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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere's an idea. A really bad one: A Gun anyone can 3D-Print at home
Wiki Weapon Project' Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home
Cody Wilson has a simple dream: To design the worlds first firearm that can be downloaded from the Internet and built from scratch using only a 3D printerand then to share it with the world.
Earlier this month, Wilson and a small group of friends who call themselves Defense Distributed launched an initiative theyve dubbed the Wiki Weapon Project. Theyre seeking to raise $20,000 to design and release blueprints for a plastic gun anyone can create with an open-source 3D printer known as the RepRap that can be bought for less than $1,000. If all goes according to plan, the thousands of owners of those cheap 3D printers, which extrude thin threads of melted plastic into layers that add up to precisely-shaped three-dimensional objects, will be able to turn the projects CAD designs into an operational gun capable of firing a standard .22 caliber bullet, all in the privacy of their own garage.
We want to show this principle: That a handgun is printable, says Wilson, a 24-year-old second-year law student at the University of Texas. You dont need to be able to put 200 rounds through it
It only has to fire once. But even if the design is a little unworkable, it doesnt matter, as long as it has that guarantee of lethality.
Wilson and his handful of collaborators at Defense Distributed plan to use the money they raise to buy or rent a $10,000 Stratasys 3D printer and also to hold a 3D-printable gun design contest with a $1,000 or $2,000 prize for the winning entryWilson says theyve already received gun design ideas from fans in Arkansas and North Carolina. Once the group has successfully built a reliable 3D-printed gun with the Stratasys printer, it plans to adapt the design for the cheaper and more widely distributed RepRap model.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/23/wiki-weapon-project-aims-to-create-a-gun-anyone-can-3d-print-at-home/
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)blows his damn fingers off.
At least a store bought gun has been tested before you buy it.
Another thing, who is stupid enough to buy a $1,000 printer to make something you could buy for a couple hundred bucks? Maybe they want to make them for all their gun enthusiast friends.
Spirochete
(5,264 posts)I would ever try to fire one of those.
The guy that made the first one is a member on a gun forum I'm a long time member of. He's an incredibly skilled dude and he has successfully tested the lower receiver of an ar-15 chambered in 22lr as well as 223.
The thing with printing a gun is that only certain parts can be created that way. The lower receiver that he printed for example is not subject to the extreme pressures and stresses of the barrel and chamber.
You could theoretically produce some of the main components, but the barrel, springs, etc would likely still have to be purchased separately.
I find it hard to fathom a process of layered polymer printing that would allow an ENTIRE gun to be produced.
uncle ray
(3,157 posts)free distribution of information? anything that makes you feel uncomfortable?
FYI you can walk into your local home improvement store and buy a 22cal nail gun that would be as lethal as one of these 3d printed guns.
personally, i've been fascinated with the positive aspects of 3d printers. i enjoyed reading and watching about the scaled up printers that are being developed to "print" entire buildings, plumbing, electrical and all, in a day.
cali
(114,904 posts)way to make dog shit up, honey,