Capbyrd

I wouldn't know where to tell you to start. There is a ton on YouTube and I do a lot of research on there. 3d Printing Nerd, Chep's filament Friday, and Teaching Tech are a few good channels I've learned from. Before I pointed you to any specific machines, I'd ask what kinda price range you were looking at to get started.

I'm paying 20 to 25 for a spool of PLA so it's double the cost but still not terrible. These were printed at .12 layer height so I'd have to adjust things to conform to their recommendations. "Layer Height: Ideal layer height is 60% of nozzle diameter. We do not recommend printing layers below 0.25mm with carbon fiber grades. Lower than 0.25mm may create too much back pressure in the hot end and result in poor feeding, jams, drive gear clicking, and eating a notch into the filament" Yeah. I'd love to have the ability to print with soluble supports but that's not happening any time soon. I'm doing this on a Creality Ender 3 V2. It's a $250 printer. I've noticed some big issues with the entire extrusion system so I'm going to be looking to change it all out in the not too distant future. I'd like a nicer all metal hot end and to move to direct drive and do away with the Bowden tube setup. Dual extruders is a level of complexity I'm not ready to deal with yet.

These are PLA. I haven't messed around with ABS at all. If these work out decently, I'm intending to upgrade my printer so that I can print in some stronger materials like Nylon.

I picked up a 3d printer last year and I've enjoyed some of the projects that I've made. It's been useful for a lot of stuff. I made an AR15 bolt vice that has been one of my most used tools. I made a sight pusher for Glocks that I've used quite successfully. I've printed up a few extended mag releases for 10/22s. It's been useful and fun. I recently got the files to start trying to print some guns. My first attempt was a 10/22. It took four prints before I got the kinks worked out and made a receiver that would actually work. The first several were undersized or I had extrusion issues that made them not worth trying to fix. Then I got this printed. This one was spot on for dimensions and the bolt ran great in it. But before I could test fire it, I dropped it and it cracked. The receiver split at the ejection port around to the barrel opening. I had it installed in a magpul stock and the muzzle end of the barrel hit the ground first. Without a barrel band, the chamber end of the barrel pushed up on the receiver in the right way to split it. I've been convinced that this can be fixed but I did print a replacement. The replacement is also too tight and I've sanded on it for days trying to get it to work and it's just not happening so I got back on trying to fix this receiver. Some black JB Weld two part epoxy has this receiver stronger than ever. I pulled the split apart as much as I could without making it worse and let the epoxy run down into it so that there is plenty in the split but also lining the outside. But of course now it won't fit in a stock. So I've been sanding it down to get it to fit. I know that it's lost a lot of color but a little heat brings that color right back. I'm hoping to test this receiver out this weekend. The other project that I've been working on is a Glock 17 clone. This first picture is of the frame almost straight off the printer. I removed a little of the support material before I thought to take a picture. The second picture is with the support material removed. This design uses a three piece rail system. One piece front rail and two in the rear. Here is a shot of the rails installed. As parts have trickled in I've continued to assemble this one. I'm unable to find a trigger pin right now so I don't know when this one will get finished. But this is in it's current state. I was particularly excited about how well this print came out. Not so much the print quality as the dimensions. Check out the fit of this light on the rail. I'm excited to get the rest of the parts in so that I can see if this will work out. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated.

I've been taking AR work a lot more seriously over the past year and I've invested heavily in better tooling. One of my favorite tools and bests investments has been the Midwest Industries URR. It's a great upgrade to the Geissele reaction rod. The spine on top makes a huge difference. Not only can you use it for barrel install/removal but it actually also acts as a gauge to make sure that the barrel isn't clocked inside the receiver. I used it recently in a Midwest complete upper and found the barrel extension was machined improperly causing the URR not to go into the extension. A couple of emails to Midwest and they replaced it. If you do any AR work, I highly recommend checking these out and picking one up. https://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/MI-Upper-Receiver-Rod-p/mi-urr.htm

I'd feel better about it if this actually meant anything.

NOPE!

The lesson that everyone needs to take away is that your ego is NOT that important. Learn to walk away.

Welcome! I'm working on paying off a life membership to NRA. The rest will have to wait.

I'd rather spend time in lockup than say something that they will try and use against me. I don't know what the system is like out there but in Shelby County, I know that I will have a better chance keeping my mouth shut.

You are welcome. There is more to it with all of the inheritance stuff and whatnot but that has all been covered to death and I'm sure you are aware. The access thing is something that I think a lot of people overlook.

Does your wife have access to the storage device that will hold your can? If so, you are both in violation of the NFA. The trust allows you both to possess without issue.

CMT makes a lefty upper. It doesn't use a dust cover. https://www.cmttac.com/AR-15-Receivers/AR 15 CMT Billet Upper Receivers?product_id=132

This attitude isn’t conducive to positive discourse. Y’all dial it back a bit so that we don’t get another of sub forums closed out.

Your picture just shows that those other guns have a dust cover. There is some added strength but a spring can still blow out the pocket on each of those. I'm sure that their actual material thickness in the pocket is pretty close to that of the Glock. That's not to say that it isn't a weakness though.

I think Chuck and Chip and A.J. and a few others have done a good job covering the answer but I want to touch on the above question. We don't pull our guns to threaten people. We pull our guns to stop the threat. If the threat ends at the draw or appearance of a firearm, it was a good day. If it takes being on target but the trigger never gets pulled, again, still a good day. But if it takes an empty mag plus a few more rounds, that's the amount of force we must use. Our goal should NEVER be to threaten anyone. Our primary goal is always the same. We use the actions and force necessary to STOP THE THREAT!

The most amazing part of this story is that there is a photograph of it.

The bronco sport shares its platform with the escape. The Bronco Sport is supposed to be a more rugged alternative for someone looking for a CUV in that size range. I bought an Escape for my mother in 2013. Today, its closing in on 120,000 miles and has been a trouble free reliable little car for her. When it comes time to replace, I'd get the Bronco Sport before I'd get the new Escape. All of that being said, I'd rather have a Bronco for myself.

Chevy ran an ad making fun of that step when it debuted. Now, the current GMCs are available with a tailgate that does the same thing, a step on each side of the number and another step on the bedside bottoms.

I won't share the site here. But the file is out there. You should familiarize yourself with deterrence distributed.

I think it would hold up to firing just fine. And I also think that if I had it in a stock with a barrel band, it would have likely been just fine as well. The issue was that the front sight hit the ground. The stock was still in the car. So it was pushing down on the front of the barrel and up on the back at the receiver. Well, here, watch this and ignore my voice, I was sick. Like I said, I think I can epoxy this back together and make it work. And I think that I might try and reinforce that corner of the receiver with epoxy on my future prints before I do final assembly.

Speaking of brass, I remember years ago when someone on RimfireCentral made their own receiver from a chunk of brass. Beautiful rifle. So I've been working on this myself. Getting the printer setup correctly is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT for these prints. My first couple of receivers were out of spec to the point of not being usable at all. Once I got my printer issues ironed out, I printed a mostly beautiful receiver. I assembled the whole thing and took it to work to show a coworker. It fell and hit the ground in the perfect way that it broke the receiver. I think I can fix it with some two part epoxy but I haven't given it a go yet. I also printed another receiver just in case. Maybe I can get that one finished this weekend so I can test fire it. If I do, I'll throw up a video here. I've also been working on printing a Glock lower.

The 3 Jeopardy GOATs are now on The Chase. I doubt they'll do both but The Chase might not last long either.

We aren't supposed to discuss politics so I'll try to avoid it too much other than to say "shall have the power to" and "Must" are two different things.

It doesn't have to be. Just be careful and maybe practice a few times before you lay it down on a card.