Friday, July 27, 2012

Printing a working automatic weapon?

Tails of the Gun  

Print me a Barrett M107  please
I knew technology had passed me by when I first tried to open the child-proof cap on my aspirin—but this is ridickilus. However, thanks to a commenter I learned "The headline is an outright lie. He made a lower receiver not the entire weapon. Yet no mention of that fact in the entire article."

Those bastids.  But wait! As much as I wanted this to be a parody, so as to sooth my feeling of inadequecy, -- this.

Res Ipsa LoquitorBefore you go about locking yourself in your closet, you should know that the only printed part of the gun was the lower receiver. But, according to the American Gun Control Act, the receiver is what counts as the firearm.

HaveBlue reportedly used a Stratasys 3D printer to craft the part, assembled it as a .22 pistol and fired more than 200 rounds with it.

The tester then attempted to assemble a rifle with the part and a .223 upper receiver but had “feed and extraction issues.” The problem may not in fact be with the 3D-printed part, though, as the issues remained when a standard aluminum lower was used.

3D printer gun designs have been floating around the Internet for some time now, but HaveBlue seems to be the first to take it to the next level. [.... a terrifying thing]

In the final analysis, if gun ownership in any society becomes a problem, it's because that society has decayed to a point of no return. So, print me up a dozen.




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's as close to having your very own replicator as you can get nowadays!!

pdwalker said...

3d printing of parts made from high quality alloys? It's coming baby!

Anonymous said...

Rapid Protype (RP) machines run about $45,000 to $800,000, so you better print up about a million guns for the Barn Army to recoup your investment.
Better start now as insurance against a bad Nov result.
Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick

Firehand said...

Someone needs to point out to him the villages in Pakistan where they make everything from muskets to heavy MGs, from scratch. That'll scare hell out of him

DougM said...

Love it!
Won't be able to print out a practical gun, though.
There's a reason barrels and other critical parts are made of steel.
However, you should be able to customize your ride around the guts of an existing firearm model. (Hmm, I'm thinkin' a Steampunk 1911.)

This could also sound the death knell of the National Firearms Act (BATFE's control of manufacturing and sales of firearms).
• The serial-numbered part (the receiver) will be impossible for BATFE to control via current law.
• You won't need a machine shop to become a manufacturer, so BATFE licensing enforcement will become impossible.
• You won't need to own or posess full-auto components (which is illegal without the paperwork), since you could make the parts just before you need 'em.

Buuuut don't worry, nothing can go wrong, since a gun that doesn't show up on airport scanners is illegal.

pdwalker said...

Doug,

You can't print a practical gun today.

Tomorrow, it'll be a different matter. It's coming, and it's going to create a huge upheaval.

Anonymous said...

The war on general purpose computing is coming. Government will try to regulate and control computing. Just like the Soviets required licenses for typewriters we'll need state permission to use a computer. Bet on it.

Anonymous said...

Ten years from now, we'll be able to buy a printer for the equivalent of a skilled laborer's pay for a day or two. We'll be able to print out a fully or semi automatic weapon and cartridges, for the price of a Coca Cola, plus materials. When it jams or breaks, we'll throw it away and print another one.

In Africa or South America, they'll be able to print out a small car. Won't be able to license one of those here, though.

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