Austrailan Police Produce Anti-3D Printed Pistol Video

[Dean Weingarten]

Image from Defense Distributed

Australian police in New South Wales have printed out two versions of the liberator 3D printed pistol and tested them to destruction. No technical details of the testing were released, just videos of the guns blowing up. The video does not show any cartridges used, nor does it detail the type of plastic used.

These are critical elements for anyone trying to actually understand what happened. Without this information, the video is just political theater, propaganda designed to frighten timid people away from this technology.

Compare the test fire shown in the New South Wales video with that shown in the recent video from the Defense Distributed web site.

It is clear that the New South Wales produced pistols use a different plastic; that the pins are plastic instead of the metal ones in the Wisconsin Lulz design, and that the resolution on the New South Wales design is significantly coarser than on the Lulz produced product.

The New South Wales video serves as a useful reminder that all homemade firearms should be function tested remotely before use.

Link to New South Wales Video and article

Link to video from Defense Distributed and article on Lulz gun

Dean Weingarten

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/05/austrailan-police-produce-anti-3d-gun.html

 

[Zoogster]

The condition of the 'barrel' in the video showing its destruction is horrible. There is very little remaining plastic on the sides, especially the left side that it appears to give out on first, with almost a cut severing the plastic prior to firing. It is severely deformed and mishapen prior to firing.
You can see this quite clearly at the 25-26 second mark. They either had fired it many times, and/or manually removed material to insure destruction.

The intent of the video is most likely to discourage creation of something the government is obviously scared will become a source of unregulated, unregistered, and uncontrolled firearms.




However all firearms should be remotely fired. Barrels and firearms are normally proof tested to safely operate at higher than intended operating pressures to insure they are both safe and there is some margin of safety.
Those making thier own firearms should do the same.
Of course when making a plastic pistol expected to wear out in a low number of normal pressure rounds that is not practical.

But this is definately a politically motivated exaggeration. They at a minimum had fired it several times previously and then just showed the firing that destroyed it. Because the condition of the 'barrel/chamber' is quite worn prior to firing.
That is at a minimum. They may have gone further and sabotaged it in any number of ways, from using inferior plastic, altering the design, removing material to create points of stress like the missing material seen at 25-26 on the sides of the barrel, or loaded a final round to extra high pressures to give an impressive display of self destruction.'


That said nobody should expect to safely use a design that even the author has demonstrated eventually gives out after multiple shots as a replacement for quality consumer firearms. This is a short term use disposable firearm that the author has said and demonstrated has a short life expectancy.
As such a person with better firearms shouldn't be printing this out and taking them to the range until they self destruct.
Recreational or continuous safe use is not what they are claimed to accomplish. It is a single use firearm, that in tests happens to be able to fire several times that intended single use before it is destroyed.

 

[OilyPablo]

Must have been a reload.

Why the threads on the OD of the barrel? What was there before?

Frankly this whole 3D printed pistol stuff is a bunch of noise and smoke, but really not much content. The banners want to ban them......the 3D printers, the plans, whatever just to show they want what? To ban stuff. To ban guns. Nothing new, I guess.

 

[LiENUS]

The threads have to do with them using a lower resolution 3d printer than the one that defense distributed used. IIRC dd also did some trick with ammonia vapor (could be wrong on the chemical?) that melted and reformed the surfaces of the barrel to insure it was slick inside. I don't think they removed material so much as just used a poor production process than resulted in a gun that was built out of the originally designed spec. DD used an $8000 commercial printer whereas these guys used a $1700 home printer. I'd be curious as to what cartridge they used as well as when DD fired a 5.7 round through their gun it blew up as well, it was only semi reliable with a 380 acp.

 

[mope540]

I wonder if those bed wetting paranoid anti-gunners who are scared to death of a worthless plastic gun know that the materials needed to make a shotgun or pistol are available at hardware stores.

 

[Deaf Smith]

But gang, CNC machinery now days can make ANY gun, all you need is the specs and material.

I am sure the old Brit Sten Gun could be made for $10 bucks. And it would be an all steel gun.

Now if only we could print ammo.

Deaf

 

[barnbwt]

The New South Wales video serves as a useful reminder that all homemade firearms should be function tested remotely before use.

The video is also a useful reminder that disinformation is alive and well (if plainly transparent)

But gang, CNC machinery now days can make ANY gun, all you need is the specs and material.

If you're going CNC, the specs and material are the least of your worrie$

I think it'd be fun to try to duplicate the rupture with commonly available cartridges that aren't 380. My suspicion is that the Aussie standard-issue 40SW cartridge was popped in after a 5 minute modification to the CAD file. They probably took the opportunity to seal the barrel at the chamber, too (or leave it constricted). The fracture shown indicates the overpressure never got very far down the barrel--which would seem to imply either an obstruction, or ludicrously overpowered round. The shrapnel looks worse than if the round had been fired with no support whatsoever

Who knows, they may have simply been using a 380 blank round--and put something heavy in front of that super-fast blank powder

TCB

 

[Cosmoline]

Basically, don't trust anything the government of Australia has to say.. ever.

http://armor.typepad.com/bastardsword/2004/05/australia_custo.html

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Australian newspapers contain easy-to-find stories of drug smuggling gangs importing disassembled pistols from Europe in shipments of machine parts and assembling them for sale in Australia.

"Bikies" outlaw motorcycle clubs get busted for running basement or garage workshops making Mac10 submachineguns.

And the authorities are worried about a printed plastic singleshot pistol with a very short usable life.

 

[tactikel]

Fascinating technology, but I could produce the same item with a chunk of polymer, a Dremel, a caliper,micrometer, and a hand drill. Making a single shot firearm is 19th century technology.

 

[fallingblock]

Addresses the subject very nicely...

Cosmoline understands the reality of Australian governance:

Basically, don't trust anything the government of Australia has to say.. ever.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

If you're going CNC, the specs and material are the least of your worrie$

http://www.cncguns.com/downloads.html

 

[geekWithA.45]

If I were a criminal, the last thing I'd want was a huge, single shot pistol made out of plastic.

And if I were a criminal and did want a huge, single shot pistol for some reason, I'd make a flintlock out of a steel pipe, because after it malfunctioned, I'd still have a club.

 

[gunnutery]

On the video they showed the cartridge next to the broken pieces. It looked to me like a .380. Though they didn't show it long or in good quality, the primer looked backed out a bit, so I have to wonder. I didn't notice the material missing on the side, I'll have to watch it again. With a lack of information it's pretty clear they're trying to scare people and demonize the tech.

Cosmoline said it best.

 

[Millwright]

Why would I spend money to build a POS plastic handgun when, "for a few bucks more" (in readily available tools), I could make much better metal ones ? Long guns are even easier !

 

[Zoogster]

The initial steps into the technology may be less than appealing.
At this point the primary role is to reduce the strength of gun restrictions through showing how impossible it is to control who has access to firearms.

Many criminals already know this, for if they are motivated to acquire a firearm they can. And that is just the lowly street thug and common criminal.
Slightly more organized criminals, often consisting of blue collar workers and not just thug teenagers, can quite readily go a step further. As is seen in Australia with biker gangs making thier own submachineguns rather than rely on acquiring civilian weapons.



It is other segments of society that are ignorant of this. The ability to print a gun as easily as they print out a document hammers it home and forces them to confront this reality. A reality that you really cannot control who has access to at least some firearms.
This forces people that have remained willfully ignorant while supporting firearm restrictions to confront this reality.
As the technology and similar ones improve and more people casually have such things sitting in thier home more functional firearms will result.

That is why this design is entirely printable.
Incorporating something as simple as a metal cylinder in the design of an otherwise plastic gun would have enabled a much more robust gun. But then it wouldn't be entirely printed from scratch. Which might not force them to confront reality as much, even if it only require including a couple dollar piece of metal.
It is more of a political statement.
A political statement that is effective, because it is illiciting responses like the one by this police department in Australia (as well as places like New York City). Trying to convince thier population that who possesses guns are in fact able to be controlled because this is just a piece of crap that won't actually work and will just hurt you (and reminding you that it is highly illegal and will be heavily punished.)
It is about control, and it is the mindset of the people that allows them to be controlled, and this threatens some of that and results in those tasked with doing the controlling scrambling for damage control. To tell the people that no they didn't really gain any freedom and are still firmly under control, and you would only be blowing your hand off if you tried to venture outside of that control.