The problem of course though with all these things is that while they are great toys to play with they are all severely limited as weapons. I suppose
@Big Sandy Claymore is, in a way, a more useful weapon in that it doesn't need re-loaded every time you use it and is devastatingly powerful in the right hands not to mention being hard to miss with.
We've had various ballistic weapons for centuries now but the biggest limiting factor is still the amount of ammunition the operator can carry and the fact that, apart from shotgun shells, the missile is small and needs precision to hit it's target effectively. We still would probably end up fighting hand to hand in a relatively short time. In the event of having to defend your liberty a sort of taser that didn't tie you to your target would be more useful. If you can disable your enemy for a relatively short period of time you could handle multiples and just put them out of the game long enough to then follow up and dispatch them with your good old claymore.
I think that, when the time comes I rather fancy lumps of lead in various shapes, fired from a catapult. Making the catapult is easy, just get some of those rubbery stretchy tubes that you get for exercising with and fit them to a Y-shaped frame. The catapult could be easily stored, you could make more at the drop of a hat and the choice of missiles is broad without any modifications to the catapult.
www.springfields.co.uk
