3D-printed guns and rifles are a reality and are out in the wild for download, to the dismay of law enforcement officials everywhere, but creating sidearms from plastic isn’t where it ends. Another company called Solid Concepts has taken the search for a printable weapon into the world of metal 3D printing.
Using “…30+ 3D printed components with 17-4 Stainless Steel and Inconel 625 materials”, the company created a replica of a M1911 handgun which has since been tested from a bench and on a shooting range. The company says that the point of the weapon wasn’t to find an easier way to make a gun, instead they were looking to prove that 3D printed metal components could be just as accurate as their machined equivalents.
Don’t look for Solid Concepts’ weapons to rapidly proliferate online however, the equipment used to make the 3D-printed metal weapon is very specialised and expensive and the machines require fully-qualified engineers. Not really something you can find in your average home printing setup.
Source: Ars Technica