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3D Printing

First working 3D-printed firearm built

By Jonathan Fincher
July 27, 2012
First working 3D-printed firearm built
One gun enthusiast has successfully built and fired a the first gun using an AR-15 rifle part made with a 3D printer
One gun enthusiast has successfully built and fired a the first gun using an AR-15 rifle part made with a 3D printer
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One gun enthusiast has successfully built and fired a the first gun using an AR-15 rifle part made with a 3D printer
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One gun enthusiast has successfully built and fired a the first gun using an AR-15 rifle part made with a 3D printer
The gun maker first printed the design with ABS plastic and used a conversion kit to assemble a .22 pistol
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The gun maker first printed the design with ABS plastic and used a conversion kit to assemble a .22 pistol
To test the 3D-printed part further, a metal AR-15 upper receiver was attached and fired a few shots with a higher-caliber .223
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To test the 3D-printed part further, a metal AR-15 upper receiver was attached and fired a few shots with a higher-caliber .223
The existing design was intended to be made out of solid metal, so the gun maker altered it a bit by strengthening some of the lug holes and adding a trigger guard
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The existing design was intended to be made out of solid metal, so the gun maker altered it a bit by strengthening some of the lug holes and adding a trigger guard
View gallery - 4 images

As the technology improves, 3D printers are being used more and more to create a wide variety of objects, some incredibly useful (like skeletal implants) and some just for fun (like custom robot figurines). Here's another - somewhat controversial - example of just how ubiquitous this technology could become: a working gun built using an AR-15 rifle part made with a 3D printer.

The gun maker, going by the name "HaveBlue," constructed the AR-15's lower receiver - which holds many of the gun's main components, including the trigger assembly and magazine well - using a modified design from a gunsmithing website and an older model Stratasys 3D printer. Since the existing design he started with was intended to be made out of solid metal, HaveBlue altered it a bit by strengthening some of the lug holes and adding a trigger guard. He then printed the design with ABS plastic and used a conversion kit to assemble a .22 pistol.

The gun maker first printed the design with ABS plastic and used a conversion kit to assemble a .22 pistol
The gun maker first printed the design with ABS plastic and used a conversion kit to assemble a .22 pistol

Amidst protests from an AR-15 discussion board that the part would fail and seriously injure him, he successfully fired 200 rounds using the 3D printed lower receiver without any trouble. To test it further, a metal AR-15 upper receiver was attached and a few shots fired with a higher-caliber .223. So far, the part seems to be holding up well and hasn't shown any major signs of wear.

This certainly isn't the first 3D printed gun part in existence, but it could be the first that's been made into a fully working firearm. What's important to note is that under U.S. law the lower receiver of an AR-15 (or any similar gun for that matter) is the component that is legally considered the "firearm." It's the main part that allows the gun to function, and even has the serial number printed on it for identification. Luckily for HaveBlue, making guns yourself isn't illegal so long as you don't sell or distribute them.

Still, with 3D printers becoming more popular and aimed at home use, a person being able to print their own parts for a working gun - particularly the one component that cannot be ordered through the mail - raises a number of issues. As amazing as it is that a 3D-printed gun could withstand firing a bullet, the potential for someone to build an unmarked firearm much more easily means we could see some pertinent new laws enacted in the next few years.

Source: AR-15.com

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3D PrintingFirearms
25 comments
Jonathan Fincher
Jonathan grew up in Norway, China, and Trinidad before graduating film school and becoming an online writer covering green technology, history and design, as well as contributing to video game news sites like Filefront and 1Up. He currently resides in Texas, where his passions include video games, comics, and boring people who don't want to talk about either of those things.

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25 comments
Michael Mantion
I am so very confused..... Couldn't he just of used a CMC machine and made it out of steel with no modification what so ever? Why make something out of plastic that should be made from metal.
That said it is interesting and good work.
JPAR
10 years from now when this tech is in everyone's home.... how on earth are the normal non-gun totting parts of the world going to stop rogue 'gun plans' getting into everyone's hands.... like 12 yr old kiddies printing themselves a nice new toy!
SpaceBagels
Even though the gunpowder in the batman shooting case is still fresh someone has the audacity to give people ideas to print out child murdering weapons.
Now every anti gun acvocate will come out of the woodwork calling for a ban for all 3d printers.
@Michael Mantion : The fact that 3d printers are much cheaper than full blown cnc machines and tough polymers have been used extensively in the firearms industry signifyies that 3d printers are becoming more attractive means to discreetly manufacture firearms. It is now possible to make a fullblown working assault rifle given you have the files and machine the metal parts somewhere else and no one would know.
Rocky Stefano
@JPAR - 10 years from now? You're kidding right? I can bet in less than 2 years you'll have software running on an iPhone interface that allows you to select and print a gun to a sub 1000 dollar printer.
Truepatriot Constitution
JPAR, one could argue that the "normal" gun toting parts of the world are actually "abnormal"!
If a 12 year old has the wherewithal to create a functional firearm using a CAD model, they may very well be the next great inventors of their generation.
That being said, the Feinstein's, McCarthy's, and Brady's will probably go ballistic over this!
flink
So just remember, order those upper receiver assemblies, now, before someone makes them illegal for mail order.
Fred Bastiat
Only government could stand in the way of the full potential of this break through technology (Open source 3D Printing), which has the potential to massively expand wealth creation by the mass of people.
Again, only government can destroy this, and if it happens, it will all be under the guise of "public safety".
nutcase
As a laser-cutter programmer, I tipped off the cops a few times when I thought the parts I was programming looked a bit gun-like.
zevulon
3d printing of guns has been covered for over 18 months on the internet. I have been following 3d printing as have many people. the idea of doing it with guns and weapons generally has been around for some time.
while weapons are interesting in some ways, particularly because they can be illegal to obtain in the public realm but possibly to 'print' privately at home----the reality is that there are plenty of great weapons to buy that will perform far better and more reliably than something made of plastic, or pieces made of plastic.
that said PROTOTYPING weapons is expensive and 3d printing for prototyping speciality weapons or weapons modifications for BETA testing at low cost could be a real money make for people in this area who are willing to work with local armories and gun shops, or , if they make it big, with arms manufacturers and sports equipment manufacturers.
HOWEVER. when it comes to moving part machines, there are far more interesting applications for 3d protoyping than weapons. how about engines, motors, pumps, windmills, hydraulics, suspension, the list goes on....
Gregg Eshelman
@Truepatriot Constitution
Joe Mc Carthy would likely have loved something like this. His goal was to purge the US Government of communist infiltrators. He wasn't after communists in Hollywood, despite the constant lies about him that the movie industry and the media keep repeating.
Look up the Venona Project. that was intercepting and decoding communication between the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C. and the USSR. Venona was declassified in 1995 and the decoded documents released revealed Mc Carthy was right and there were even more Soviet agents in our government than he had found. There's still a huge amount of intercepted communications from Venona that have never been decoded. The leftists in our government got Venona shut down to cover their butts so they wouldn't end up in prison for treason.
How about Venona@Home to decode all of the Venona documents?
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