3D printing has opened up numerous avenues of invention, giving the average Joe or Joanne the opportunity to create what they want, how they want, when they want. It turns out they want guns.
Most of the developments in 3D printing are quite uplifting and remarkable, showing true ingenuity being used to improve living standards in often obscure, niche areas.
In the past, we’ve looked at things like revolutionary ways to conduct reconstructive surgery on knees and a new approach to creating prosthetic limbs for children. We’ve looked at helping out a tortoise with a damaged shell, and even building houses in just 24 hours for people in developing countries.
3D-printed gun
But where there’s manufacturing, it seems, there are guns. James Patrick uploaded a video of a 3D-printed gun he designed that fires real bullets to YouTube last week.
The only parts that are not 3D printed are the firing pin, “which is a roofing nail”, he explains, “the required amount of detectable metal”, which he buried in the grip, and elastic bands, which are used as the springs.
There are “still a couple of bugs, such as a sticky trigger,” he explains, but otherwise it’s safe. Safe would be a relative word in this case, I’d have thought. Here it is getting fired:
Gun image via Shutterstock
