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The Future of At-Home Gunbuilding

S.R. Crawford

.270 WIN
Had an interesting conversation about this over at The Everyday Marksman, kinda wanted to see some of your thoughts on it.

I forget exactly how the conversation got started, but at some point I mentioned how I've kind of wanted to get into gunsmithing and design my own guns and parts since high school. I never gave much thought to it at the time, but technology has changed since then. Lately through some other hobbies I've been sold on the idea of 3d printing, especially as the technology is perfected and becomes more accessibly. New filaments are on the market now and even printing with ABS is commonplace.

Now, 3d printing an entire rifle may be a bit far fetched as it stands. Polymer-framed weapons are only recently becoming available and those are almost always injection molded- a much more proven technology. However I think there's merit to the idea of printing external parts and accessories. Things like handguards and stocks that won't land you in hot water with the ATF. I could see some really neat builds done this way as it opens up avenues for functional but affordable design and experimentation.

Legal SNAFU aside I'm curious to see what your thoughts are on this.
 
3d printing is the future of silencers.

Mainly for the reason that 1. You can sinter metal and make them durable enough to use with a lot of heat and flame, and 2. You can print in shapes and textures that cannot be machined by any other method.

Ie. Making winding channels INSIDE of a bafffle, etc.

I've made and designed several silencers in the last two decades and I enjoy it immensely. But I'm lost when it comes to cad and 3d printers. But make no mistake, it is the future of suppressor design.

Granted I know that you couldn't do that in california, but with the proper residence and licensing, manufacturers can make countless revisions to a product, unlike someone like myself who has to file the paperwork and pay the tax to make them one by one.
 
3d printing is the future of silencers.

Mainly for the reason that 1. You can sinter metal and make them durable enough to use with a lot of heat and flame, and 2. You can print in shapes and textures that cannot be machined by any other method.

Ie. Making winding channels INSIDE of a bafffle, etc.

I've made and designed several silencers in the last two decades and I enjoy it immensely. But I'm lost when it comes to cad and 3d printers. But make no mistake, it is the future of suppressor design.

Granted I know that you couldn't do that in california, but with the proper residence and licensing, manufacturers can make countless revisions to a product, unlike someone like myself who has to file the paperwork and pay the tax to make them one by one.
3d printing metal is an interesting process indeed. It's very similar to MIG welding but from what I've seen it can require a lot of finishing afterward, but with time I think it'll become more refined.

I think one of the big things this will affect is magazines. You could save hundreds of dollars by printing AR mags instead of buying them, and customization will be endless.
 
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I have a friend on another forum that printed off a buttstock that is near impossible to find and import. While you could see the "lines" when you look up close, he printed it several years ago and it's still functioning flawlessly. So, with the right type of filament and printer, the sky is only as limited as your budget.
 
I just picked this up and removed sights from one slide and reinstalled on another slide. Although a little rickety and Glock only, for $20 I'd have to say it worked wonderfully with no damage to the tritiums! :) LINK

3dsighttool.jpg
 
What I’m seeing is that there’s a huge amount of competition in the plastic gunmaking market, and so you’re fighting an uphill battle there, plus with the government.

But there are some companies making really custom metal ones, who have little competition, and a long list of customers waiting for delivery. I would look into that market first. That market can definitely benefit from modern toolmaking and machine making technologies.

If you want to be on the cutting edge of design, well that’s a $$$ losing proposition in nearly every field of human endeavor. People are there because of the challenge and pride in such work, and it can pay well. It usually does for a few, but not for the many.
 
What I’m seeing is that there’s a huge amount of competition in the plastic gunmaking market, and so you’re fighting an uphill battle there, plus with the government.

But there are some companies making really custom metal ones, who have little competition, and a long list of customers waiting for delivery. I would look into that market first. That market can definitely benefit from modern toolmaking and machine making technologies.

If you want to be on the cutting edge of design, well that’s a $$$ losing proposition in nearly every field of human endeavor. People are there because of the challenge and pride in such work, and it can pay well. It usually does for a few, but not for the many.
I still think it would be cool to design your own one-off kits for personal use, stuff that's either too expensive or doesn't exist yet. Doesn't have to be marketable but some of us have some neat ideas that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day.
 
Of course, if you’re just doing this as a hobby and not a profitable business, then anything can be justified if the money exists…
 
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