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> I have seen designs for completely printed models, including the bolt carrier Are these parts functional? I would be literally stunned if you could 3D print

> I have seen designs for completely printed models, including the bolt carrier Are these parts functional? I would be literally stunned if you could 3D print a bolt carrier group that lasts more than a clip. The last I looked (and it's been a couple years), the designs exist, but are largely non-functional and/or still require several parts to be made of steel. The barrel is another problematic piece. I get that with enough plastic, you might be able to make it handle the pressure (and that's a pretty big might). Even presuming you do, plastic is not hard enough to allow rifling, so we're back to smoothbore rifles, which practically haven't been seen since the Civil War. Worse yet, every time you pull that trigger, the heat and pressure will blast more of your plastic out the end of the barrel. That's going to ruin your accuracy, and at a certain point, you'll start losing muzzle velocity because the barrel no longer seals around the bullet.

samatman 6y ago
Let's put it this way: producing the parts of a gun which simply must be made of metal, in a machine shop, is substantially easier than synthesizing methamphetamine. 3d printing everything except the parts you mentioned is quite tractable, and constantly improving from an already acceptably-high standard. No, the chokepoint here is primers. Which are scarce on the ground at the moment, and I expect will receive significant regulatory encumbrance in the near future.
- HideousKojima 6y ago
  In addition to priners, smokeless powder is also difficult to home manufacture. Black powder is easy enough, but it's not powerful enough to cycle most modern semi-automatics and fouls up the barrel something awful. Something like ammonpulver would be comparable in power and cleanliness to modern smokeless powder, but is pretty corrosive and gets ruined if it absorbs too much water. The same types of people eho develop 3d gun models are also putting effort into developing alternatives for primers, powder, and cases. Homemade metal barrels were an issue a few years ago but ECM barrels made it easy to make them at home with only a couple hundred dollars in tooling.
dirtyoldmick 6y ago
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4380813 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4380813
njharman 6y ago
Search youtube. You'll see firing examples of state of the art. Couple years is long tine.
goles 6y ago
My observations of how 3D printing is evolving doesn't align with OPs. Why go to great lengths to print pressure bearing parts while many of them can be crafted from off the shelf parts from your local Home Depot? Stock steel, a welder, and some airsoft parts can all be used as functional substitutes and a lot of creators have functional models from these methods. In most parts of the United States a barrel (or anything other than the frame/receiver for that matter) is not a regulated part. You can order it online and have it show up at your door without ID or signing for it. Even in areas where barrels are regulated it only requires a few materials to electrochemically machine a barrel.
- HideousKojima 6y ago
  That's why instead of 3d printing barrels, diy gun enthusiasts have been making them out of metal using ECM (with a 3d printed mandrel).
da_big_ghey 6y ago
There's been a lot of progress doing home ECM rifling of metal barrels. The objective is accessible firearms personal sovereignty, not specifically plastic barrels necessarily.
ggreer 6y ago
Current 3D printed guns like the FGC-9[1] make use of standard metal parts that can be bought at a hardware store. The bolt requires a single weld, though people have made weldless bolts[2]. The barrel is a metal tube that you can buy at a hardware store and rifle with ECM. Ammunition can be manufactured from blanks or deactivated ammo (both of which are legal in many parts of the EU). The end result is a firearm built entirely with parts that are legal to purchase in the EU.[3] This will only get easier as 3D printers improve and weapon designs are refined. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGC-9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGC-9 2. https://imgur.com/gallery/xZqXXuE https://imgur.com/gallery/xZqXXuE 3. The FGC-9's designer lives in the EU. He manufactured the gun & ammo himself and shot it in his basement: https://twitter.com/freegunzone/status/1309896256760709128 https://twitter.com/freegunzone/status/1309896256760709128

samatman 6y ago

Let's put it this way: producing the parts of a gun which simply must be made of metal, in a machine shop, is substantially easier than synthesizing methamphetamine. 3d printing everything except the parts you mentioned is quite tractable, and constantly improving from an already acceptably-high standard. No, the chokepoint here is primers. Which are scarce on the ground at the moment, and I expect will receive significant regulatory encumbrance in the near future.

HideousKojima 6y ago
In addition to priners, smokeless powder is also difficult to home manufacture. Black powder is easy enough, but it's not powerful enough to cycle most modern semi-automatics and fouls up the barrel something awful. Something like ammonpulver would be comparable in power and cleanliness to modern smokeless powder, but is pretty corrosive and gets ruined if it absorbs too much water. The same types of people eho develop 3d gun models are also putting effort into developing alternatives for primers, powder, and cases. Homemade metal barrels were an issue a few years ago but ECM barrels made it easy to make them at home with only a couple hundred dollars in tooling.

dirtyoldmick 6y ago

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4380813 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4380813

njharman 6y ago

Search youtube. You'll see firing examples of state of the art. Couple years is long tine.

goles 6y ago

My observations of how 3D printing is evolving doesn't align with OPs. Why go to great lengths to print pressure bearing parts while many of them can be crafted from off the shelf parts from your local Home Depot? Stock steel, a welder, and some airsoft parts can all be used as functional substitutes and a lot of creators have functional models from these methods. In most parts of the United States a barrel (or anything other than the frame/receiver for that matter) is not a regulated part. You can order it online and have it show up at your door without ID or signing for it. Even in areas where barrels are regulated it only requires a few materials to electrochemically machine a barrel.

HideousKojima 6y ago
That's why instead of 3d printing barrels, diy gun enthusiasts have been making them out of metal using ECM (with a 3d printed mandrel).

da_big_ghey 6y ago

There's been a lot of progress doing home ECM rifling of metal barrels. The objective is accessible firearms personal sovereignty, not specifically plastic barrels necessarily.

ggreer 6y ago

Current 3D printed guns like the FGC-9[1] make use of standard metal parts that can be bought at a hardware store. The bolt requires a single weld, though people have made weldless bolts[2]. The barrel is a metal tube that you can buy at a hardware store and rifle with ECM. Ammunition can be manufactured from blanks or deactivated ammo (both of which are legal in many parts of the EU). The end result is a firearm built entirely with parts that are legal to purchase in the EU.[3] This will only get easier as 3D printers improve and weapon designs are refined. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGC-9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGC-9 2. https://imgur.com/gallery/xZqXXuE https://imgur.com/gallery/xZqXXuE 3. The FGC-9's designer lives in the EU. He manufactured the gun & ammo himself and shot it in his basement: https://twitter.com/freegunzone/status/1309896256760709128 https://twitter.com/freegunzone/status/1309896256760709128