Posted on 05/20/2013 8:44:44 PM PDT by marktwain
When high tech gunsmith group Defense Distributed test-fired the worlds first fully 3D-printed firearm earlier this month, some critics dismissed the demonstration as expensive and impractical, arguing it could only be done with a high-end industrial 3D printer and that the plastic weapon wouldnt last more than a single shot. Now a couple of hobbyists have proven them wrong on both counts.
One evening late last week, a Wisconsin engineer who calls himself Joe test-fired a new version of that handgun printed on a $1,725 Lulzbot A0-101 consumer-grade 3D printer, far cheaper than the one used by Defense Distributed. Joe, who asked that I not reveal his full name, loaded the weapon with .380 caliber rounds and fired it nine times, using a string to pull its trigger for safety.
The weapon survived all nine shots over the course of an evening, as you can see in the YouTube video below. (The clip was filmed by Michael Guslick, a fellow Wisconsin engineer who helped Joe with his tests and who is known for printing one of the first working lower receivers for AR-15 semi-automatic rifles.)
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Guns should be made of metal (possibly partly ceramics). That’s why God invented gun oil.
ping.
Schumer has hysterics, breaks down weeping, shrieks inconsolably for hours.
/johnny
Perhaps somebody can answer a question for me, as I’m not really a gun expert.
It seems to me that existing 3d printed models, would tend to be very dangerous to fire.
Everybody agrees they only last so many rounds, and I assume one would really not want to be holding it when it fails.
Or am I missing something?
/johnny
That’s an amazing story. In all honesty, I’m not that big on guns and ammo, but this 3-D printer might just get me interested in guns as a hobby.
Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.
Personally, I'm looking for someone to take a pair of these:
And make one of these:
I don't intend to give up my heavy metal 1911 style carry piece, but these things are V1.0. I expect V12.8 will be much, much better. These are early days.
/johnny
Looks like they let it cool between shots.
I figured it would blow up.
Experimentation says you can. For a few shots, anyway.
This isn't a precision hunting rifle or bird gun you take duck hunting. It's a tool of freedom that may only need to be fired once. Butter knife to get a steak knife kind of thing.
/johnny
When you’re defending your life, you only need it to fire once, for the most part. All the other cockroaches tend to scatter after that.
Pick your alloy.
It’s a bit silly when you can make a better one from a few bucks worth of junk in your garage or from the hardware store, or even for free if you are creative.
A bullet? Maybe.
But not a spud!
Details for the 1.5" SCH 40 Rifled PVC Pipe
After much development and testing, rifled PVC is now a reality.
Range testing indicates about a 50% increase in accuracy for potatoes, and pipe stands up to continuous 300 psi pretty well. This new barrel modification will send potatoes straighter and perhaps most important of all...safer. I say this as I have had experience with a stray potato every now and then, going where you might have not wanted it to go...(through my shop window).
I would probably be reluctant to fire one just for the heck of it. If somebody was knocking at the door and I knew it was all over I would fire away. Tyrants are scared of technology like this. When they have no idea which door they knock on somebody has one of these it gives them pause. 30 or 40 million of these would make a big difference .
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