Posted on 04/18/2013 3:53:07 PM PDT by marktwain
Prompted by the horrific Sandy Hook shooting last December, lawmakers across the country are locked in debate over the future of gun control in America. While they fight in Washington over background checks, there has been a technological revolution brewing. In the face of increased gun control, several groups have taken the initiative to manufacture guns via 3D printers.
A homemade gun sounds revolutionary to most, but it’s perfectly legal so long as it meets federal and state restrictions on gun ownership. That said, $30 and a simple YouTube tutorial can land you a homemade ‘shotgun.’ For the more aesthetically minded, gun parts can be bought separately and modified at home to produce a fully functional AR-15. Homemade guns don’t require any sort of federal licensing or registration so long as you don’t plan to sell them.
The “Wiki Weapon” project began last June with the public reveal of Defense Distributed, the goal being to design gun parts that can be accessed and produced by anyone with a 3D printer. There are still several hurdles in the way of Defense Distributed’s goal, however. First and foremost is the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988, which bans the production and ownership of guns that can go unnoticed through metal detectors.
The law is set to expire this December unless lawmakers should choose to renew it, and with the current state of the gun control debate it doesn’t seem all too unlikely. The current cost of 3D printers is another concern with some of the cheapest models still pricing well over $900. Most concerning, however, is the overall quality of these guns. The materials used by 3D printers are hardly as durable as metallic parts already on the market.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelamron.com ...
IIRC, there's a TechShop near Austin now. That's a membership-only place, though, but they do advertise having a 4-axis CNC mill.
There might be a policy against gun work there, too - you should probably check. It might be cheaper to buy an "80%" receiver and the required drill jigs and other related bits and tools, and a cheap tabletop milling machine from Harbor Freight.
Thanks!
You can order an 80% complete lower and then finish it yourself with a bench top drill press and a jig.
Or
Print the lower in wax and use the lost wax casting method
or
buy an 80% lower and finish yourself
or
download the plans for the “lego lower”, mill out the plates and assemble
Will not happen. Imagine the liability lawsuits when poorly made guns blow up in the operator's face. Gun shops don't need the lawsuits. And printer companies will cringe if their printers are purposed solely for gun making. However, one can use a 3-D printer to make a home-built 3-D printer, getting around limitations on renting it! (Easier just to get a real gun.)
Thanks!
Love them. If the lower were the legal receiver like the AR making upper changes cheaper it would be about perfect. A heavy barrel model in .243 with a big scope would be a coyotes nightmare.
P.S. Notice as the AR improves it gets more like the FN FAL? (piston action etc.)
This technology only enables one to acquire something more effective.
“Now, make some really nearly perfect castings of the AR-15 lowers using some nice quality steel from bumpers, leaf springs and scrap metal from a local junk yard.”
Ummmm...
Casting aluminum is fairly easy. Casting steel is a whole ‘nuther matter!
“Nearly perfect” doesn’t quite get it. You must get the tolerances correct. You need to allow for shrinkage when 3D printing your mold, etc.
Even if you do make a good lower receiver, the barrel, upper receiver and bolt are critical and difficult to make.
http://www.lasc.us/RangingShotBarrelMakingFeature.htm
Making a home made single shot smooth bore to fire a rifle cartridge is not too difficult. Making a home made AR-15/M-16 is quite different.
i still don’t know anyone who wants to get shot by a .22.
maybe the stock, but there were standard arms makers and making the metal parts most people couldn’t do on their own.
Really? I saw my first one in SDak at a small town sporting goods store the first year of my college career. I remember seeing it for $79 and thought “What a rip off ... cheap plastic magazine won’t last 30 minutes”. That was 1980.
That Ruger was really introduced 15 years earlier!?
It’s perhaps the most customizable rifle ever made!! Still kicking myself for not buying one then.
Wouldn't be the first time, promise it won't be the last.
I was reading that the earlier generations were concerned about the material being contaminated and not dispensing through the printheads if recycled - causing the printheads to clog.
Guess they fixed that problem.
Hey, that file on your flash drive is a felony.
It’s coming.....at least they will try. Total control is all they are after.
F em all.
Good luck identified the file.
Encrypt your drives using software like truecrypt.
If you do it right there will be no way for them to know what it is you have, not that it is any of their business.
Well yeah, but most people bought the parts (like from blacksmiths, etc.) and assembled their own weapons.
yeah, they all needed them for defense of one kind or another.
Steel for an AR lower? Something new every day.
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