The evolution of 3D printed firearms

Sep 22, 2014 | By Dr Daniel J Thomas

While in the past year there have been so many life-changing applications for 3D printing, but there is still one which remains very much taboo. This is the ever evolving technology which enables the quick and almost too easy fabrication of 3D Printed firearms. In this article I decided to review the current state of the technology and those weapon technologies which have evolved since Cody Wilson's 3D printed firearm which shook the world back in May 2013.

There are still many concerns which remain on the table when dealing with the possible negative implications of 3D printing technology. The thought of mass fabrication of untraceable 3D printed firearms will send shivers down the spines of law enforcement agencies around the world. There has been an incredibly fast progression of the technology behind the methods of manufacturing guns with 3D printers in the last two years alone.

The functioning AR15 lower receiver showed the world the true power of 3D printing.

Although police forces from around the world are warning technology enthusiasts not to attempt to use 3D printers to make plastic guns, because each time they have been tested the weapons have exploded. Relatively cheap plastic printed guns have been fired successfully in the United States, Canada and Japan. However, as in many other technology revolutions in the past, once the idea is out then it becomes impossible to put away again.

Two factors in engineering still need to be overcome, these are; high stress resistance materials that resist knife edge loads and high temperature flashes. All of these factors can subsequently damage the polymers and this subsequently leads to fracture at the point of high stress. However, with the recent introduction of carbon fibre 3D printing filaments then does the wide spread fabrication of newer and better 3D printed guns? And is this such a bad thing?

May 2013 – Defense Distributed Liberator .380

The first firearm which started it all, the .380 Liberator. This pistol was initially printed on a Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, which utilises wide spread fused deposition manufacturing technology. This single shot firearm was the weapon that shock the world, and also showed the true potential of 3D printing. Since the files were released, hundreds of thousands of individuals downloaded the entire blueprints, and numerous individuals have printed this gun before the files were removed. By this time it was much too late. The gun has since been printed on a variety of different 3D printers including those priced at under $750. This firearm is capable of shooting one bullet and costs approximately $9.30 in plastic parts to print.

The Liberator pistol was and is an interesting idea. A simple single-shot firearm in the spirit of the FP-45 Liberator — the American-made holdout pistol designed to be dispersed across Axis-occupied Europe during World War II. It's both a thought experiment and a type of protest: governments can't control the manufacture of arms, there's no way to monopolize them.

Recently the hybridization of the AR15 lower receiver and Liberator has evolved into the design of the Shuty-9 which is a blowback pistol. The Shuty uses a readily-available and almost universally-unregulated spare Glock barrel for real handgun performance. It has an upper that mounts around both the front and the back of the lower receiver to withstand the increased energy and the lower is heavily-reinforced around the buffer tower as well. The Shuty-9 shows the power of 3D printing hybridization.

August 2013 – Grizzly .22 Rifle

Only three months later, a Canadian man going by the name 'Mathew' 3D printed a replica grizzly .22 rifle. This firearm was tested, and pretty much exploded in his arms. Mathew went back to the drawing old board, and this time thickened the walls of the barrel. The Grizzly .22 was printed on a Stratasys Dimension 1200e machine, and was able to fire off 14 shots prior to it developing a fracture.

November 2013 – Browning 1911 Metal Replica

In November of 2013, Solid Concepts, now a Stratasys company, blew all these other firearms out of the water, by using a direct metal laser sintering printer to create a replica of a 1911 Browning .45 pistol. To date this weapon has fired over 600 shots successfully. Solid Concepts plans on producing more of these firearms in the months to come. It is important to note that a machine capable of printing this weapon would run close to $1 million, and printing such a gun to resell is not currently economically feasible.

May 2014 – Zig Zag .380 Revolver

In early 2014, Hexen released the blueprints for their Reprringer Pepperbox revolver. The weapon which can hold 5 bullets at once, is a small firearm, with a relatively poor aim. It was initially printed on a variety of consumer desktop 3D printers. Unlike the other weapons this one does have stainless steel liners for its barrels. Hexen continues to improve upon the gun, with a 3rd version currently available. A number of pepper boxes have been 3D Printed on sub $500 printers made and fired.

September 2014 - The .22 semi automatic pistol

Recently a .22 semi-automatic firearm design has surfaced. Unlike former designs such as the Shuty-9, this design uses almost all plastic parts and uses weights to bring the bolt to a correct weight. It will need standard AR-15 parts, including an AR-15 FCG, AR-15 Buffer Spring, Ruger 10/22 Mag Spring, AR-15 Firing Pin and an 8mm metal insert.

What does this evolution mean?

The power of 3D Printing means that custom guns can be built entirely in one's home without a license, and the more advanced the guns get, the more potential for a hi-tech 21st century form of gunsmithing. This is the fascinating thing about 3D printing is that it gives the individual power to imagination to invent and reinvent or hybrid anything that they want.

Lawmakers such as Steve Israel have stated that any restrictions on 3D printing of weapons will be impossible to enforce, and the Justice Department has so far backed up their legality. As Tony Cartalucci has stated, it renders gun control moot; one would have to basically ban any personal use of 3D printers.

Preventing people from manufacturing guns, or worse yet, from possessing or using tools that can be used to create guns, is impossible. As the cost of 3D printing production goes down, and the accuracy improved then there will likely be a wave of non-profit and for-profit firearms manufacturers which evolve. Thus we could be welcoming a new wave of defence companies. Some of the biggest defence businesses today; Lockheed, Boeing and General Electric for instance started life as a small number of founders who had a crazy idea using a new technologies. Allan and Malcolm Loughead (Lockheed) and William Boeing for instance were fascinated by flight which at the time was seen as 3D printing is today, a gimmick technology which would never take off. But guess what, they were right and the critics are now silent.

I'm sure that in the coming months and years ahead, then 3D printing technology will herald new defence companies. Make no mistake, 3D printed weapons is here to stay. These guns are only the beginning, we could yet see a future which empowers individuals Is it such a bad think that the individual is empowered to reinvent the world around them?

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

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Kriku wrote at 1/9/2015 12:02:50 PM:

Kalashnikov rifles have been made by skilled locksmiths for decades in Afghanistan, Pakistan andother places. Parts to build a lower grade Kalashnikov could be obtained from any hardware store and the plans could be found from Internet rather easily. All these use standard factory-made ammo, of course. It is true that making a even a low-quality firearm in a garage requires considerable skill but a lot of people have those skills. 3D printing could rise all this unto a new, unprecedented level. However, I remain sceptical about 3D printed ammo for many reasons. Even hand-loaded cartridges of professional hunters rarely match the quality of top factories.

JF43FR wrote at 9/29/2014 2:24:05 PM:

I don't see here any problem. US countries are already fulfill with many legal and illegal firearms. I even think it could have an unexpected "good" side, as this will undoubtedly cause weapon lobbying to sink.

3dprintingpartner wrote at 9/29/2014 10:40:24 AM:

Problem is human nature, Nobody wants to be Left Behind in the Race...

justanotherliberturd wrote at 9/25/2014 12:21:33 AM:

But still homemade weapons and gunpowder are exceedingly rare. I think it is mostly a myth that "anyone can make an SMG in their garage". In USA this may partially be true, because many essential components, such as bolts and barrels are freely available, but in almost every other country they are heavily restricted. Making a functional and reliable firearm is not something that can be done just like that, there are reasons why firearms technology took almost half a century to develop at the 20'th. Guns manufacturing requires sturdy precision metallurgy tools such as mills and lathes, punch presses, drop forging, casting, deep drilling and rifling equipment, etc. And then there is the gunpowder: black powder does not work on modern automatic firearms. And the bullets, casing, primers, primary for primers, and so on... 3D printing changes this as far as one is no longer dependent on handicrafts and precision tools on complex parts, such as receivers. In future, metal printing could take this to a next step. Pistol frame is an excellent example: something that is extremely difficult to make with even advanced workshop tools, but just a simple program for a 3D printer. There are dozens of plastic(although reinforced) frames on market, but it has been demonstrated that airsoft frames can handle 9x19 with very little modifications, and smaller calibers such as 22 are so light that current 3D plastics can easily handle such guns frame. I'm very positive on this change. The real threat to humans are not evil individuals, but evil governments. Even the worst terrorists ever have nothing to compare with the smallest government induced genocides and terror caused by totalitarian regimes. Countries such as USA, Switzerland New Zealand etc. are ranked top free countries and they have quite liberal laws on many things, including guns.

Hucklebuck wrote at 9/23/2014 12:49:43 PM:

Really interesting article. Makes me think.

ThatGuy wrote at 9/22/2014 8:21:39 PM:

I'd be more worried about 3D printed objects that appear to be everyday items but house IEDs. Up until high-performance metal printers become commonplace, the guns aren't really an issue. A knife is more dangerous than a plastic 22LR single shot gun.

Sammy wrote at 9/22/2014 7:46:59 PM:

This is a brilliant story. Shows the chronology of 3D printed firearms. It shows the real potential of 3D Printing technology. What will come next...you decide?

russe11m wrote at 9/22/2014 4:37:55 PM:

This really isn't anything new. You've been able to make improvised firearms from materials you can purchase at your local hardware store and a minimum of hand tools for decades. You can even make your own gunpowder and bullets from items purchased at almost any hardware store.

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