First 3-D-printed gun fired, but its digital blueprints make bigger bang

[11B4V]

Require a background check to own 3d printers then. 

How exactly is that funny?  They will probably be very tighly controlled indeed.

Naturally

[MadImmortalMan]

Require a background check to own 3d printers then. 

How exactly is that funny?  They will probably be very tighly controlled indeed.

Naturally

Some dude will release 3D printer plans for 3D printers.

[11B4V]

The cartridge case, chamber, and barrel all take on pressure. Anyway, I'd like to know what kind of .380 ammo the dude used in his gun.  It's a fairly weak cartridge to begin with, but I'd bet he downloaded the powder charge.

The article claims not:  "[t]he Liberator fired a standard .380 handgun round without visible damage."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/05/meet-the-liberator-test-firing-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-gun/

By contrast, a rifle round apparently blew it up:

The printed gun seems limited, for now, to certain calibers of ammunition. After the handgun round, Wilson switched out the Liberator's barrel for a higher-charge 5.7×28 rifle cartridge. He and John retreated to a safe distance, and John pulled his yellow string again. This time the gun exploded, sending shards of white ABS plastic flying into the weeds and bringing the Liberator's first field trial to an abrupt end.

Wilson showed me a video of an ABS plastic barrel the group printed attached to a non-printed gun body firing ten rounds of .380 ammunition before breaking on the eleventh.

A .380 cartridge is loaded to an av pressure of 21,500 psi

A FN 5.7x28 is loaded to 50k psi
Well da it's going to blow it up.

[CountDeMoney]

Edit posts more, 11BIde. 

[11B4V]

And then there's another angle: what about those countries where guns are rare?

In fact the guy himself said today that the country from where he's getting more downloads by far is Spain. The next anti eviction protest can get messy...

Lovely, yet another gift of American gun culture to the world

We aim to please

[derspiess]

[11B4V]

Edit posts more, 11BIde. 

Yea, but I edit them down 90% of the time. Also to correct spelling. 

[Razgovory]

You are talking like these are BBs.  They aren't.  A high grade plastic bullet would likely go through a person as well as as a steel one.

No it wouldn't.  There is no plastic that will penetrate as well as steel. Also, keep in mind we're talking severely limited velocities here, at least with this dude's current design/materials.  He's using a .380 round which isn't the best self-defense round to begin with.  Replace the projectile with a "high grade" plastic one, and you're going to get even less lethality (bound to be lighter, meaning less kinetic energy) than the lead/copper bullet. 

And that's not to even mention the lack of accuracy, coming out of a short plastic smoothbore barrel.  You'd probably need to be within a couple yards to even score a hit, and if you're that close anyway you might as well use a knife or something that you can attack with repeatedly.

Maybe someday there will be a proof of concept for an all-plastic weapon that can rapidly fire multiple accurate shots with predictable lethality, but we're not there yet.

But if you guys want to panic, go ahead.

I mean, they have a pretty good tensile strength.  They don't deform as well, but would still cut through someone.  Or if you don't like plastic, why not ceramics?

I think ceramic would be more effective than plastic.  You still have the accuracy and single shot issues to deal with.

You only need one shot to kill a person.  What was the type of bullet that used in the Reagan assassination attempt?  It crippled one man, and almost killed the President.  Was it a more powerful or less powerful round then a .38?

[derspiess]

You only need one shot to kill a person.

While technically true, that's an overly simplistic way of looking at it.

What was the type of bullet that used in the Reagan assassination attempt?  It crippled one man, and almost killed the President.  Was it a more powerful or less powerful round then a .38?

Than a .380.  .380 ACP is a lot punier than .38 Special (which itself is considered relatively weak compared to other calibers)

Anyway, the weapon used in the Reagan assassination attempt was a .22 revolver.  And with conventional ammo, .22 is weaker than .380.  But Hinckley used these weird bullets that were designed to explode on impact, so that muddies the waters a little bit.  Only one round actually did explode-- the one that hit Brady.  All six shots actually missed Reagan, though the last one freakishly ricocheted and then hit him in the side after he was in the limo.

[Valmy]

Maybe someday there will be a proof of concept for an all-plastic weapon that can rapidly fire multiple accurate shots with predictable lethality, but we're not there yet.

Well a Derringer cannot do any of those things either but it was perfectly sufficient for assassinating the President of the United States.

Besides until we have 3-D printers as common household accessories this is not a serious point of concerned and that gives whomever is working on this project plenty of time to improve their plastic gun design.

[Valmy]

Speaking of guns that killed Presidents this reminds me of one of my favorite cutsey gun ads:



Awwwwww

[Razgovory]

You only need one shot to kill a person.

While technically true, that's an overly simplistic way of looking at it.

What was the type of bullet that used in the Reagan assassination attempt?  It crippled one man, and almost killed the President.  Was it a more powerful or less powerful round then a .38?

Than a .380.  .380 ACP is a lot punier than .38 Special (which itself is considered relatively weak compared to other calibers)

Anyway, the weapon used in the Reagan assassination attempt was a .22 revolver.  And with conventional ammo, .22 is weaker than .380.  But Hinckley used these weird bullets that were designed to explode on impact, so that muddies the waters a little bit.  Only one round actually did explode-- the one that hit Brady.  All six shots actually missed Reagan, though the last one freakishly ricocheted and then hit him in the side after he was in the limo.

Okay, if I shot a person with a .380 at point blank range what would it likely do that person?  Say I shot them in the Chest or head.  Would they be wounded?  Would they laugh it off.  Would they die without medical attention?

[garbon]

Maybe someday there will be a proof of concept for an all-plastic weapon that can rapidly fire multiple accurate shots with predictable lethality, but we're not there yet.

Well a Derringer cannot do any of those things either but it was perfectly sufficient for assassinating the President of the United States.

Besides until we have 3-D printers as common household accessories this is not a serious point of concerned and that gives whomever is working on this project plenty of time to improve their plastic gun design.

Anti-gun nut!

[derspiess]

Okay, if I shot a person with a .380 at point blank range what would it likely do that person?  Say I shot them in the Chest or head.  Would they be wounded?  Would they laugh it off.  Would they die without medical attention?

Depends on a lot of variables, but yet it could kill them.  But if you're stuck with a single shot .380 pistol and have the ability to get that close there are (non-firearm) weapons that would probably be more effective.  Getting kinda tired of having to repeat that.

[sbr]

Okay, if I shot a person with a .380 at point blank range what would it likely do that person?  Say I shot them in the Chest or head.  Would they be wounded?  Would they laugh it off.  Would they die without medical attention?

Depends on a lot of variables, but yet it could kill them.  But if you're stuck with a single shot .380 pistol and have the ability to get that close there are (non-firearm) weapons that would probably be more effective.  Getting kinda tired of having to repeat that.

How many of them are made of plastic?