dakota.potts
New member
I got to thinking in my head the other day about firearms manufacturing and 3D printing. I'm currently a machining and gunsmithing student, and I like to think about this kind of thing from time to time.
It seems to me that 3D printing might be a nice thing for parts kits guns that are making their way over to the US. There are several for which importing them in a rifle format is really troublesome because of the lack of US made parts. Often there's a considerable tooling cost associated with making these parts.
With the way 3D printing is moving, and the downward trend in price cost associated with printing plastics, it seems like there are opportunities out there.
I can see an ability within a few years for companies to quickly prototype these parts and, if 3D printers ever reach widespread home based use, may sell these files online for a low cost and allow the user to print their own parts at home.
I understand that they're not at the point where they're reliably printing metals to tight tolerances, but there are other options. For instance, you can get a total of 5 US made parts between the stock, grip, handguard, and magazine with base plate.
What do you think? Something we may be able to take advantage of in the next couple of years? it would be really something if sintering and other forms of meal printing advance to the point where we could begin printing other pieces such as pistons.
It seems to me that 3D printing might be a nice thing for parts kits guns that are making their way over to the US. There are several for which importing them in a rifle format is really troublesome because of the lack of US made parts. Often there's a considerable tooling cost associated with making these parts.
With the way 3D printing is moving, and the downward trend in price cost associated with printing plastics, it seems like there are opportunities out there.
I can see an ability within a few years for companies to quickly prototype these parts and, if 3D printers ever reach widespread home based use, may sell these files online for a low cost and allow the user to print their own parts at home.
I understand that they're not at the point where they're reliably printing metals to tight tolerances, but there are other options. For instance, you can get a total of 5 US made parts between the stock, grip, handguard, and magazine with base plate.
What do you think? Something we may be able to take advantage of in the next couple of years? it would be really something if sintering and other forms of meal printing advance to the point where we could begin printing other pieces such as pistons.