Slashdot Mirror
Version 2.0 of 3D-Printed Rifle Successfully Fires 14 Rounds
coolnumbr12 writes "The world's first 3D-printed rifle, named 'The Grizzly' after Canadian-built tanks used in World War II, was fired in June, but the first shot fractured the barrel receiver. The creator, a Canadian man who simply goes by 'Matthew,' refined his design and posted a video Friday on YouTube of Grizzly 2.0 successfully firing 3 rounds of Winchester bullets. The video description says the Grizzly 2.0 fired 14 rounds before it cracked. The new rifle was also safe enough for Matthew to fire it by hand rather than the string system used in the first test."
Oh mozumder, I never tire of your batshit crazy posts
Nothing like wishing harm on people to show how you're morally superior and non-violent. Amirite?
Only on
What's this? A weapon too large to conceal that is also really bulky? Only one thing to do, call it an "Assault Rifle" (yes sir those are scare quotes!) and ban the thing lest some law abiding citizen manage to protect themselves with it!
Just because criminals only actually use unregistered handguns that they can get for cheap, doesn't mean we should not fear this monstrous beast of technology!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Well, they certainly look cheap enough that they could be useful for guerrillas/resitances. Besides, remember that the same knowledge that led to the nuclear bomb also led to advances in other fields (I believe it led to nuclear energy) and advances in physics itself. I don't see how knowledge how to make a firearm that doesn't break couldn't be adapted to some other item that handles explosions/very strong forces. Of course, then one could wonder why the motivational factor to gaining such knowledge is a firearm, but then ask yourself why is the US investing in military research (that will undoubtedly produce technology useful for civilians).
I think wishing that it kills him is a bit too much. Besides, wouldn't terrorists have an R&D group that could do the same this man is doing or more? Unless you mean limited-resources terrorists, but those aren't really the ones we probably need to care about (imo).
I don't care if I'm wrong. I only care about everyone obtaining something from the discussion.
TBH that's exactly how democracy works, except your opinion just has to be popular enough for whatever you "disagree with" to be outlawed. And instead of just hitting someone, we lock them away, which comes down to the same thing.
And no, libertarianism's no different, because that's just based on popular support for property law. And no, communism's no different, because that's just based on popular support for sharing anything you happen to cherish.
So, your alternatives are tyranny of the majority, or tyranny of the minority. Welcome to civilisation. Regardless, we don't do too badly, you know?
With even just a single shot, it would be really useful as an emergency backup gun to have around the house somewhere, in the same way people sometimes keep uber-cheap crappy cell-phones in cars for emergency use only.
It doesn't replace a real gun but it's not in way useless as a tool for defense.
If you really want to dodge regulations there are lots cheaper and easier ways to do that with real guns.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
As someone who was brought up in a school with a cadet force which taught marksmanship and such, but in a country which doesn't have much of a gun culture, I really don't get this obsession with 3D-printer-manufacturing of parts of guns. In particular, I don't get why it's such a thing on /. What's the big deal, really? I assume some US states have always allowed the home building of guns, perhaps with licences, while others haven't? And that lots of people have fucked up, while others do a competent job? What's *new* here?
Is there gonna be a story each time a 3D-printed gun fires?
Live by the sword implies the use of the tool, not merely the existence of the tool. This man didn't murder anyone, it wouldn't be divine comeuppance for him to die. It would make as much sense (i.e. none at all) to look at a demolition engineer and say, "He worked with explosives, a bomb-maker, it's fitting that it exploded in his face." This man has not "lived by the sword" by any sane definition.
Only on
You're saying that you want to be killed by a torrent of really bad troll posts? That's what I'm getting from this.
Only on
Nuclear bomb was morally ambiguous. It was developed to actually stop an aggression of a terrible enemy. These guns are made specifically to make dodging regulations easier.
This shows a disdain for the will of people. If you don't like the gun control laws then go and change them. If your political system is corrupt - go and change it.
If your political system is corrupt - go and change it.
Using...
Only on
When first graders can print the ammo too, then we'll have a problem.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
You mean the UK?
What are you going to do against a modern army? Poke Abrams tanks with a sharp 3D-printed stick? Perhaps, shoot bombers from your handgun? You can not win against a modern army using only light weapons. There's no question about it. Can you remind me which military has given something beyond token resistance to the US army lately?
Sure, if you want to use terrorist tactics (hiding between civilians, striking off-duty soldiers - that sort of thing) then you can make the life of an occupying army a living hell. But if you're thinking about using terrorist weapons with impunity, then have you ever thought about an army that doesn't have modern rules of engagement?
Oh, I get it. You'd prefer to kill toddlers, perhaps even primary school children. That'll surely help your cause.
Matthew said he improved upon his first design of the Grizzly by making the barrel 50 percent larger, increasing the size of the receiver (the main portion that holds the firing mechanism),
Good things to do.
and adding groves to the inside of the barrel.
Maybe not so good. Depending on the depth of the grooves they may allow gases past the bullet and decrease the muzzle velocity. If they are helical groves they may increase accuracy.
By the way, without helical grooves the weapon is a musket and not a rifle.
I wonder what the muzzle velocity and accuracy of the weapon is.
What if you make comments wishing for others' death and you are subsequently killed by those people? That seems to follow your childish line of reasoning appropriately enough. It is probably a good thing that you haven't been an integral part of the evolution of man or the weight of the old testament would have crushed us by this point.
The fact that you wish such a violent death on this man outlines the vast difference between people like you and the rest of us free-thinking individuals. We don't correlate only possible negative consequence with new technologies, studies, or avenues of thought...we try to explore ALL possibilities and think of ways to benefit others and build societies instead of assuming the worst of any advancement in technology or thought. If one were to apply your logic to any critical invention or advancement in human history we would still think the world was flat, we would be bloodletting to cure disease and infection alike, and we would take 10 years to travel across the US with half our family dying of dysentery.
The man is building a gun in his home using new technological advancements and not using it on people. Until he does, he deserves to be treated as though he would never do anything of the sort. Maybe he is a gun enthusiast and just likes them? I like computers and I build those...does that mean I steal from people using them? I like working on cars and I build those also...does that mean that I run people down in the street with them? Maybe he just feels, as Alexander Hamilton did (even though he is Canadian), that "it is a truth, which the experience of all ages has attested, that the people are commonly most in danger when the means of insuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion."
If you believe that simply getting rid of all guns is the answer, you have a simple mind. Try putting a little more thought into it for once...explore all avenues and ask yourself these things constantly: Does your government have any interest in you being anything other than an automaton? What happens when the pretense fails and those with power want to keep their power? There are plenty of examples in human history of fallen empires and societies. The United States was created with a system of checks and balances to prevent this but what happens when the people themselves, who are supposed to act as a check to their elected officials, fail to live up to their end of the bargain? (I'm assuming you're from the US, but this is a fairly universal concept.)
Call me a nut...I'll keep my guns and continue not killing anyone, just like I've done for 20 years. I'm sure you are thinking, "what good are guns against tanks and a modern military anyway?" I tell you that I would rather die with them in my hands than become a slave.
Well, a gun is by itself a rather simple design. You need a barrel to hold the explosion, you need a way to get a bullet in (if everything else fails, stuff it in from the end where it will go out of again) and some way to strike the priming pan. These are by no means features that the average teen with at least a hint of metal working skills cannot pull off.
And if they are front loader, just take a few more along and come prepared. Kids have a lot of time at their hands.
In general, I see that demonstration more as something to show off what you can actually do with 3D printing. It's quite striking because it happens to be a tool that can kill, but it's not like making a gun from "normal" materials is really that difficult. Actually, I'd consider it a lot easier (and probably faster, too) than printing one.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
He's not putting the gun in anyone's hands and sending him off to go on a killing spree. By your logic, pretty much everyone from Heckler, Koch, Smith and Wesson should go to hell for making people kill each other.
Let's be sensible for a moment. If at any moment in the future such guns surface where they could even REMOTELY be linked to any kind of terrorism, you'll soon see how police starts peering around for people with "suspicious" cargo. Even WANTING a gun that cannot be detected is illegal and punishable, and unless you spent the last 2 months or so under a rock, you should know that it is trivial for certain three letter goons to find out who downloaded what blueprint for a 3D model.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It's odd that I'm saying this again, but have you ever heard of the Battle of Athens?
I'd just discovered a way to make a plague lethal in 80% cases
Ah, yes, another Slashdotter who flips out when anyone disagrees with him. Well, carry on.
I'm no 'gun nut', but you seem to think it's self-evident that millions of armed citizens would pose no obstacle to a determined military force.
You seem to think it's self-evident that there actually would be millions of armed citizens to take up arms against the government....
A very large majority of the population is, by and large, satisfied with the job the government is doing, and while they may disagree with the party currently holding the power, they do not believe that armed resistance is necessary.
Also, since you seem to be American, I'll remind you that the phrase "well-regulated militia" implies that there's actual training involved. When you can download the plans to make a weapon from the Internet, and buy the ammunition for said weapon from Wal*Mart, that greatly reduces the chance that the people doing so will know what the hell they're doing.
For the record, as a former member of the military, I feel that gun control is a good thing. Weapons that are not being properly maintained, and with which you don't maintain proper proficiency are dangerous, to you and everybody around you. When the general population has the same requirements for recertification and the same penalties for not properly maintaining their weapon that I had when I was in the army, I will support them having the same access to weapons I had.
If this dude knew what he was doing WRT firearm prototyping, he would have "worked up a load" instead of starting out his "testing" with high-velocity varmint ammo.
Just like a handloader, prototyping any firearm (not just 3D printed ones) requires starting with light loads & working up until you start to see signs of excess pressure (deformed cases, sticky bolt, etc), then backing off.
Granted this thing is a rimfire so hand-reloading is not really a practical proposition, but part of the awesomeness of 22LR is that there are a zillion different kinds of ammo out there.
He should have started out with CB caps, then regular 22 shorts, then subsonic 22LR match ammo, then standard velocity, then HV varmint ammo (which is what he started with...), then blow the thing to bits with a max-pressure round like the CCI Velocitor.
Also sense the barrel is made of polymer, hard copper-jacketed bullets are probably a no-no. It would be a good idea to moly lube the thing & keep a chronograph on hand so you know when the effectiveness of the lube is starting to wear off & re-lube it. The better match bullets come pre-lubed so this is another good reason to test with them.
For all we know the thing may work just fine all day long with subsonic match ammo & proper lubrication.
Big kudos for making a 3D printed rifle that actually works, but use good methodology & it might continue to work instead of eventually blowing up every time you take it out...
I still think that in the rifle's present condition he should still blow it to bits with a Velocitor for good measure :-).
Be sure to get a group on paper with the next try...
I wait for the day when a 3-d printer creates an honest, service to others, politician who is happy to have a job with modest income.
There are plenty of them out there. Trouble is, they don't get most peoples' votes...
No, all these assholes are doing is pushing toward crazy laws such as "owning a 3D printer makes you a terrorist".
Remember we're talking about politicians and law makers, they don't care if a lathe can make a better gun, they will still outlaw 3D printers anyway.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
It required conditions that are pretty much unique in the history.
In other words, a valid counterexample to the claims you've been making. Any other such example will also have conditions that are pretty much "unique in the history" by whatever criteria you happen to be using.
That was never true in countries with strict gun control laws. Of course, in those countries those first graders can print guns but will still have a hard time obtaining the ammo for them.
Speaking of gun control: in my country there's a ban on anything that looks like a real gun (and a ban on actual guns as well). So you can have things like Airsoft guns as long as they are made to look like toys, having bright colors etc. But now we'll have actual guns that look like toys...
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
What regulation is he bypassing? You are legally allowed to make your own guns. So i would love to hear what regulations he is bypassing for his MURDER WEAPONS!
In the event of a tyrannical government, circumventing regulations may be just the thing those people need.
You can shut your mind to the obvious, but he's working on a method to make a gun that bypasses regulation and makes creating and disposing of any number of murder weapons very easy, with hardly any other application (because we already have guns that are better, except they're not as easy to get and to get rid of). Someone who just gives orders and never fires a gun or makes the weapon and never fires it is still to blame and to hope that it backfires on them is not immoral.
You are quite stupid and misinformed. Or, just unwilling to put in the effort to not be (as evidenced by your posting anonymously).
Aside from NFA items, there are NO regulations banning the creation of firearms at home for personal use. If have the tools, means and knowledge, I can build myself a gun.
It's particularly efficient to just create the serial stamped part (which currently, is the part that holds the fire control group involving the trigger and associated pins and in some cases the hammer, firing pin, or hammer actuator).
So, for example, if I choose to make an AK-47 pattern rifle out of an old shovel and parts, there is NO regulation or paperwork or anything like that. All I need to do is fold it, cut it, and drill it and I have the frame, the serialized part that I would have to do paperwork to purchase. The ONLY thing unusual about this is instead of machining a few parts and buying the rest, the guy is printing most of them and adding a few springs and hard points.
Not revolutionary, not new. Just a simple small step in the progression.
It's not bypassing anything. It's "making it out of plastic". Sorta like how some people think adding "on the internet" creates a new and novel thing, your opinion is equally myopic and retarded. This is an OBVIOUS next step. Just because you don't understand how the world works is no reason to panic. Just stay off the freeway (that's the big driveway with the white and yellow lines painted on it).