Posted on 01/16/2013 9:05:47 PM PST by marktwain
3D printed magazines have been successfully used by Kel-Tec for three years, I discovered at the NSSF Shot Show in Las Vegas yesterday. I talked to Tobias Obermeit, Lead Design Engineer at Kel-Tec, one of the most innovative firearms manufacturers in the United States. Mr. Obermeit said that "Without 3D printing, the PMR-30 would not have been developed, especially the magazine." Mr. Obermeit informed me that a prototype magazine would be printed and then be used for 100 to 150 rounds, when they would develop cracks. The magazine would then be discarded and another magazine printed.
Tobias Obermeit holding a PMR-30 and a normal capacity magazine. The magazine holds 30 .22WMR cartridges.
I asked Mr. Obermeit if the printer used to prototype the magazines was a special, industrial grade machine. He said no, it was basically the same machine used by hobbyists today, using the same basic materials.
This is important information for the debate on banning detachable magazines in the United States. If anyone who wishes can print out magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, then it makes no sense to ban them from the general population.
The PMR-30 is one of Kel-Tec's popular designs, using the .22 WMR round, a rimfire cartridge. The standard PMR-30 magazine holds 30 rounds.
In related events, Congressman Steve Israel has called for strict control over 3-D printers to prevent magazines from being printed.
Dean Weingarten
Congressman Israel Link
A spring loaded tin can is just not that high tech.
We are about to see a sudden rise in hobbyist metalworking.
Every tool you need can be had at Harbor Freight for under $100 to easily fabricate a mag. And the average guy has 80% of those already. Add a spot or Mig welder and you can go into business selling pre-bent boxes. Which is all a mag is. A metal box with a spring. Just sell the pieces individually as doorstops and paperweights.
John Browning (he’s a Mormon you know ;-) ) pretty much got things under control ~100 yr ago.
I thought Mecgar made all of their mags.
That said, a KelTec is the only firearm that I’ve seen work with a mecgar mag.
Magazines are the heart of a firearm. You can have the best firearm ever made - But if your magazines are shoddy, then it’s not gonna work.
Neat stuff.
Enjoy the Show!
I wish I could have made it.
Nothing but a dumbed down Pez dispenser
My Kel-tec .380 (amex card) uses Mecgar mags, made in Italy. From what I’ve read they’re supposed to be very good.
I love this little thing. You don’t even know it’s in your pocket. And hollow-point .380 would ruin your day.
You know, the Defense Distributed guys are working on creating a usable printed firearm, but the printed barrels aren’t strong enough to last very long. Maybe they are looking at the problem entirely the wrong way.
If you have the technology to print a weapon anytime that you need one, for a low cost, then you may not need a durable weapon that can last for tens of thousands of rounds. Why not just design a weapon that can last for a couple hundred rounds? For a weapon of convenience, that you can replace often very cheaply, why do you need it to last longer?
Just changing the specs for the thing, I think, would change the project from “maybe 10 years down the line” to “maybe 10 months”.
Here’s my idea regarding magazines. A magazine is basically identical in functionality to the common pez dispenser, only it is designed to dispense cartridges. So, if they outlaw magazines, they can only outlaw the design for that specific function. If they outlaw the design itself, then any similar spring loaded dispenser, like a pez dispenser, would also be illegal.
So, just like a head shop can sell a “tobacco waterpipe” but it cannot sell the same item labelled as a “bong”, we should just make magazines, but fill them with cartridge-sized candy, and call them “candy dispensers”. You cannot arrest me for selling a candy dispenser, even if it happens to be the same size and shape as a 30 round magazine :)
>”A spring loaded tin can is just not that high tech”<
To Obama and his sycophants, it is the root of all Evil.
Those “tin cans” not only load themselves, they attach themselves to the nearest Assault Rifle and murder innocent Children. The Human pulling the trigger is merely a inconvenient distraction compared to the inherent Evil of Guns and those Assault Magazines.
In my best imitation of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, a “tin can” indeed, it’s the evolution of everything those Evil Conservatives stand for. /s
I think the printed mags were used during just the development of the PMR-30
Yeah, I remember that America.
I see anew business in the horizon even if I have to go underground to do it!
With any luck I will get a show on A&E or the Discovery Channel like Moonshiners or Amish Mafia!
Yes, you could. I can think of all kinds of things if a person were inclined to.
Congratulations for reading the excerpt. Yes, it says they used them for prototypes, and the prototypes would crack after 100-150 rounds.
I just got the call yesterday from Impact that after a 2 year 2 month wait my PMR 30 is winging its way to my FFL dealer. I am ecstatic. Cannot wait to get to the range.
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