3D-Printed Guns

[Steve]

I’ve been reading about 3D-printed guns lately, and it got me to wondering if they would have any differences in game qualities from a standard firearm of similar caliber.

 

Maybe an increased chance of a misfire or doing a damage class less? Perhaps poorer accuracy or a slightly different STR minimum?

 

Has anyone on the forums ever fired one or might have an educated opinion?

[Scott Ruggels]

I do both firearms and 3D printing. There are a number of ways to 3D print such as FDM, (Filament Deposit Method), DLP, and various laser and powdered

metal techniques. Generally, you would run into three types of 3D printed guns.

The first is the glorified Zip Gun. This will be a 3D printed frame holding together an assortment of Hardware store parts and pieces to perform the task of putting a projectile down range with a minimum of cost and accuracy. failures tend to result in the gun either failing to fire, or a detonation in one’s hand. I’d say a -1 OCV, and takes a full phase to Unload and reload. They tend to be single shot and in rare cases, double barreled and are usually ambush or intimidation weapons. 
 

The second are plastic printed frames to hold together ‘deactivated’ parts kits, or non- controlled gun parts into a working firearm. These take a bit more skill to assemble but produce field ready results. The designs are iterative, so they get better over time. They will be unserialized “ghost guns”. Failures On these will be misfires and parts breakages due to heat and wear (stretching). 3D printed plastics are heat sensitive unless you have specialized equipment, but hobbyist printers can perform the work with the necessary precision and materials to make the firearm work. There is aa active community trading tips and help to improve designs and testing. 
 

The third type is using industrial metal printers to print firearms. Pieces like chambers and barrels, springs and fasteners are produced using traditional industrial methods, but the metal printers can produce finished parts without voids

or serious internal flaws. The machines are prohibitively expensive, and the companies that produce them do not want them used in arms manufacturing, but the files to do so are freely traded. No telling what might be produced natter hours at an Aerospace factory. Failures from this type are the same for a standard firearm. 
 

Hope this helps. 

[Steve]

Thanks! That's more than I knew before.

[pbemguy]

My FBI agent after I "Liked" this post

 

[IndianaJoe3]

17 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

I do both firearms and 3D printing. There are a number of ways to 3D print such as FDM, (Filament Deposit Method), DLP, and various laser and powdered

metal techniques. Generally, you would run into three types of 3D printed guns.

 

I might add a fourth type, although, technically speaking, they aren't 3D printed. There is at least one 3D milling machine (the, "Ghost Gunner") that is preprogrammed to perform the final steps in finishing gun parts.