Posted on 01/08/2013 8:47:18 PM PST by marktwain
Defense Distributed has created a website that is the "island of misfit (firearms) objects" that others have censored from the web. Chief among these are the data to print a complete, functional AR15 magazine, including the spring.
The current data is limited to a five round design, but it appears that it could easily be altered to a 10, 20, or 30 round design, especially if the maker is willing to add cheap and reliable steel springs.
The necessary springs can be hand made from wire, if desired.
Dean Weingarten
The link is live at the site.
Waste of ammo.
Is it a waste of ammo if its coming at you?
I can just imagine a firefight and a lib who decided he needed an AR complains against a gang shooting at him during a drive by, “You’re wasting ammo!”
The flat parts can be made from aluminum, and the follower I can make from a mix of JB Steelweld and a little bit of dry graphite, makes it nice and slippery. The spring is a no brainer unless a no brainer tries to duplicate it then you create a black hole.
Sustained, accurate fire is FAR more effective than inaccurate spraying. 3-round burst and full auto from a 30-round magazine can not be sustained and it is very inaccurate. Stick with the “Semi” position on the selector switch.
Can it print powder and primers?
My FRiend, we have millions of new AR owners all of a sudden out there, I doubt there is a high percentage who know about sustained accurate fire. And a trained police force also know all about how to counter direct sustained fire, but just how well can they handle a wild wall of lead coming from all directions?
Sometimes crazy and wild is the only answer.
No, but Russian revolutionaries made their own dynamite.
A lot easier to buy a few cases of ammo now, which is why it is flying off the shelves.
The big deal with barrels is there are very few manufacturers, which can be shut down by an oppressive government with little difficulty. No barrel, no gun. Insofar as they can be made at home, quality and production rate are nothing like writing large checks and having truckloads delivered from economically captive producers.
I like to make my own.
I read a FReeper oldtimer who said he made guns in metal shop in high school. How far we have sunk since then.
BFL
That said, you can't drop an M16 fire control group into an AR15 receiver. There are several key differences that make it difficult to militarize an AR even with the proper parts. If someone wants to provide a REALLY valuable service, they could post a printable M16 receiver. Or better yet a printable M14 receiver!
A “Liberty Pistol” would be a fine application for 3D printing. Because it is basically a “gun to get another gun” it need not be complex or even particularly powerful. A great project would be a single shot suppressed .22 LR pistol. The supressor would be a once-and-done affair, which would be fine for the intended application.
Can they print me an AA-12? I need something with more stopping power.
An AA-12 loaded with Flechett rounds.Thats a great way to nail someone to the wall.
I've never seen anyone shoot anything with a lathe before, let alone compete with one! That's flat-out miraculous, right there! ;-)
I’ve shot a few parts out of lathes before, but they weren’t accurate. I never even hit anybody.
There aren’t “very few” manufactures of barrels.
There are dozens of them, of varying levels of quality.
What isn’t there are abundant sources of barrel quality steel. Seems that the “free trade uber alles” crowd thought that making steel was an icky, dirty industry best outsourced to people in the third world, who wouldn’t know quality steel if it were applied to their faces like a baseball bat.
Want to make a barrel? Get an axle out of a car or truck. They’re made form 4140 steel. This isn’t rocket science. It’s deep hole drilling, followed by reaming to size, and then you get your choice of broach or single-point cutting. The twist can be imparted with a sine bar, as was done on the P&W machines of over 100 years ago.
If Harry Pope did it on a converted lathe, so can you.
Springs for these types of magazines can be made with music wire. Bend it ONCE around a form with the correct pitch and you’re done.
Gunsmiths make springs all the time.
If you need to make a flat spring, then get some 1070 or 1095 spring steel stock and learn how to heat treat steel. Hint: Learn how to use saltpeter salts heated to a liquid state for your tempering. Blues and tempers the spring all at one go.
“Dozens” is “very few”.
You can make your own powder and primers.
This isn’t rocket science. It’s just chemistry, coupled with some stamping metallic production of small parts.
I’m not going to detail the steps involved. People who worry about these things should read up on primer chemistry - and powder chemistry. It’s not rocket science.
Black powder is even simpler to make - but more dangerous in large lots to deal with.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.