“...all that might change if I was somehow transported to the hinterlands of Pakistan and needed to do something to support my family. Still, way beyond anything we could do in the high tech world we live in.” [Garth Tater, post 31]
Thanks bundles for the wonderful photo of the artisan at work. Fascinating, to see the dozen-odd TT-33 pistols hanging on the wall over his head.
Certainly the Tribal Areas are famous around the world, for the skills of locals, using the most basic tools. But the wonder of it is that any such guns work at all, not that they can come anywhere close to issue arms from industrial sources. Better than nothing, of course; but strength, service life, and accuracy are something else.
The latter three attributes are the result of industrial processes, created through applied science & engineering, monitored by instruments in the hands of skilled personnel: the First World mastered them over 100 years ago and the Second World has been copying them.
Just a few days ago, I examined a couple of pistols that were very likely made in the tribal areas. There were in a gun shop in Australia, and were a cap lock and a flintlock. They were identified by the variable handwork, the lack of precision, the crude lettering that characterize such items. The master craftsmen at Adams or Hollis would never have allowed them to pass their doors.
Exactly how they arrived, or when, in Australia, is uncertain, but there was commerce throughout the empire, and a number of men from the tribal areas worked in Australia as camel drivers and tenders.
A point worth considering is that 3D printed guns, or homemade guns, or small shop guns, do not need to work as well or last as long as the superbly made industrial items you refer to.
They only "need" to work to fire a few dozen shots, to be more than sufficient to accomplish the crimes those pushing for citizen disarmament say they will prevent with "gun control".
The fear those wishing to disarm us show over 3D printing does much to validate its efficacy to derail the arguments of our opponents.