The shot above is from a CAD program without any models loaded.

What is the model above? Is it a gun barrel with hand grip attachment points or a bush with retaining points? Hint, its only 40mm long. This bush took me less than 5 minutes to design, a total of 8 steps of you look to the left hand side of the picture.

While it may LOOK like something that could be used in manufacturing a gun, if you measure this part you’ll know its probably not. But what happens if I need a bush with a 50mm outer diameter at 100-200mm long of the same design… hang on a sec, that may be misconstrued as a gun barrel with mounts.

Im going to side step a little here.

What is this, or what is it used for? You've got no idea? Thats because its something that i designed that few people have seen, and a part of a larger device.

Here it is, highlighted in blue in its sub assembly.

Give me a bullet, and i can design a gun to fire that bullet. Want a duck as a sight? Easy. Want the barrel to look like a fish? That's a bit more work, but ill make it happen.

The point i am trying to make is that there are as many, or more people that can design anything they want, than own 3d printers. Stopping a 3d printer from printing a gun will only mean it takes a little more work to break it up into a few unrecognisable pieces and print it that way.

BUT if you do print a 3d gun, you better hope you dont need more than a couple of shots. Do you know why 3d printers are becoming more common? They work at relatively low temperatures that are safe for home use. Do you know what exceeds the temperature of a home printer by around 2500°c? Burning gun powder. It will burn the plastic closest to the end of the bullet case, causing fouling of the barrel, distorting the shape of the barrel or making the weapon as dangerous to the user as it is to the intended victim. Also repeated pressure cycles as you fire each round increase the possibility of layers delaminating due to stress, again making the weapon as dangerous to the user as it is to the victim.

Printing multiple weapons negates the “stealth” option of a 3d printed gun. 3d printed guns are not what you can call small. To get the strength requires thick walled parts that are bulky. To hide multiple weapons would leave tell tale signs all over your body.

To me, all of the hype over 3d guns is over rated, also a few years to late. For as long as 3d printers have been around, people have been able to design a gun by CAD, its really not that hard. But people who know 3d printers also know the limitations, and the strength that is achievable as well as the likely lifespan of such a design.

All photos in this post were taken by me.