"3D Printed Weapons!" Topic

Well, I'm not sure you could pay me enough to actually fire a 3-D printed weapon. At least printed with commercially available off-the-shelf tech as I understand it. Industrial units are a different matter. Also assuming that what I understand of illegal firearms in the UK more or less holds in Europe the constraint isn't so much guns as ammunition and you can't 'print' propellant!
link
Still its probably a for-taste of what the future could hold with the potential for savvy insurgencies to have an internal manufacturing capacity. And potentially making it more difficult for those States sponsoring insurgencies to keep them on a tight leash if they don't need the hand outs so much…

Once we run out of cheap AK-47….

From what little I've read, you can print most of a firearm, except the barrel and receiver (the explody control bits). Legality of doing so varies widely by location.

Materials science has been progressing in leaps and bounds, so don't be surprised if you can't print propellants in the near future. And if the price is right, it will certainly change how nations arm their troops.

…you can print most of a firearm, except the barrel and receiver (the explody control bits).

I suppose it depends on your definition of a firearm. Maybe it only needs to fire once. Maybe it's only for close range.

It also changes security considerations when the enemy might be printing firearms after passing through the checkpoint.

Or a mostly plastic gun might be more easily smuggled through security.

There are experiments being conducted with printed propellant. Can't remember where but it was for artillery and in the form of wafers which could be stacked depending on the charge needed for the shot.

Robert

There are some interesting designs that combine 3D printed parts with common tubing, bolts, and springs to create firearms. I agree that I wouldn't want to fire one. But if you look on YouTube there are plenty of people creating and demonstrating these.

Crossbow?

Many current semi-automatic rifles are made with polymer parts -stocks, hand grips, magazines, etc. An example would be the Desert Tech MDRX
deserttech.com/mdr.php