Slashdot Mirror
'Download This Gun' — 3-D Printed Gun Reliable Up To 600 Rounds
An anonymous reader writes "We've talked previously about Texan gunsmith Cody Wilson's efforts to create 3-D-printable parts for firearms. He has a printed magazine that can withstand normal operation for quite a while. But he's also been working on building parts of the gun itself. An early version of a 3-D printed 'lower receiver' — the part of the gun holding the operating parts — failed after firing just 6 rounds. Now, a new video posted by Wilson's organization shows their design has improved enough to withstand over 600 rounds. Plus, their test only ended because they used up their ammunition; they say the receiver could have easily withstood a thousand rounds or more. Speaking to Ars, Wilson gave some insight into his reasoning behind this creation with regard to gun laws. 'I believe in evading and disintermediating the state. It seemed to be something we could build an organization around. Just like Bitcoin can circumvent financial mechanisms. ... The message is in what we're doing—the message is: download this gun.' A spokesperson for the ATF said that while operating a business as a firearm manufacturer requires a license, an individual manufacturing one for personal use is legal."
I wouldn't be surprised if this guy met with an unfortunate accident.
There has been a lot of that happening recently in the gun-rights subculture.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
[...]
From our point of view you should be trying to figure out how to change your society so that you don't need guns, rather than trying to advocate more of them. You are treating the symptom, not the cause.
yes, that's what we do here in the USA. But don't worry -- the treatment will, no doubt, cause an unforeseen problem that we can then treat with even more crazy ideas.
Sort of like keeping a pet lion to keep the neighbor kids and their dogs off your lawn. What could go wrong?!
The resolution and materials commonly available for FDM/FFF are too poor for application like these. The quality of the print is just too poor and they are only using p400 ABS for material. That is why their prints aren't very durable.
SLA however offers the resolution and the materials to produce parts that are strong and reliable enough for these types of rugged applications. Some photopolymers for SLA are 100-1,000 x stronger than the ABS they are using.
Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
"If you don't like the "state" you live under then move or change it."
There really aren't any places to flee to any more. Most governments are turning oppresive, corrupt and are trampling civil liberties. Computers and networking are making it extremely easy to make a police states these days. When East Germany and the U.S.S.R. did oppresive police state it was man power intensive, its much easier now. There is almost no effective defense of civil liberties being mounted any more. Once your government stacks the courts in their favor there is almost no peaceful path to oppose stripping your civil liberties. The U.S. can and frequently does use "state secrets" provision to shut down any challenge to its power. Y
ou can pretend ballot boxes in the places that have them will make a difference but they seldom do.
In particular, the reach of the U.S. government has extended to most of the nooks and crannies on the planet, with the possible exception of places like China, North Korea and Iran which are sufficiently oppresive without any help from the U.S. The U.S. has military bases and FBI offices in a staggering number of countries. They've used rendition all over the world to snatch people, sometimes innocent people, off the streets to torture . With drone bases in the middle of all of the hard to reach places the U.S. will soon have total global coverage and the ability to assassinate by drone anyone, anywhere, with no judiicial oversight.
Its the down side of living on a small planet with no frontiers left and a civilization with accelerating technology development.
There isn't any place to go if you want to escape.
@de_machina
FWIW, American citizens in some states can and do own anti-tank rifles and even artillery. It's not really illegal under federal law, just very tightly regulated (and, of course, extremely expensive).
If you haven't seen any of the "Big Sandy Shoot" videos on YouTube, go and watch some.
The guns are enough to GET the rest of those things (except the tactical nukes). Tanks are not particularly useful in fighting insurgencies, they are actually quite vulnerable to infantry in urban settings. The guns the government have are little better for the most part, burst fire capability is nice but of limited use. SAWs and GPMGs are useful for suppression and not having them would be an issue. On the other hand citizens aren't restricted by government contracts on what we buy, I can get an accurized AR platform rifle firing a VASTLY superior round with the result being a better gun than the infantry has and I can put whatever accessories I want except for underbarrel shotguns or grenade launchers (or suppressors in some jurisdictions). We also can get better body armor.
As for the question of could we win, in a word yes, but it's a blanket question and a blanket answer when there's a LOT of nuance involved. We aren't LIKELY to win unless things have gotten VERY bad, but it's certainly a decent possibility.
Of course there were. Don't be silly. Most guns were made by a single guy in a shop. It's all about having the right tools. Personally, one of my hobbies is trying to build everything, at least once. Guns are not complicated, and one of the first things I did myself. I've blacksmithed my own kitchen knives (a lot harder than the gun) I've built a truck from parts out of a junkyard. I've replaced broken parts on that same truck by putting them in a sand mold to get their shape and then smelted them myself. You can do anything you want if you're clever, have access to the internet and are persistent.