3D printed firearms

[Capbyrd]

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.  

[Links2k]

Impressive 

[Chucktshoes]

Ban guns you say?

[MacGyver]

Fun.  Are you printing in PLA or ABS?

[Capbyrd]

19 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Fun.  Are you printing in PLA or ABS?

 

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.   

 

[MacGyver]

Cool.

I've been messing around with some of the CarbonX filament - in my case PLA with carbon fibers impregnated.  I haven't done actual strength testing - but I like the results so far.

It's not that much more expensive than a spool of regular PLA.

https://www.3dxtech.com/carbon-fiber-3d-filaments/carbonx-pla-cf/

[MacGyver]

I've only got a single nozzle on my printer, but I'm really impressed with their water soluble support filament, too.

[Capbyrd]

9 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Cool.

I've been messing around with some of the CarbonX filament - in my case PLA with carbon fibers impregnated.  I haven't done actual strength testing - but I like the results so far.

It's not that much more expensive than a spool of regular PLA.

https://www.3dxtech.com/carbon-fiber-3d-filaments/carbonx-pla-cf/

 

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"

 

 

7 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

I've only got a single nozzle on my printer, but I'm really impressed with their water soluble support filament, too.

 

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.   

 

[MacGyver]

Yeah, it's a weird pace we're in.  I mean, it's truly amazing what you can do with a sub-$500 printer.  Full stop.  I can remember a time when even the free version of Cura I regularly use would have been mid-5 figures.  At the same time - the ability of some of the $10K printers is equally mind-blowing.

We're going to be able to do some really great stuff in the future.

I'm impressed that you've gotten good results with a 0.12 layer height.  That's skinny.

I'm running a RigidBot that's a few years old.  0.20 is about as good as I can get reliable results with.

 

 

 

[gregintenn]

I find this fascinating. Thanks for posting.

Would you be able to post any links that would be good for a dummy like me to learn a bit about these printers.

[Capbyrd]

27 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

I find this fascinating. Thanks for posting.

Would you be able to post any links that would be good for a dummy like me to learn a bit about these printers.

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. 

[deerslayer]

6 hours ago, Capbyrd said:

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 can resolve your lack-of-a-trigger-pin problem.  

[Capbyrd]

I thought I'd share a couple of my non firearm but firearm related projects as well.  Here are a couple of simple rail covers.   This particular pistol came with two uppers, one in 5.56 and one in 300blk.   I wanted a quick identifier and this was a fun little project.  I could have made them sleeker but I was going for fast and simple.   
 

 

 

 

 

This picture has some of my tools in it.  The punch blocks in the back were the first thing I designed on my own and printed.  It was really cool to take something that didn't exist and create it in the computer and make the computer spit it out as a tangible object.   Plus I got to learn some really basic 3D modeling.   In front of that on the right is a Glock sight pusher.  I've used it on two slides with great success.  It has held up really nicely.   It's not a perfect design but for the 7 bucks that I have into it, it works really well.   The front left is an AR15 bolt vise.  This is one of the most used tools on my workbench.  The ejector must be removed to use a standard headspace gauge in an AR.   The screw pushes the ejector in while the rest holds the bolt still so you can drive out the roll pin.   Both this and the sight pusher were designs that I got off the internet but on this one, I didn't like the original design.  The original design has a solid screw to push against the ejector.  I found that it always wanted to push the bolt out of the jig and sometimes was harder to use.  So I modified the design of the screw. I made it so that I could use a threaded insert with a wobble head and that fixed the issues I was having.  I really like this design but I'm working on my own.   I want to redesign the vise body to better hold and support the bolt.   

 

 

 

 

[gregintenn]

17 hours ago, Capbyrd said:

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 just interested int he basic premise of how it works. Do you design things via a CAD program, or can you put an item in some sort of scanner and replicate it? I assume you can buy existing files to create some items?

I wouldn't have a price range in mind, and may never get into it, but it sure fascinates me.

[MacGyver]

Generally, items are designed in something like a traditional CAD program - and then those designs are fed into special software that "slices" it into the layers that the printer can work with and generates the G-code that drives the printer.

Most of the design work that I do is done in a copy of Autodesk Inventor (but that's only because I have a license and am comfortable with it) - there are plenty of free/low-cost programs out there.  I know many folks who use SketchUp's free personal plan.

I use Cura to import my models and slice them up.  I use a free version of that - even though I have access to some other tooling that will do the same thing.  

It amazes me every time I open it - just because I know how expensive it would have been not too long ago.

If you want to check out some of the designs others have made, Thingiverse is a great place to start.

 

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

Generally, items are designed in something like a traditional CAD program - and then those designs are fed into special software that "slices" it into the layers that the printer can work with and generates the G-code that drives the printer.

Most of the design work that I do is done in a copy of Autodesk Inventor (but that's only because I have a license and am comfortable with it) - there are plenty of free/low-cost programs out there.  I know many folks who use SketchUp's free personal plan.

I use Cura to import my models and slice them up.  I use a free version of that - even though I have access to some other tooling that will do the same thing.  

It amazes me every time I open it - just because I know how expensive it would have been not too long ago.

If you want to check out some of the designs others have made, Thingiverse is a great place to start.

 

That’s what I feared. I learned to operate AutoCad Release 10 back in the early 90’s. I’m not sure I’d have the patience to learn a new program, although I expect they are a lot more user friendly today.

I’m showing my age.

[Trekbike]

23 hours ago, Capbyrd said:

 

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.   

 

We use a filament called NylonX at work for some of our prototype thermoforming molds.    Really good stuff.    Your mileage may vary.  

https://www.matterhackers.com/store/c/NylonX

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

That’s what I feared. I learned to operate AutoCad Release 10 back in the early 90’s. I’m not sure I’d have the patience to learn a new program, although I expect they are a lot more user friendly today.

I’m showing my age.

You'd be amazed at how far CAD software has come - especially in terms of ease of use.

As a "test the waters" first step - it might be worth just playing around with the free, web version of sketchup a bit.  It'll import .STL files - which are what most of the models you find on the internet are.  I printed a ton of other folks' stuff before I ever made or modified my own.

[Capbyrd]

Just now, MacGyver said:

You'd be amazed at how far CAD software has come - especially in terms of ease of use.

As a "test the waters" first step - it might be worth just playing around with the free, web version of sketchup a bit.  It'll import .STL files - which are what most of the models you find on the internet are.  I printed a ton of other folks' stuff before I ever made or modified my own.

I haven’t used sketchup but tinkercad is also free and very easy to use.  A bit limited but quite powerful for a free web based program.  

[gregintenn]

I could see wanting to print holster clips, magazine bodies and followers, and tinkering with printing an AR lower receiver. I also think it would be neat to replicate small plastic parts that get broken on household appliances like latches, etc.

This probably wouldn't be worth the time, effort, and expense. But I guess it would help fight boredom on a rainy day.

[MacGyver]

Everybody needs a hobby. You can consult your wife on whether or not you need another hobby

It's pretty neat that you can tinker with 3D printing a bit for a couple hundred bucks all in. Is it the best printer you'll ever see - no - but that's okay.

If you wind up not using it, the local elementary/middle/high school of your choice will be thrilled for the donation.

[Chucktshoes]

38 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Everybody needs a hobby. You can consult your wife on whether or not you need another hobby

It's pretty neat that you can tinker with 3D printing a bit for a couple hundred bucks all in. Is it the best printer you'll ever see - no - but that's okay.

If you wind up not using it, the local elementary/middle/high school of your choice will be thrilled for the donation.

I find it all really cool, but with my job/lifestyle it’s not in the cards. But it’s cool having friends who are into it and can print stuff for you. Like Byrd who converted a family photo into a cool backlit diorama thingy. Wife, MIL and mom all loved it. 

[Capbyrd]

Well the Glock is complete.   And I test fired it today.   
 

 

 

 

I can’t say that it was flawless.  I had a malfunction of some sort on the last round. I do not know whether it was a failure to eject or a stovepipe because I couldn’t see it.   (See my latest post in the Iowa blind people permits thread for why I can’t see).   
 

I’m pretty happy with this for a first test.   The concept is proven so now I’ll go ahead and order my own slide and give the borrowed slide back.   This will be fun to experiment with.   And I already have plans to print a 19.  

[Garufa]

7 minutes ago, Capbyrd said:

And I already have plans to print a 19.  

Print up a G23 and let’s see how it holds up to the mighty forty.

[Chucktshoes]

29 minutes ago, Garufa said:

Print up a G23 and let’s see how it holds up to the mighty forty.