How would you like to see AR15 accessories made with 3D printers?

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mod60rimfire

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So, 3D printers are becoming a way to rapidly prototype designs, and even build complete products.
Some of you may have seen the design for the AR15 3D printer magazine.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11636
I've been drawing out some designs for other AR 3D printed accessories.
I have drawn a few ideas for a 3d printed rear BUIS, and some rail covers.

What do you guys think of 3D printed accessories?
 
Neat idea. My only concern would be the quality of the materials used for the printing.
For experimenting it sounds pretty slick.
 
See depending on the type of printer used you can get some really nice polymers.
Same strength as like a molded plastic(think pmags).
I think with a relatively nice plastic as the base you could get the same quality as like magpul BUIS
 
What do you guys think of 3D printed accessories?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the materials used in 3d printers tend to be created with an eye towards ease of creation, and not long-term durability.

That said, if a 3d printer could output products made from materials on par with what MagPul or Cav Arms uses, I'd be all for it.

Solve the material issues, and the ease of distribution of CAD files coupled with a distributed network of 3d printers will make the gun control movement even more weak and ineffective than it already is.
 
They make some pretty rigid plastics, I am hoping to get my hands on a 3D printer soon so I can start. If i get one soon I'll make some giveaway threads here with magazines and such that come from my experiments :)
 
But But But then people will be making all plastic guns with their 3D printers at home!!!!!
..sorry, couldnt resist.

I'd love the idea, but with my luck with printers I'd get something that resembled a picasso.
 
When I build my printer I'll make some rail covers and magazines :). Not actual gun parts.
I'm writing the code for the BUIS but I don't have a printer yet lol.
Although, technically with a strong enough plastic and a few design changes one could 3D print anything.
 
Yeah I'm trying to get the funds together to build a plastic 3D printer first :p.
Try to make some cool accessories.
I've seen some crazy stuff go down with 3d printers!
 
Could you makes 100's of hard plastic bullets for reloading? That way, BG's would still get dead but they wouldn't suffer from lead poisoning! :D


It would be easier to make holster molds of ANY pistol.....
 
Would it be possible to make an AR 15 lower with one of these? I once read about someone that made a lower and shot it that was made out of Oak.
 
Yeah there's a guy that printed an AR15 lower with a 3D printer. I will probably try to see if its possible when I get it and if the material is strong enough to shoot with.
There is some nice rubber-like material I could use to make holsters too.
When the funds allow it(college kid!) I'll build the printer and hopefully make some goodies. I got the plans and ideas just gotta build that sucker lol
Its like 1 grand to get all the parts to build one.
 
I wish you luck! I want to get one now aswell! I would love to see what I could experiment with, maybe new frames for poly guns? I could do it with an XD considering that the metal rails are easily removable.
 
Some company makes a poly lower and the entire lower is like 150 bucks?

The lower doesnt contain the stress, the upper does.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Calvary Arms made them till they were shut down as I recall hearing. Would it be strong enough to start marketing them if they came from one of these printers?

Does anyone know if the Glock's frame rails are removable? You could replicate an XD's frame but finding parts to build one with would not happen. I may start to like Glocks if I could build them myself. ;)

How much do the materials themselves cost?
 
Plum crazy lowers are 100 bucks.
I don't think the materials are strong enough yet to feasibly print a reliable lower. Not to mention ATF rules.
 
One video, some people made a bike with one that was ridable. With an AR 15, there is no stress on the lower. I once read about someone here that shot an AR 15 with a lower made out of Oak.
 
Good 3d prototyping machines are very expensive. The cheapies make stuff with the structural strength of, say, a plastic drinking straw. No one uses prototyping machines for finished parts because it is cheaper to have an injection mold made, and then sell thousands.

I think a 3D printer is a great idea to make full scale mockups, but, for any sort of load, you'll want a working prototype made by hand with a mill and lathe, then license it to a big company for production.
 
as far as im aware there are no atf rules or regs for building your own reciever or full gun as long as its for your personal use

ETA: wow fivetwoseven, thats very very very impressive, i was almost proud of myself for finishing an 80% but cutting board lol, wow!
 
I didn't make that so I can't claim anything. Just seeing that though makes me think that you can print a receiver.
 
Which one are you getting and how much does the plastic material cost? The lowers now that I think about it could be used to make dedicated .22 LR AR 15s if .223 proves to be too much. How exactly do you make the designs anyway? Do you scan it like I saw in one video or do you have to design it on a computer from the ground up?
 
In my experience SLA or ballistic particle prototypes are good to identify "oops" type mistakes and to can serve for low tolerance / low stress parts. From numerous prototypes I have seen, surface finish is poor and material properties aren't on par with an injection molded engineering plastic.
 
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