworld, on the other hand, our exposure to those genres could influence our actions to bring about those very outcomes. So, er, I'm just going to fill up some waterbottles and go stock up on cans of corned beef and archery kit. Although they're definitely not stored at my home, no sirree.
- LyndsySimon 10y ago
  Given the collapse of civilization, I'm confident that I could be producing basic automatic weapons (submachineguns) in less than a month. Six months on the outside before I could be turning out high-quality automatic rifles. The hardest part would be the barrel rifling, but even that is doable. This is without electricity, of course.