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It will be interesting to see what happens as 3D printed firearms continue to develop. I know it’s a big boogeyman with “ghost guns” etc but the military applic

It will be interesting to see what happens as 3D printed firearms continue to develop. I know it’s a big boogeyman with “ghost guns” etc but the military applications could be revolutionary: possibly your small arms printed on-the-fly to fit a specific mission. The days of stamped steel and milled/forged aluminum firearms may soon be behind us. A Growing number of modern weapons rely heavily on polymer lowers.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
Maybe. I doubt you could 3D print a barrel though.
- HideousKojima 4y ago
  You can, sort of. With electrochemical machining you can make a barrel at home for under $200 in tooling (plus the 3D printer). Basically you 3d print a mandrel for the rifling, and run copper wiring through the grooves of the mandrel. You then run electrified saltwater through the tubing and it will cut the rifling. It's stupid simple to do, and the people who have tried it have gotten results comparable to factory barrels. So probably won't win a shooting competition, but definitely good enough.
  - snapetom 4y ago
    Lol. Holy crap. I've been out of the AK making game for too long and didn't know about this. I'll have to look it up.
    - Ancapistani 4y ago
      Last I checked, you could mostly find references to ECM in reference to the FGC-9. I played with when it was first published, and successfully made a rifled barrel blank. I’ll probably do it again at some point, to comply with the NFA for some other projects I have in my backlog - smoothbore pistols are considered “Any Other Weapons”, but even rudimentary rifling is enough to make it “just a pistol”.
    - jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
      I stumbled onto a youtube video demonstrating how to make a gun very similar to what was used to kill Abe in Japan. They used this for the barrel in the video and it's surprisingly simple and controllable, or at least was to me.
- mgarfias 4y ago
  Nope. But you can build the crap. you need to ECM a barrel with your 3d printer. Look at what they're doing with JStark (pbuh)'s FGC-9 design over there in myanmar.
- snapetom 4y ago
  The front trunnion is the only thing anyone would have trouble with, IMO. It has to attach tightly to the barrel and withstand the explosion from firing. Somewhere on the internet is a forum post where someone took a shovel and made all the necessary parts for a functional AK. The receiver and rails were cut up from the metal shovel part, the handle was used as a stock. He used the trunnion, barrel, and trigger group from an existing AK. The later of which could easily be CNCed or even 3D printed at this point.
  - Ancapistani 4y ago
    > Somewhere on the internet is a forum post where someone took a shovel and made all the necessary parts for a functional AK I was “there” for that thread, but don’t have a link handy. The title was “shit shovel AK”, I think. Here’s a link showing it: https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2012/11/27/shit-shovel-ak-47/ https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2012/11/27/shit-shovel-ak-...
kube-system 4y ago
I'm bearish on that idea. For infantry weapons, militaries much prefer standardization anyway. The advantages of 3d printing is really only in tooling time/cost, which is why it its industrial applications have mostly been for prototyping. Conventional manufacturing still excels in quality and price per part at high volumes.
giantrobot 4y ago
Printing small arms on the fly would be a sure fire way to lose a campaign. You can't 3D print your ammo. There's also a lot of stuff like springs you can't 3D print. So any disruption in any supplies you can't print, including electricity, leaves you with no weapons. It's a far inferior model to taking completed weapons with you. You can build a million units in a factory on another continent and hand them out in safety. They can be built to whatever tolerances are appropriate using whatever exotic materials you want. They won't be limited to materials that can be 3D printed. Your ammo used also won't be limited to ammo that can be safely used in 3D printed parts.
- Ancapistani 4y ago
  > Printing small arms on the fly would be a sure fire way to lose a campaign. Mostly, yes - but I could see a place for it in an insurgency, where having a weapon is a liability an individual wouldn’t want, unless it’s in active use at the time. Things are changing quickly, though: > You can't 3D print your ammo. True - but there are active projects out there to address this, and they’re getting better all the time. I think you’ll see viable 3D-printed cartridges soon, with chemical components made from accessible ingredients. > There's also a lot of stuff like springs you can't 3D print. You can print forms and jigs that make creating springs of the correct dimensions much easier, though. Spring steel wire isn’t in short supply anywhere.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    In a pinch: raid a piano.
  - giantrobot 4y ago
    Maybe several generations of 3D printers down the road they would be decent weapon printers. Right now and in the near term they're unsuitable for printing weapons. If you're an insurgent you're better off making a zip gun out of office scraps to get yourself a better recently owned gun. Good insurgencies don't keep weapons at home. They stash them at drop points and pick them up when they need to use them. 3D printers have the same problems as weapons. If an occupying force finds out you've got a 3D printer they're going to confiscate it if you're lucky and jail/kill you if you're not. I'd also suggest that anymore insurgencies are more interested in IEDs than small arms. An insurgent doesn't need to be around when an IED goes off. An IED can do a lot more damage to even moderately armored vehicles than 3D printed or scratch built small arms.
bitcurious 4y ago
> possibly your small arms printed on-the-fly to fit a specific mission. What you’d gain in “mission-fit” you’d lose in muscle memory.
aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/1769073/3d-printing-in-the-marine-corps-an-industry-of-untapped-potential/ https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/1769073/3d...

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

Maybe. I doubt you could 3D print a barrel though.

HideousKojima 4y ago
You can, sort of. With electrochemical machining you can make a barrel at home for under $200 in tooling (plus the 3D printer). Basically you 3d print a mandrel for the rifling, and run copper wiring through the grooves of the mandrel. You then run electrified saltwater through the tubing and it will cut the rifling. It's stupid simple to do, and the people who have tried it have gotten results comparable to factory barrels. So probably won't win a shooting competition, but definitely good enough.
- snapetom 4y ago
  Lol. Holy crap. I've been out of the AK making game for too long and didn't know about this. I'll have to look it up.
  - Ancapistani 4y ago
    Last I checked, you could mostly find references to ECM in reference to the FGC-9. I played with when it was first published, and successfully made a rifled barrel blank. I’ll probably do it again at some point, to comply with the NFA for some other projects I have in my backlog - smoothbore pistols are considered “Any Other Weapons”, but even rudimentary rifling is enough to make it “just a pistol”.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
    I stumbled onto a youtube video demonstrating how to make a gun very similar to what was used to kill Abe in Japan. They used this for the barrel in the video and it's surprisingly simple and controllable, or at least was to me.
mgarfias 4y ago
Nope. But you can build the crap. you need to ECM a barrel with your 3d printer. Look at what they're doing with JStark (pbuh)'s FGC-9 design over there in myanmar.
snapetom 4y ago
The front trunnion is the only thing anyone would have trouble with, IMO. It has to attach tightly to the barrel and withstand the explosion from firing. Somewhere on the internet is a forum post where someone took a shovel and made all the necessary parts for a functional AK. The receiver and rails were cut up from the metal shovel part, the handle was used as a stock. He used the trunnion, barrel, and trigger group from an existing AK. The later of which could easily be CNCed or even 3D printed at this point.
- Ancapistani 4y ago
  > Somewhere on the internet is a forum post where someone took a shovel and made all the necessary parts for a functional AK I was “there” for that thread, but don’t have a link handy. The title was “shit shovel AK”, I think. Here’s a link showing it: https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2012/11/27/shit-shovel-ak-47/ https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2012/11/27/shit-shovel-ak-...

kube-system 4y ago

I'm bearish on that idea. For infantry weapons, militaries much prefer standardization anyway. The advantages of 3d printing is really only in tooling time/cost, which is why it its industrial applications have mostly been for prototyping. Conventional manufacturing still excels in quality and price per part at high volumes.

giantrobot 4y ago

Printing small arms on the fly would be a sure fire way to lose a campaign. You can't 3D print your ammo. There's also a lot of stuff like springs you can't 3D print. So any disruption in any supplies you can't print, including electricity, leaves you with no weapons. It's a far inferior model to taking completed weapons with you. You can build a million units in a factory on another continent and hand them out in safety. They can be built to whatever tolerances are appropriate using whatever exotic materials you want. They won't be limited to materials that can be 3D printed. Your ammo used also won't be limited to ammo that can be safely used in 3D printed parts.

Ancapistani 4y ago
> Printing small arms on the fly would be a sure fire way to lose a campaign. Mostly, yes - but I could see a place for it in an insurgency, where having a weapon is a liability an individual wouldn’t want, unless it’s in active use at the time. Things are changing quickly, though: > You can't 3D print your ammo. True - but there are active projects out there to address this, and they’re getting better all the time. I think you’ll see viable 3D-printed cartridges soon, with chemical components made from accessible ingredients. > There's also a lot of stuff like springs you can't 3D print. You can print forms and jigs that make creating springs of the correct dimensions much easier, though. Spring steel wire isn’t in short supply anywhere.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  In a pinch: raid a piano.
- giantrobot 4y ago
  Maybe several generations of 3D printers down the road they would be decent weapon printers. Right now and in the near term they're unsuitable for printing weapons. If you're an insurgent you're better off making a zip gun out of office scraps to get yourself a better recently owned gun. Good insurgencies don't keep weapons at home. They stash them at drop points and pick them up when they need to use them. 3D printers have the same problems as weapons. If an occupying force finds out you've got a 3D printer they're going to confiscate it if you're lucky and jail/kill you if you're not. I'd also suggest that anymore insurgencies are more interested in IEDs than small arms. An insurgent doesn't need to be around when an IED goes off. An IED can do a lot more damage to even moderately armored vehicles than 3D printed or scratch built small arms.

bitcurious 4y ago

> possibly your small arms printed on-the-fly to fit a specific mission. What you’d gain in “mission-fit” you’d lose in muscle memory.

aaaaaaaaata 4y ago

https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/1769073/3d-printing-in-the-marine-corps-an-industry-of-untapped-potential/ https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/1769073/3d...