First all-plastic 3D-printed gun

[spuwho]

Per Extreme Tech:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/154344-complete-all-plastic-3d-printed-gun-will-be-available-to-download-in-two-weeks

The ability to 3d print your own gun completely in plastic is but 2 weeks away. The creator will be doing it himself and will be posting the plans as "open source" as part of his gun rights initiative.



Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed, says he is just two weeks away from 3D printing an entire handgun, out of ABS plastic. Once Wilson has printed the gun and ensured that it works, the weapon’s 3D model files will be uploaded to the internet and open sourced â€" so that you and I can print an almost-undetectable firearm.

Creating a 3D-printed gun, and contributing the model files to the public domain, is the culmination of DefDist’s Wiki Weapon project. The Wiki Weapon project was created in mid-2012 by Cody Wilson, with the lofty but perhaps slightly misguided goal of fulfilling every American citizen’s Second Amendment right to bear arms. Back in July 2012, DefDist produced a 3D-printed a lower receiver for an AR-15 rifle, in January of this year it 3D-printed a 30-round AR-15 magazine (video below), and then in March DefDist finally received its federal firearms license, which is required to legally make and sell guns. Now, it seems, according to an interview with Mashable, Wilson is almost ready to release an entirely 3D-printed handgun.

The Wiki Weapon will be made of 12 parts, printed out of ABS â€" conventional, fairly sturdy 3D-printed thermoplastic. According to Wilson, there will probably be just one metal part, the firing pin, while the rest â€" including the barrel â€" will be made out of plastic. As for whether it’ll actually work, Wilson and co won’t know until they actually build it, which will hopefully be in a couple of weeks. If all goes to plan, Wilson says the 3D-printed gun â€" which will be a custom design, rather than a reproduction of an existing pistol â€" will be able to fire a “few shots” before melting or breaking. After testing, the design will be uploaded to the web, so that anyone with a 3D printer can print out the handgun. You’ll still need to source your own ammunition and firing pin, though.

As you can imagine, a gun made entirely out of plastic, except for the very tip of the firing pin, would be almost undetectable by security scanners â€" which is a problem, because there’s the  Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988. The Act prevents DefDist from making or selling undetectable guns. ”We’re gonna be flirting with the edge of detectability,” Wilson says. ”It’s possible that there is no good way for us to comply [with the Act] and that would open up a line of prosecution.” While it seems almost certain that Wilson himself will break the law by making a 3D-printed weapon, it’ll be interesting to see if the law also prevents him from uploading the design to the internet.

Of course, once the cat is out of the bag there isn’t a whole lot that the government can do about itâ€"  except for shoehorning DRM into 3D printers, preventing them from printing “dangerous” models…

[Josh]

I can't wait to see how the NRA is going to start backpeddling on their interpretation of the Second Amendment and show their true colors of being lobbyists for the gun manufacturers, and not advocates for gun owners' rights once these things become mainstream.

[NotNow]

Interesting idea.  And I support the principle.  But one can currently produce a more accurate and dependable firearm from parts obtained at any hardware store.

[Dog Walker]

ABS plastic barrel will be a joke.  The temperatures and pressures produced by a .223 cartridge are WAY too high for ABS.

The jerk who makes the gun should be the first required to shoot it.  Problem solved.  There is no purpose for something like an AR-15 to be all plastic.  They are too big to be concealed anyway.  Dumb stunt!

I've designed lots of parts to be made in plastic and even some of the most exotic fiber-reinforced plastics with injection temperatures of over 700F would be challenged by being made into a barrel.

[acme54321]

An abs plastic barrel?  That's good stuff.

Coming from the guy that couldn't get 10 rounds out of his abs ar-15 lower, I fully expect this gun to explode or the barrel melt out in a round or two.

[Dog Walker]

My bet is explode first round.  Takers?

[acme54321]

I'm right there with you.  Only way it doesn't explode is if it's so overbuilt it's unusable.

[Jason]

If he just turns the design into a paintball, arisoft, or BB gun then he may be onto something.  No way that thing will fire accurately more than once and more likely will blow apart during the first shot.

[spuwho]

Here it is....


http://natmonitor.com/2013/05/04/worlds-first-3d-printed-handgun-is-here-congressman-fights-to-extend-ban-on-plastic-firearms/