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UK Ballistics Scientists: 3D-Printed Guns Are 'of No Use To Anyone'
New submitter graveyardjohn writes: "The BBC has a short video about why the U.K.'s National Ballistics Intelligence Service thinks 3D-printed guns are 'of no use to anyone.' They show a 3D-printed gun being fired in a test chamber. The barrel explodes and the bullet flops forward a few feet. They say, 'without additional expertise and the right type of ammunition, anyone attempting to fire one would probably maim or even kill themselves.'"
I'm fucking sick of seeing 3D printers associated with guns.
But we're always being told the criminals will grab the guns and use them against us.
So this is a win.
3D printed guns are in their infancy and already quite capable according to these tests in Wired.
It's a good thing technology never moves forward. This issue can now be put to bed.
Yet others have been fired multiple times, successfully.
Either the UK-NBIS sucks at 3D printing, or this is disinformation.
Thanks a lot U.K.'s National Ballistics Intelligence Service, way to throw down the gauntlet and challenge folks...
There are several commercially successful makes of polymer AR lowers.
In AR-land, the serial is on the lower.
A 3d printed lower gives you the ability to print a non serial numberd AR. Which is legal (US federal. YMMV) because home-made guns don't have to be serialized.
THL phish sticks
"Have been successfully fired" does not contradict the conclusion: 'without additional expertise and the right type of ammunition, anyone attempting to fire one would probably maim or even kill themselves.'
The BBC has a short video about why the U.K.'s National Ballistics Intelligence Service thinks 3D-printed guns are 'of no use to anyone.' They show a 3D-printed gun being fired in a test chamber. The barrel explodes and the bullet flops forward a few feet. They say, 'without additional expertise and the right type of ammunition, anyone attempting to fire one would probably maim or even kill themselves.'
In a related story, the U.K. Horse and Buggy Registration Service thinks the automobile will be 'of no use to anyone.' They show a vehicle being driven on a test track. It travels a short distance at 10 mph, then the engine blows a rod and one wheel falls off. They say, 'without additional expertise and the right type of petrol, anyone attempting to drive one would probably main or even kill themselves."
Yes, I do, in fact expect the plastic ones to disintegrate under the typical chamber pressures that come from firing a round. The plastic 3D printers are the ones everyone is gushing about in the sensationalist news sites everywhere and that are practical to be widely available to the everyman. The metal deposition, selective laser sintering types that make metal parts are much more costly and not nearly as widely available, but those can, depending on the material and method) make viable gun parts that will withstand the loads for several rounds before succumbing.
"Now, I doubt any of you would prefer a rolled up newspaper as a weapon against a dictator or a criminal intruder."
It's sad that 3D printing had become synonymous with FDM or glorified glue guns (GGG). There are lots of different technologies that fall under the umbrella of 3D printing.
Here's a gun that was 3D printed using DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering) for the metal parts and SLS for the grips. It's both durable and viable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
http://www.engineering.com/3DP...
Here's a few other 3D printing processes that are not FDM glorified glue guns:
SLS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...
DMLS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...
LOM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...
SLA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...
Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
Most of these studies focus on implementing a semi-automatic. Here the problem is going to be the higher case pressures of modern ammunition. If they made a 3D gun to an older spec (e.g. 45 Colt revolver cartridge instead of 45 ACP) they would probably have better results.
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
In slow motion you can see that the bullet barely travels any distance at all. - Quote from the video
What we in fact see is that the object that "barely travels any distance at all" is the spent shell casing. This is completely fine as the aim is not to magically embed the spent shell casing into the target. That is what the projectile part is for. The projectile is likely to have whizzed off as expected, albeit not with great accuracy.
As for the general usefulness of plastic firearms, even if they can only fire a few shots, there are clear advantages.
1. You can obtain a firearm without it being registered to you or exposing yourself to criminal firearms dealers/police sting operations.
2. They are less detectable.
3. You can melt and/or burn the murder weapon with ease.
The tone of the video is a bit odd. It's comes across like a video trying to convince kids not to play with fireworks. It's not as if we all have loads of ammunition laying about here in the UK just waiting for a 3D Printed gun to come along so we can finally have some fun. Making something that can fire a bullet (at least here in the UK) is not the main obstacle to a working firearm. The main obstacle here is obtaining the ammunition.
I suspect the test was setup to fail, to prove a predetermined agenda, but even if it was 100% true, we are just starting out with this use for printed materials, and it takes time to perfect new technologies. Even if it *never* becomes viable, it still helped push the limits of the technology and will benefit other uses.
Pretty sad when if people were to operate that way " well, it doesn't work so no point in trying"... If that was always the case, we would still be living in caves hoping we dont get eaten.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Sex Toys! Yes, Sex Toys are the real 3D Printing market!
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
I don't live in a place where I have reason to fear my neighbors.
If I did live in such a place, guns would probably still be the least of my worries.
The paranoid narcissism of liberal busybodies would be funny if it weren't sad and anti-social.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Worse than that.
You could 3d print several other 3d printers, each could then be used to construct one part of a giant robot. The giant robot could then learn how to 3d print some plastic yoda heads until the materials were exhausted.
Good luck lugging a giant robot, 7 3d printers, and 4000 plastic yoda heads to the airport parking structure, sucker!
THL phish sticks
Similarly, Koninsegg 3D printing the entire gearbox (gears included, already printed inside), and turbo housing (again, turbo fans and compressors already included inside the housing) for the new One:1 car. Also showing that 3D printed materials can indeed stand up to repeated high temperatures and pressures.
Why can't the UK just download those plans and do it right?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
If you are suggesting casting it from an aluminium alloy then your "I can do it" is an empty and overconfident boast based on ignorance. An aluminium-silicon barrel would be a brittle thing that would give you a fragmentation grenade with no delay in the shape of a gun. The alloys used in aircraft/bikes/etc get their strength from rolling, age hardening etc and are soft weak things when initially cast. Even cast bronze barrels had serious problems (which meant a lot remelted immediately after casting) and were given up on hundreds of years ago. ...
Making it from wrought steel scrap on the other hand