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3D Printed Gun Magazine Shows Off Deadly High-Capacity ‘Wiki Weapon’
- kirillzubovsky 14y ago3D printing is no doubt awesome, but this video is a scary reminder of how dangerous cool toys could be in the hands of wrong people. If you can print a magazine, I assume eventually you'd be able to print a weapon that can withstand at least one-time use. That means no one needs to buy guns anymore, they just need to print them. Not the most comforting thought.
- sachingulaya 14y agoPrinting a magazine is entirely different from printing a barrel. Either way you'd be better off with a CNC mill from China and already available plans. Personally, I would not be willing to fire a gun made of plastic. High pressure + weak material -> fragmentation.
- yial 14y agoI don't really see the issue- you can already make weapons relatively easily, look at this guy who made an AK out of an old shovel. http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/17... Heres a basic concept of a .410 shotgun in a flashlight. (something that could be made at home with drill press and a few other things.) http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/03/09/shotgun-flashlight/ http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/03/09/shotgun-flashlight/ --- Honestly, a hi capacity magazine is the least of your worries...
- agpen 14y agoThe obsession with 3d printing vs more practical methods has everything to do with privileged white nerds and their obsession with the "information economy" over actual knowledge and skills (and physical effort, which they reject as blue-collar). Lathes and machining require refinement of individual workmanship, while refining 3d printing resides entirely in the realm of the printer manufacturers with the end-users reduced to the role of consumers.
- jared314 14y agoThe last attempt, from the same group, to print the regulated parts of a AR-15, that are under mechanical stress, lasted 6 shots [0]. [0] http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/03/heres-what-it-looks-like-to-fire-a-partly-3d-printed-gun-video/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/03/heres-w...
- dmm 14y agoYou are probably within 10 miles of a machine shop full of machinery that can, in the hands of a skilled person, make guns. I know people who make guns as a hobby. This is moral, legal, and fun.
- hahainternet 14y agoI feel this is pretty misleading. Yes, you probably are within 10 miles, however the required skills are perhaps 1 in 10,000 or worse. Not to mention that the proportion that will break the law to manufacture a firearm is going to be a very small subset of those. On the other hand, if 3d printed weaponry were feasible, it would require a small purchase, a file download and a button click. That is a significant and notable change.
- waps 14y agoAnd an inevitable one.
- fnordfnordfnord 14y agoYou can't nerf the whole world.
- gabrielrotbart 14y agoHumanity will always find a way to use the newest technologies for violence. In fact, violence is one of the biggest drivers of technology. IMHO, limiting and fearing technology because it will be used for violence is futile. The only way (if there is any) to curtail the use of technology for weaponry is to win the war over ignorance / lack of education and poverty.
- MrMember 14y agoGood lord, could the title be a little more editorialized?
- dimitar 14y agoA firearm entirely made of plastic doesn't seem practical, you really need metal and we've had CNC metal-working lathes since the 60s. Why haven't people started making their own firearms? Probably its much cheaper to just buy a gun. Although people seem to make excellent knockoffs in Afganistan.
- dobbsbob 14y agoIf its all plastic you can walk through metal detectors. As for afghanistan their knockoffs they buy in Pakistan gun markets are pretty good considering they are entirely made from scrap metal. Well, used to be before the gun markets were shut down by the taliban. You'd think they want to keep it open to buy weapons guess they are more worriied with angry villagers getting weapons and runninng them out of town
- dimitar 14y agoBetter make a plastic crossbow and bolts. Which is scary enough.
- yial 14y agoNo offense... you can't walk a bullet through a metal detector. Unless you're getting into caseless ammunition, which has never been popular.
- dmm 14y agoBarrels and chambers can't be made from any plastic I know of. Typically they are made of machined/forged steel.
- phogster 14y agoEasy, ban the bullets.
- fiatmoney 14y agoA magazine is essentially a box, with a spring in the bottom. It's really not the hard part of weapons manufacturing. And, the spring can't even be 3-d printed currently.
- DigitalJack 14y agoWhile this is true, it allows you to circumvent any ban on high cap mags. And I'm sure that is the point.
- mahyarm 14y agoYou could do the same with any plastic shape manufacturing process available to consumers, which there are many.
- sachingulaya 14y agoTake two magazines. Use a plasma cutter and then weld them together. See: http://www.defensereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Higher_Capacity_55-Round_and_75-Round_AR-15_5.56mm_Rifle_Magazines_1.jpg http://www.defensereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/High... Another option is to get a redi-mag. Essentially it holds two magazines right next to each other and switches between them if one jams. See: http://www.redi-mag.com http://www.redi-mag.com Limits on guns don't really stop anyone who is slightly determined.
- gnu8 14y agoThat isn't a high-capacity magazine, it is a standard capacity magazine.
- hayksaakian 14y agoWelcome to techcrunch where the facts are made up and points of accuracy don't matter