The world’s first metal 3D printed handgun capable of accurately firing 50 rounds without breaking has been printed in the US.
Solid Concepts, based in Austin, Texas, USA, replicated the parts of a classic Browning 1911 pistol - standard issue for the US armed forces until 1985 - using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), and can now offer 3D printed gun parts to any “qualifying customer” within five days.
Previous efforts by Cody Wilson to manufacture a gun using 3D printers caused concern in 2012 and later in 2013, when plastic pistols capable of firing a few shots before suffering catastrophic failure were successfully printed. At the time, the US State Department tried to block the distribution of the plans for the 3D printed gun because they could feasibly be downloaded and printed by anyone using low-cost desktop printers.
One US senator said in May that he would introduce a bill to ban the making of guns using 3D printers, though he does not seem to have taken the measure any further.
"We weren't trying to figure out a cheaper, easier, better way to make a gun. That wasn't the point at all. What we were trying to do is dispel the commonly held notion that DMLS parts are not strong enough or accurate enough for real-world applications," said Phillip Conner, DMLS project manager for Solid Concepts.
Accurate over 30 yards
Solid Concepts says that the gun comprised of over 30 3D printed components in stainless steel and a nickel-chromium based superalloy is capable of hitting “a few bulleyes at over 30 yards.”
However, Solid Concepts stressed that this kind of metal gun cannot be printed using desktop machines – only by using an industrial printer that costs “more than my college tuition”, according to Alyssa Parkinson of Solid Concepts.
The DMLS printing process fuses metal powder into a solid part by melting it locally using a powerful focused laser beam, an industrial 3D printing process used to make metal parts for the aerospace industry as well as some bespoke surgical implants.
The company doesn't need a licence to print the gun in some US states, but holds a licence to manufacture and distribute firearms in the US, allowing it to sell custom-made weapons.
• In October, Police in Manchester seized suspected parts of a 3D printed plastic gun, which turned out instead to be parts of a 3D printer
