The Road to 3D Printed Guns

Colt CM901 Assault Rifle with a blue 3D printed lower reciever

              People have been attempting to 3D print guns since 3D printers first hit the market but not many of them work and the ones that did were not as powerful as a normal gun and would commonly break after the first shot. One group of people were able to successfully build a handgun out of all 3D printed parts but if I remember correctly, it did not survive long and was unable to use more poewrful rounds. However, a member of Printedfirearm.com, a website that has been devoted to trying to print guns for awhile now, was able to develop a fully functions lower receiver for a Colt CM901 rifle. The printed print is able to withstand the force of firing up to a 7.62 mm bullet and can be adjusted to also fire a 5.56 mm bullet. The creator of the printed part has so far allegedly shot around 100 rounds of ammunition using the part without any signs of damage to the part yet. The part was also printed using only a $500 XYZ DaVinci printer and unspecified plastic filament. The lower receiver for one of these guns is not the most important part of the gun, but it leaves many to believe that someone may be able to print a fully functional and powerful assault rifle using a 3D printer and no one would ever be aware if someone was printing 3D guns. That day is not going to be anytime soon though according to printedfirearm.com. Some people are also just seeing this as very bad publicity for 3D printers as they slowly begin to grow in popularity and believe that it may send 3D printers into a downward spiral until the government begins to try and ban or put restrictions on the printers.