Are you ready for 3D-printed guns?
 

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Welcome to the dark side of 3D printing.
The hobby is best known for creating colorful toys and trinkets, but some enthusiasts are working on design files that would allow anyone to print a working gun. These don't exist yet, but some believe it's only a matter of time.
Why would a 3D-printed gun be appealing? For one, it could potentially be cheap. You can buy a preassembled 3D printer for about $500. A spool of ABS plastic to print with goes for $50. Depending on where you shop, you can buy .38 Special ammunition for 30 cents a round. The plans will undoubted be distributed free like so many MP3s.
In fact, plans for working gun parts already exist. They can be found on a site called Thingiverse and on similar sites, alongside thousands of free plans for toys, jewelry, tools, and design equipment.
Thingiverse is a creation of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based MakerBot and its CEO, Bre Pettis. Pettis and his company have become the de facto faces of 3D printing thanks to regular appearances in mainstream and tech media talking about how 3D printers democratize manufacturing. Pettis usually demonstrates this idea with brightly colored remote-control cars, robots, and other toys made with MakerBot printers. MakerBot and Pettis don't really talk about files related to gun parts.
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Dude, look what I just printed!

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The printing technology will have to improve a little before I'd trust shooting one. Have you seen how bad 3d prints can be?..

I don't know how much you know about 3d printing. What I know is that no $500 printer is going to be able to produce a gun that will fire correctly. 3d printers have been around for a decade, and are barely in consumers hands if at all. That article is really jumping the gun.

What a complete crock of shit.

3D printing will be HUGE in the near future. In homes too. Bank on that.

Sorry didn't get it. How could you print, say, a barrel? Do 3D printers allow to work with steel?

Plastic gun? No, thanks :pimp

plastic gun cant shoot , eh

Dude... can I come over and "print" something too?

we might say no way but to a 12 year old that would be cool as shit. Plus it is plastic so no harm right? bam bam bam bam my bad

if its the same gun I studied before, It doesn't print the barrel, that was purchased, it just prints the reciver and grip and action. I was not sure wether it printed a bolt or breechblock.

The claim was it shot just fine. 22 rounds dont put a whole lot of stress on a construction.

I thought the most interesting application might be for printing suicide guns - those could be all plastic - just get a shell, print the gun, load it, and off to oblivion you go.

you could always buy a pipe nipple and use that as a barrel - basically a 3D print assisted zip gun.

you need high quality materials to make guns...

Just printed a set of bisexual twins for each of of us!

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can u print a set for me as well pls :thumbsup

If your going to make your own gun you only need to make the receiver frame, all other parts can be found online and sold to to anyone.


A Glock's frame is made out of synthetic polymer

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I just cant wait until I can print a gun out of plastic and then blow my hand apart when I shoot it.

I have a 24" lathe , a 3-axis knee thingy milling maching with a DRO , belt grinder and a Heat treat oven , does that help? Expedient homemade firearms book was a hoot.

it might be interesting to design a printed gun based on a smoothbore steel pipe barrel and teh .410 rifled slug round.

a rifled slug would give you enough accuracy from an off the shelf piece of half-inch ID pipe to make a decent short range weapon with considerable knockdown power.

sounds like a fun project. Base the design on an open breech blowback concept. Kind of like a printed sten gun

not sure what I would use as the breechbock and firing pin.

HA! "jumping the gun"! I see what you did there! :1orglaugh

You want a working safe AK47? All you need is this kit and a small electric drill.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=305281871

If i am not mistaken i am pretty sure at this point they can only print the stock and not the barrel or firing pins

glocks ARE made of mostly plastic which is why they're lightweight. didn't you kiddies see the first die hard movie that was practically a commercial for glock

Many people aren't comfortable shooting antique firearms since they can fracture, so the printing materials will have to be proven to be 100% safe.

If and when that does happen, this could really be the thing that pushes gun control laws through.