See the World’s First 3D Printed Metal Gun

The eyes of the world are on the innovation of 3D printing. Naturally, whenever a new technology is created that offers open-source DIY opportunities to the average individual, it is going to make governments and their protected corporate interests very nervous.

Such is the case with 3D weapons manufacturing. Defense Distributed has led the way with their innovations, sparking others to provide their own offerings. Their progress, as well as their subsequent hindering by the US Department of Defense Trade Controls, has been documented by a series of video updates below.

So far all 3D guns have been produced from composite materials, which has led to instability in real-world firing situations. It has to this point been a novelty, as well as a sign of things to come. The company Solid Concepts has now released a stunning metal gun modeled after the .45 caliber M1911 pistol (See test fire video below).  It seems that at least once per month we see new advancements that are leaps and bounds beyond the previous 3D weapons incarnations. The open-source nature of 3D printing is poised to render anti-gun legislation nearly obsolete. For those who believe that 3D printing can be restricted, futurist and a director of engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, recently noted that it will soon be possible to print an entire 3D printer from a 3D printer, at a very low cost … globally. Then what?

The gun printed is an M1911, a single-action semi-automatic pistol, and was made with a selective laser sintering (SLS) process using powdered metals. SLS is the process by which a high-powered laser is used to fuse small particles of powder into the desired shape. (Source)

The gun was produced on a state-of-the-art industrial printer, which makes the cost of the M1911 3D printed weapon slightly prohibitive, but as we have seen with technology, it shouldn’t be long before high-tech and cost effectiveness merge.

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