Ar15.com user [HaveBlue] has been working for some time on a 3D printed lower receiver, and now reports that the parts are fully working. Using a Stratasys 3D printer from the 90’s [HaveBlue] managed to spin out a modified version of an already available model from cncguns.com. He strengthened the holes for the takedown lugs, which hold the upper and lower halves of the rifle together. Strengthened the bolt hold lugs, which when the magazine is empty lifts a lever assembly that catches the bolt as it springs back to push another round into the chamber. and added an integral trigger guard AKA the bar that surrounds the trigger.
Legally this print is a veritable gauntlet of state and federal regulations. At least in the US. The lower receiver is the part of the rifle that holds the spring and pins that operate the rifle’s trigger safety and hammer assembly, hold the magazine in place, and mount the buttstock/return spring tube. The other key point about the lower receiver is that it contains the primary traceable identification markings, the serial number. All of the parts that are contained within the lower receiver can be ordered online (this varies state to state). In fact, every single other part of the rifle can be bought and sold freely. The only component of the rifle that can not be ordered online, and requires a background check at a gun store, is the body of the lower receiver (we have to keep saying that this varies state to state). Typically laws allow though for the manufacture of this part without a serial number so long as it is never sold to another individual (again, state laws vary widely).
There is some more info on the build at [HaveBlue]’s website here and here, but it is currently down. This sort of steps up 3D printing past the nerf gun stage, but we have seen shot gun and pistol hacks.
LOVE it!!!
Good work
I’m quite well versed in this kinda thing, as the owner of several machine guns, suppressors made on form 1s, etc.
The AR-15 lower is not a high stress part. No camber pressures, or in fact any major forces at all really, are exerted on it other than the buffer and its spring.
This is PERFECTLY LEGAL in any state where the AR-15 itself is legal. You, in fact, do not need to put a serial number on it (though I would engrave a metal plate and heat bond/embed it into the lower to appease law enforcement who are not aware of the actual law).
I sent a letter to the BATFE technical branch requesting clarification on this issue in 2001, when I was making custom 1911 frames to research some (bad) ideas I had.
‘For your information, per provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, an unlicensed individual may make a “firearm” as defined in the GCA for his own personal use, but not for sale or distribution.
The GCA, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3), defines the term “firearm” to include the following:
… (A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive: (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; (C) any firearm muffler or silencer; or (D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm.’
If you get a SOT stamp on an FFL, or register as a manufacturer, you can mass produce them for sale.
Also, as an aside, a company called Cavalry Arms (which is run by the biggest jackass on the planet as far as i am concerned) produces, or produced at one time, a polymer AR-15 lower on a mass scale.
The most concern for the printed part I would have is the return spring carrier tube mounting, that thing gets all the force typically put into a rifle buttstock. I wouldn’t hammer tent steaks in with it is what I’m saying.
Bushmaster has a full line of composite carbines and pistols. Both the upper and lower are carbon composite. Check them out at: http://www.bushmaster.com/catalog_carbon15_index.asp
Aren’t silencers illegal? If not, I’d like to get my hands on one :P
Under federal law, they are not. You need to get fingerprinted, justify your reason for owning one (in my case, ‘all reasons legal’ was good enough, though I use mine for pest control,) have sign-off from your local Chief Law Enforcement Officer, pass a federal background check, and pay a 200 dollar tax. You may purchase or build your own.
Some states prohibit them.
In addition to what BadHaddy wrote, you can avoid the fingerprinting and sign-off by local law enforcement by applying for the tax stamp in the name of a corporation, llc, trust, or similar legal entity. Many people go this route as it makes transfer of the items easier in the future. Also, multiple people can be the legal “owner” of the items that way. If you go this route, be sure to verify that your state and local laws do not prohibit the items.
I like it. Many won’t. Should make for an interesting thread.
Just in time to be made illegal. Still really nice.
There is a thread on this over at somethingawful.com as well. Unsurprisingly, the joint of the lower and the stock wound up failing after some use. Suggestions have been made for strengthening the design and we hope to see it in action again soon.
De ja vue…I just watched the little clip on ted.com’s frontpage about the future of crime and open source…and sure enough, the law enforcement consultant showed a handgun and suppressor he printed up…only to see this on HAD a few minutes later.
Having seen the devastation a printed gun can have on the victim and user (different crimes) as an ER doc, I can say safely that some common sense and recognition that abs, pvc, nylon, etc. require more than the standard filament strength we all print with on our printers…and that to get ahead of this is better than letting a publicity driven politician shove an ill-conceived law/restriction down our throats.
“Having seen the devastation a printed gun can have on the victim and user (different crimes) as an ER doc”
You’ve seen someone shot with a printed gun? I seriously doubt that. If so, you need to explain this further, fast.
Ditto – let’s see a writeup.
Injuries from jury-rigged guns are rare these days, as are home made guns. People mostly get blinded or badly lacerated from shrapnel with exploding barrels/receivers, and this happens with old found in the forest or rotting in the basement handguns every few months.
I’ve never seen a printed gun, nor a suggestion of it. There is no reason that one couldn’t be fabbed this way for (rimshot) one shot use (double rimshot) from a variety of materials provided a barrel liner was used, or from a decent high strength nylon or other material if accuracy didn’t matter.
I wouldn’t want to fire it a second time, though.
I have seen guns made out of almost everything, from wood to random bits of pipe, and assuming you were reasonably competent in physics (ie, able to understand why the chinese had to wrap wire tightly around cannon barrels or what happens when high temps, corrosive gasses and residue might modify the barrel), there is no reason you couldn’t build a gun if you knew how to use a hacksaw, a drill and mix epoxy.
Having said that, I’ve seen lots of homemade lead delivery devices that didn’t work as planned, taking with them parts of hands, eyes, faces and forearms.
It’s seldom fatal, but it’s a high price to pay for discovering you didn’t know jack about materials science or chemistry. And unless you look exactly like a young Douglas Fairbanks with more wit than George Clooney’s writers, that pirate eye-patch and those facial scars won’t get you chicks.
Worse, the market for pirate husbands is even smaller than the market for the 10 day pirate boyfriend… and you won’t like the pirate groupies, as they will only shake your booty until your booty runs out… and then it’s pretty much Rum and Parrots all the way down, unless you accidentally start a distillery or poorly executed children’s pizza place.
So the next time you decide to think about printing a gun, think of the parrots. After all – someone has to clean up after them, and it will probably be you.
@SMPTE in terms of exploding rifles you have to understand that the lower of an AR is quite possibly one of the safer parts to fabricate.
It is only responsible for the trigger operation (holding back the hammer and releasing it when actuated), holding the magazine in place, and returning the bolt carrier to its forward locked position. Channels in the upper receiver prevent the hammer from striking (and advancing) the firing pin until the carrier is locked into place and a round is surrounded by the barrel.
Now, if you really want to get into the worries of this sort of thing the plastic fatigue could cause weird operation of the safety and the hammer operation. Misfires and what not, but it should never be allowed to get into that sort of condition.
(IMHO) If the AR lower fails catastrophically the rifle will not explode.
No, I realize this… I was talking only about “printing” guns, not the AR-15 lower. Believe me, if a couple of 15 year olds can make a passable sten in metal shop, anything is possible.
It’s probably better for everyone if Darwin lets us all snooze for a few generations; I certainly don’t want to return to the 1940s and 50’s when herds of delinquent throwbacks were making zip guns.
I built my own gun, so I’m really getting a kick out of these replies…
I’ve built my own AR-15, too. Really easy. I haven’t tried a plastic receiver, though.
This is a PERFECT example of the stupidity of gun control. If selling them is outlawed, we Americans will build our own.
Why someone would ever want a gun is really beyond me.. Anyway, I’m not American nor I share a bit of their mentality so don’t ask me to understand this.
Wake me up when someone 3D prints a paintball gun, that is worth having :)
You must have lived a sheltered life or live in a sheltered society so it makes sense you can’t understand.
You’d have to live through a dictatorial government to understand why Americans got it right.
You can print whatever you want with a 3D printer, including your paintball gun.
I don’t live in a sheltered society. Knifes are as forbidden as hand guns, that is not the point.
My point and the point that I totally don’t agree with is that “All Americans have the right to carry a handgun to defend themselves”.
Themselves from WHO? Aliens? Other Americans? You should fight crime with education not with handgun defense!!! It amazes me when I see American politicians (I just saw one recently) repeating this same quote. Don’t come telling me that it is not a generalized thinking, because it is.
Very laudable and idealistic, but not practical. Education only goes so far.
I live in a remote area. Who do you think will take care of a burglar… the police? It takes them an hour to get to my town when you need them. That is why Americans need guns. You are not talking your way out of physical violence when someone broke into your house.
That’s why I’m saying your thinking is wrong.
In my city I never heard of someone’s house being broke. I was never mugged and certainly I was never assaulted. So, tell me again, isn’t this a cultural thing? What is different from your “remote area” from my city?
More like an economics thing. Cultural? Up for debate. I’m sure your country spends the money where it matters if you have enough police to keep you safe. Not here. My town has relatively low crime, but houses get broken into from time to time. People who don’t have the means to defend themselves get hurt.
On the political side, as it has been said already (and you can consider this cultural) people have the right to bear arms to defend themselves against tyrants. I learned that in US history when I came to the US. Would have come in handy in my country of origin, where you are forbidden to have weapons, yet criminals have it and are in “business” with the police.
“You are not talking your way out of physical violence when someone broke into your house.”
Also, why would someone even break into your house?? Really! This is a type of thinking that is totally unacceptable in the society I live. Just the fact that you have this mentally explains a lot!
My way of thinking might look very “very laudable and idealistic” but the truth is that it is generalized between my society. I live in a relatively big city and people don’t even lock their doors or cars! How does that sound to you? Stupid? It is certainly not because nobody will ever burglar those cars or hoses. If anything, it would be some foreign which does not share the same education and values.
I hope this make it clear that the US is in no way an example for the world.
“. I’m sure your country spends the money where it matters if you have enough police to keep you safe.”
Again, wrong thinking. Police isn’t needed because the society is well educated. People just don’t need/want/desire to break into others houses. End of conversation.
Police is just there to help people in daily urban affairs. Like neighbors putting music too loud, neighbors doing barbecue in their apartment, neighbor fights because a tree between their gardens, traffic information, road directions and even to ask for a ride.
It sounds like a cool place to live! No locks, no theft, then your government is doing something right and spending the money in all the right places.
Things are not perfect in the US, but at least there is a way to deal with those who will abuse power or inflict harm to you. Definitely orders of magnitude better than where I came from originally.
Why would someone break into my house? To steal my property, that’s why. I worked hard for my stuff to have some armed junkie steal it and hurt my family at the same time. If the only criminals you have are foreigners then you should cancel visas to your country.
Am I pushing America as an example to the world? No. Just defending my country against attacks from people (foreigners) who think they can impose their thoughts on us. Your way works in your country. All I said is it may work in my country of origin.
“It sounds like a cool place to live! No locks, no theft, then your government is doing something right and spending the money in all the right places.”
Again, I’d say this is about culture, education. Hence my fist post saying that you fight crime with education not with weapons.
“If the only criminals you have are foreigners then you should cancel visas to your country.”
My country has strict permanence policies, even for other members of the EU. With this you should pretty much figure out which country it is by now..
“Am I pushing America as an example to the world? No.”
Not you but your government is. I do apologize if my first post sounded harsh.
“Not you but your government is.”
No argument there.
Cue all sorts of sentimental crap about how Americans have had it hard and noone else has. I strongly suggest you read up on your history about wars around the world.
In the end Americans chose to turn left whereas most of the world turned right. We all have different views and even though I’m having a very hard time respecting yours I still do it. If you want to have guns and rifle laws like that in your own country then fine. But don’t give me some bull about “hardships” – we’ve all had them, the US just chose a different road as to solve them.
Mmm… what makes you think I was born in the US?
PC euro-peons and their “higher than thou” opinions… :P
The problem with this is that places like the UK (where I live) have governments that simply won’t put up with this.
Our media do a pretty good job of portraying Americans as crazed, corrupt, torturing, murderers with lamentably poor educational attainment and alarmingly fascist instincts.
Suddenly someone provides a compelling reason to censor American websites, and this is good?
A recent annual headcount suggested that during one recent year, 40 people were killed in the UK by gunshot wounds, whilst in the same period 8,500 people were killed in the USA by the same cause.
Assuming the UK population is 60 million and the US population is 300 million, this means that, were the US rate the same as the UK, there should have been, pro rata, about 200 gun-related murders in the USA that year. Put another way, the US gun related murder rate is thus 41.5 times (4,150%) greater than that in the UK. No amount of sophism (my favourite was the argument that students should be allowed to carry concealed firearms in University bars :) is going to convince Europeans that the US has anything coherent to add to this debate.
How the US government might respond to this is open to question and is, of course, an internal US issue.
That said, be careful what you wish for…
Knew this was coming.
1. Show me where “gun crime” and “all crime” are detached in England. That is, so you have less murders, but how about mugging, robbery, rape, etc?
2. Gun in the USA are not for crime fighting, though it’s a nice side effect, they are for tyrannical government.
We do have a tyrannical government, we are still in the process of throwing it off peacefully (if possible).
You enslaved queen worshipping blokes can have it your way, we’ll have it ours.
I would like to see this thread stay on the topic. But I am certain that the media is going to find this and scream “look! You can make guns with 3D printers and get the plans online! EEEEK! More laws! Think if the cheeeeeeeeldrennnnnn!!!!1!!!!!eleven!!!”
Sheeplus Americanus will buy it with zero knowledge of barrel pressures, how a gun works, etc.
You evidently don’t realise that I was arguing that you protect your freedoms, even though it may mean surrendering some stupidity.
On the other hand, a 4,150% excess deaths per annum is going to be very hard to laugh off… But go on – knock yourself out.
Don’t bother it’s the same debate about car-weight. If you have a bigger car you’re better protected unless the idiot that rams you has the same sized car og larger. (Cars seem to be ultra sized in the US).
You can come with all your fancy European rationalities, but in the end they will be attempt put down by wierd “counter-claims” like the ones Doktor jeep posted.
It’s a cultural difference.
In the UK you may be caught down a back alley by a nutcase and, secure in the knowledge that the Police absolutely will not be there to help you, you better get down on your knees and pray, whereas in the USA you may have a weapon in your pocket, depending where you live, and you may be expert enough to draw it, aim, and fire before your nemesis, who is already pointing a gun at you, pulls his trigger.
In the UK you’re part of a big equation that tries to provide the best chance, on average, of not getting shot, though this is going to be of little comfort when you’re on your knees. In the US, where individual responsibility for one’s fate is plainly seen as a basic and overriding right, this is evidently unacceptable, thus the enthusiasm for the bearing of arms.
The statistics show you have a much better chance of avoiding gunshot wounds in the UK, and that’s the line our establishment will take – Probably unopposed.
It’s still worth considering what effect the banning of US web sites, Iran style, by supposedly friendly countries might have on your own government, though.
BTW, in the UK you get a mandatory 5 years in prison for illegal POSSESSION of a firearm. It’s taken very, very seriously over here.
“fancy European rationalities”
LOL. Keep them coming!
Do most of the US criminal gun deaths (excluding suicide) take place in place where the guns laws are lax or very strict? Do some research, you’d be surprised.
Violent crime in the UK went up dramatically when your government stole your firearms. Now only the criminals have guns in your country. Good luck with that!
In 1926, when the UK government confiscated privately held firearms, the country was in turmoil. The primary reason for confiscation was the threat of Russian-style revolution, made credible by the extremely low regard that “ruling classes” were held. This was caused by their useless, cowardly, and incompetent behaviour during WW1 (thanks for all the help with that, BTW). This discontent had simmered through the the first half of the 1920s, and the first shocks caused by what became known as The Great Depression caused an upsurge of militancy which frightened our elites.
One thing to remember is that few, if any, Brits died of starvation during that period, not least due to the elite’s fear of public reaction, evidenced, as you say, by some serious public disorder.
In contrast, an estimated 7 million Americans starved to death during the great depression and, appallingly, there’s another one coming along RSN.
Let’s hope that this isn’t a case of history repeating :(.
if you think your government censoring information on 3D printers is a serious concern, perhaps you should look into having more guns.
I am not going to waste my time an yet another effete euro type with a fear of weapons. Good day, slave.
Or, in English, when you’ve got nothing, fold your hand.
Arse.
No, the reason you stopped posting was because you were out of excuses my friend. You’re also name calling us “slaves”? Which, i have to say, i cannot fathom.
Europeans are not afraid of weapons, heck i have a permit for everything from small knives to axes and swords. Even polearms.
What i AM afraid og is people like YOU owning them. We are not in the middle ages anymore. Civilians do not need weapons to overthrow governments which has just been proven several times to the east of you. Yes guns were involved, but they were not critical for succes. Politics and common sense were.
You need a permit to own “small knives” ? lol
So if we (Americans) don’t need guns, why do you need knives, swords, or axes? A weapon is defined by how it’s used, not what it is. You can just as easily harm someone with one of those implements as with a firearm. If I beat someone to death with a brick, the brick is considered a weapon just as much as a gun would be if it was used to harm another.
I think it’s preferable to be referred to as a slave than to be named after Popeye’s dog :)
Permits for small knives? LOL
And I’d like to see how well you fare against a gun armed thug whit your sword or polearm :P
To be fair, with my knife training I learned that at close ranges (the sort where statistically most homicides with guns occur) a knife is WORSE than a gun. Even a mildly experienced blade tech can kill you easily. Probably the most accurate knife wound I ever saw in a movie was in “Quantum of Solace” where James Bond stabbed a guy in the femoral artery. One slice to either artery and you bleed out fast – just like in the movie.
This is why weapons control laws and permits are a joke to me and most Americans – especially those of use who have had someone try to use a piece of glass on us. Sure you can laugh at that glass until you get an artery opened up and then you have around 30 seconds of laughing left but it will probably start trailing off after around 10-12.
Glock makes a knife using the same polymer as their pistol and that leaves me wondering if the same stuff used for Glocks and other guns is the same stuff that can be used in a 3D printer, or some variant of it?
@Doctor Jeep: Very interesting (looking at knives with more respect now, thanks for the info).
I saw an article on the web (can’t find it now) regarding the military spending some heavy millions on research for multi-material printing. They mentioned the same thing about “metallic-polymers”. They seem to be going for what you described.
@Doktor Jeep
An very interesting movie about the knife fight is The Hunted staring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro. I have no idea how accurate that is though.
If I stop posting, it’s because I CAN. Just like I have weapons – not because of some snivelling “because of criminals” tripe that even the NRA pushes, as if to garner acceptence from the likes of you, but because I CAN. You see. That’s the real liberty is. I have weapons because I CAN. It predates the Constitution, going back to Common Law back when you brits had balls.
A permit for a sword? What? I have knives and a year of Sayoc Kali training in how to use them and never needed a permit at any time for anything, even the training. Wow.
Of course, one of the cliches we Americans see of England is the “my hands are registered weapons” statement but I don’t remember where that started.
Now back on topic, anyone of you in those disarmed vassal states of Europe can make an AR lower with a 3D printer. Since you don’t mind having a license to have a telly, you should not mind needing one for your 3D printer. I am thinking that an AR upper receiver and the right bar stock for a barrel and you are in business. With enough of them, you can rise up and reestablish real British common law the way it should be.
Barrels have to be steel. A .223 Remington cartridge is going to have around 60,000 PSI CUP pressure, so the question is, has anything been 3D printed that can handle that kind of pressure? Not like it would have to be! I have old drawings from the 18th century on how to rifle a steel barrel. But I am simply wondering if a day will ever come when an entire ready weapon will be popping out of a 3D printer.
Good reply! +10
Regarding your last comment (on topic) I Googled something about the military spending some serious money on multi-material 3d printing. You should check it out.
JB:
What are you on about? We don’t call you “‘merican” – We call you “yanks” or “merkins”
I couldn’t give a tuppenny toss about where the server is based, or your presumption that the Hackaday management are either racist or otherwise don’t welcome foreigners on this site – If they do have views on this they will no doubt be along to express them for themselves.
Oddly, most fundamentalist Islamic websites are based in Texas – what’s all that about, eh?
If you’re surprised that foreigners don’t understand regional American colloquialisms you need to get out more. Maybe even travel overseas, although the next state along from wherever you live will demonstrate the point admirably.
People are all different. Get over it.
Should have been replied below.
I’m just tired of the few euro-peons (I have nothing against Europeans) that like to come here and post BS every time a gun is shown. If you don’t like my xenophobic-like response, then you get the point on how it feels when you start spewing all the anti-gun crap. We get it. You don’t like guns.
And if you didn’t read the whole thread, yes, I wasn’t born in the US, yet I became a citizen and I like that you have the right and the choice to get a firearm here.
“If I stop posting, it’s because I CAN. Just like I have weapons”
That is totally acceptable! It is your freedom to have your weapon for fun and profit. I’m just against those people that argue that they need toa gun to protect themselves – that is ridiculous!
OMG that thing is going to jump up and go kill people! (well, that’s what NPR tells me…)
(chuckles)
Reminds me of a long time ago in Cub Scouts at the BB gun range. Every summer, the rangemaster, Corky, would demonstrate that guns don’t kill people by setting one of the rifles on a hay bale pointing toward himself and then yelling at the gun, telling it to shoot him. Obviously, Corky is still alive, as far as I know. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.
I realise that you’re joking, but the po-faced answer to that is that it’s very difficult for an untrained person to kill with their bare hands (and they get economy-sized jail time if they have been trained), even with a knife they would have to work at it to kill (next time you have a big slab of meat, get a non-samurai to try to stab at least 4″ into it), whereas a gun is a great equaliser, and you kill before you think about what you’re doing (like you’re really going to change your mind.)
If you think this might encourage a “might is right” philosophy, I wouldn’t be surprised.
You can tell the same thing about cars. Running somebody over is even easier, you have more time to correct your aim.
C’mon Popeye rules.
BTW number one way to piss of a girlfriend is to point out to her a pink Calvary Arms poly lower and say “this is for you”.
> pink Calvary Arms poly lower
Sorry – I’m English. What is that? It sounds like something our Guards regiments might wear in West End nightclubs during their nights off.
Another difference between the UK and the USA – We make underwear out of our national flag. The brown stripe sets off the redwhite’n’blue nicely. I’m told this is a bad idea in the USA with your redwhite’n’blue, although it has to be said that most British baby boomers seem to view all national flags as swastikas, with all that this implies.
Oh sorry that it wasn’t written in Brit…
This is a ‘merican site (the way you call us) so we don’t have to “translate it” for you.
Yeah. Server in California and visited in its majority by ‘merican users. Deal with it.
Don’t believe me? use a “whois” search.
OK ladies and gents. We have already had a few requests to do something about the off topic politics arguments going on in the thread. Honestly this USA vs whatever drivel has already been raked across the four corners of the internet ad nauseum, who cares?
No matter where we are from we all love hacking or building stuff to some degree, we aren’t politicians, so lets keep our eyes on the cool stuff and not get emotional in disagreement.
What I was really hoping to find out about was the legality of printing this sort of thing in other countries, BadHaddy did a great job fleshing out the finer points of US law. Bacchus, albeit for a half a sentence, put the UK into the mix.
Here out I will not hesitate to mercilessly delete your comment if it is off topic. I will cackle haughtily from behind my computer screen in doing so.
Dude, yer harshin my buzz here…
Good. I think I already wasted enough thread space in off-topic posts.
What I would like to see in regards to this hack is some coverage of “metallic-polymers” or whatever it is that the military is spending on. I really like the idea of “hundreds of materials” (as in the article I read) in a single print. I know this is not going to be in the price range of anyone (except the military), but it is cool to know it can be done (or will be.)
It can, and probably will, be considered illegal in the UK. We have a bunch of catch-alls about pretty much anything that is, or can be used as, an offensive weapon. It’s the intended use that matters, not whether it actually works.
An example of this, relevant here, is possession of a screwdriver. These have been used in stabbings, and a Police Officer can, at his discretion, arrest you for having one about your person. Yup – a plain ol’ screwdriver.
Were I you I might also consider the message that you’re sending. There are people, not least our more populist newspapers, who will regard the DIY AR15 receiver in the same light as a design for a pipe bomb. Don’t forget, linking can get you in the same trouble as hosting – Just ask Richard O’Dwyer…
hate to see this get into the wrong hands. i hope they dont post how to do it.
Well, it essentially IS already out there. The dimensions for an AR15 lower are widely available in all sorts of formats, including 3d models. All one has to do is print it just like any other 3d object. The only remarkable thing with this story is that someone bothered to do it and document it.
Up till 2000, the part details I saw were all still on diazo bluelines (or Xerox, dead tree nonetheless). The only CAD file I saw in a 10 year period was for Saco’s version of the Desert Eagle, Pain in the ass IGES format and it took me forever to tease the information out of it.
Still pretty easy to get the info, if you know how to measure things and put the numbers back into a CAD program.
Heh, the reason I mentioned the 3D models is I have a couple SolidWorks files for both AR015 and AR-10. They are out there and not hard to find.
Lou, I thought the ar-15 and ar-10 were essentially the same lower?
I spent years making the tooling for the real ones, for one of Colt’s subcontractors. Molds for lost wax on the hammers, triggers, sights and on and on, tooling and fixtures for machining afterwards, gages for everything.
The designs for the military M-16 and variants have been constantly evolving since their inception. One thing I always wondered, would new parts fit on original models. Mostly the changes I saw were either a tightening of tolerances or parts for variants like the short version common in Iraq, the M4 carbine. Lots of tweaking had to be done in the mid 90’s in the manufacturing process.
One of the foolish things I used to do was keep a bunch of pre-finished hammers and triggers of the M-16a4 ,.50 cal M-2, M203 and Mk 19 on my keychain. Heh heh, more parts than keys. I also habitually carried around parts in my pockets from the timer or fuse for one of the cluster bombs we were stamping out the parts for, and I would take a look at how the run was doing, then absentmindedly put them in my pocket.
I can’t imagine what would happen nowadays if I got pulled over by some overzealous cop and that stuff was found on me. ATF raid on my house and a free lifetime trip to Gitmo most likely.
It really doesn’t have anything to do with the level of gun ownership. It is to do with, as was stated above, education and culture.
Switzerland is right up there with the USA in terms of gun ownership but has very low crime rates, violent or otherwise. For all males they have compulsory military service (females may volunteer). Every conscript is issued with a firearm which they may take home with them if they choose. Yes, every male in the country is issued with a firearm, yet they have a very low homicide rate.
Must be a cultural thing then. Paints a pretty picture of US society. Oh Canada!
Switzerland is a very homogeneous country; most of the population has shared cultural values, generally high level of education, low level of poverty. I suspect that has a lot to do with the low level of violence.
The US encourages immigration, legal and illegal, and has raised generations of poorly-educated, poverty-stricken families on welfare.
I read once that if you eliminate the spike of gun-related death statistics from inner-city areas, US statistics for the rest of the country are much closer to European statistics.
The situation is also really different, private weapons are quite rare (well not really, but people owning private weapon, cause they tend to gather a lot of them…) rules for owning firearms are also restrictive… there is just one exception… one big bad exception… the army… swiss is one of these rare country at peace that use a militia type of army. and all the man that serve receive a SIG-550 assault rifle, without even a permit when a fully automatic like this is in a general way prohibited for any private people, that’s just stupid. the fact is that most people are not armed if you except a 5kg and 1meter long weapon that generally sits in house basements…
only the gas tube ,barrel, bolt and bolt carrier need to be metal. those are upper receiver parts the upper receiver itself can already be made out of plastic. now would i recommend plastic for 22lr,5.56,pistol or other low power cartridges yes. you get to the big stuff 30 caliber and larger stay with aluminum.
What I’m really worried about is when they release the STL files for -the pointy stick-.
Meanwhile, I will be busy printing out the new Open Source, tentacle-laden, Real Dolls for all the frustrated basement-dwelling folks out there..
“S/he/it is made locally of algal oil-based jelly polymer, and vegan-friendly!”
I am consistently amazed that people still believe that taking away all the dangerous things in the world makes it safer or changes peoples reasons for doing things. Before guns it was knives, bows and arrows, swords, and clubs. The gun is just the next generation pointy stick, and there really is nothing any government can do about this in the long run. Unless we’re willing to live in the world of 1984.
I used to work in a profession where I carried a firearm for a living “to protect the people and assets of the united states” with any means possible if warranted, up to and including the use of deadly force. I was trained to the point of near brainwashing, not only at the firing range on how to engage a target from any and every angle, stance, prone position, laying on my back, walking, crawling, running, etc. and how to “build a sight picture” in every one of those instances. But I also was trained on what deadly force actually means, when it can be used, when it cannot be used and in any situation imaginable. I can blow wholes wide open in any “pro-gun” argument from you arm chair john waynes. You will never, ever in your life, yourself, engage an active shooter in a gun fight. no matter how paranoid you are, get over yourself. If you have a gun, in a holster, consealed, you will not have time to pull that gun and return fire against someone that already has the upper hand on you, period. the theater shooter is a prime example of that. when someone comes into a room, even if the lights were fully on, and starts shooting with a semi-auto HPR, its too late for you. lay down and shut up and play dead, that is how you are going to survive. returning fire in that chaos with that many innocent bystanders is only going to get you or them killed and you are only helping the shooter at that point. He already has the drop on you. The reason you don’t hear many stories in the news about a john wayne taking out a bad guy in a situation like that, or at all really, is that it doesn’t happen in real life. Its not suppressed by the MSM to mess with the NRA lies, it just doesn’t happen. It isn’t because someone in the crowd didn’t have a gun or “well, I wasn’t there, he wouldnt have gotten away alive if i was there” – B.S. – you would have either died or shot someone innocent in the cross fire. If you own a gun in your home, you are 50% more likely to die by that very gun. If you have someone break into your home in the middle of the night, you are already dead. you’re sound asleep, and they will be stabbing the daylights out of you before you even realize what happened. Do yourself a favor if you’re that paranoid. Build or buy yourself a nice home alarm system, a loud one. If you wanna augment that with a SHOTGUN, fine, but if you think you’re going to wake up from a dead sleep and somehow hit anything with a handgun, get real. you – are – dreaming. after all the training that I have had on firearms, you know what gun I own? a single shot 12 gauge with buckshot cartriges. And yes, I do have an alarm installed. a very loud one.
Wow you start off as a “John Wayne” type yourself and then spew the boileplate anti gun crap.
Guess what, you can stuff it, and I am still going to carry my gun and there is nothing you can do about it. If that scares you, then stay home.