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Posted: 7/12/2017 9:01:58 PM EDT
| I'm wondering if this is possible. 3D printing a lower, and using it in a lost PLA type thing with aluminum. I've used 3D prints with plaster to make molds for aluminum, with success. However that was with smaller things... Has anyone ever done this? I've been thinking of a dedicated .22, and I've seen some cad files for "The Jack" lower. |
| I remember seeing a video where a guy was doing just this a while back with a regular old 3d printer, before they really hit the market and became prolific; or at least as they are now. Heck, remember "The Liberator"? 3D printed pistol. No idea how long it would last in this type of configuration, but hey, give it a try and post up some pics. Who knows? You may stumble upon a technique that nobody else has and you'd pioneer the 3D printed lower receiver. |
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I just received a 3D printed block for installing and removing FSB's and I am surprised, it is very durable and works quite well.
Now, on a receiver, the amount of stresses involved with the continuous vibration is not going to be as durable, I don't believe it would hold up for more than a couple of hundred rounds before you start oblonging trigger/hammer/sear pin holes another area of concern would be the front section of the FCG pocket where the hammer falls, I think you may have a problem there. Another area you would need to look at, if you print a 3D lower in a ready to go configuration, you would be manufacturing a firearm without a license because the lower is what is considered the firearm in the AR world, so it would have to be printed in a 80% configuration to be legal for anybody except yourself, or you would have to apply for and secure all the proper licenses and tax certificates. Doing it in a one off situation might be interesting to see if it can be done, but I would not show it to anybody, in fact I would not shoot it anywhere in public. |
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Granted, we're talking about the ever flip-flopping ATF here, but I can't think of how 3d printing a lower from start to finish would be any different than milling out an 80%. End result is the same, really.
For 3D printing, a plastic filament is heated and then melted into layers, which eventually build up into the product that was sketched out. The result is a ready to go receiver waiting for an LPK to be installed, which started out as an 'inert' material the ATF doesn't care about nor recognize. For 80% lowers, take a mostly-done-but-not-quite-a-firearm piece of aluminum that the ATF doesn't care about, yet (which if I recall correctly, they don't even recognize the term 80%. Either it is or isn't a firearm.) and the appropriate places are milled/drilled out to form the space for which trigger parts and the like can be inserted. No, the ATF doesn't make any sense, but from a logical stand point (something they don't have), you're taking two materials that the ATF does not recognize as a firearm and molding/milling/printing/whatever-ing them into something they do care about. Assuming it is made to comply with current Federal and State legislature, I don't see how he could get into any trouble, also assuming he's making them for personal use only. The person I mentioned earlier did get into some trouble because he wasn't doing it for personal use; he was making a business out of it, again going off of memory. *obligatory disclaimer* I'm not a lawyer, what I say is not 100% fact and should not be blindly trusted. Now go call a lawyer. @OP: I would do some research on the matter and see what you can find. Better safe than sorry. After all, if we can redesign something by touching it to the wrong part of our body, who knows what they will say next. |
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As a licensed manufacture myself, I would definitely do some research on the subject if it was something that interested me. I am a FFL7/SOT and play their silly games all of the time, I however don't build guns except for personal use, my partner and I produce other NFA items but over the many years of doing this, I have seen some really weird stuff come out of the BATF.
Like I said, it would be interesting to see how it turned out for personal use if I were interested, but I really would be no more interested in a 3D printed lower than I am in a poly lower, I don't think they can be made durable enough yet. Past experience with poly, shows that the majority of the time, they don't hold up. |
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As a licensed manufacture myself, I would definitely do some research on the subject if it was something that interested me. I am a FFL7/SOT and play their silly games all of the time, I however don't build guns except for personal use, my partner and I produce other NFA items but over the many years of doing this, I have seen some really weird stuff come out of the BATF. Like I said, it would be interesting to see how it turned out for personal use if I were interested, but I really would be no more interested in a 3D printed lower than I am in a poly lower, I don't think they can be made durable enough yet. Past experience with poly, shows that the majority of the time, they don't hold up. |
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I was thinking about using the 3d model with sand or similar medium to pour molten aluminum down to make the 3d model into aluminum. But again, there have been cast lowers in the past, now if it could be done in wax and do lost wax casting, so you can custom formulate a metal, it might be fun to pursue... |
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I could see that working, but in the beginning of all this, there was cast parts being produced and from my understanding a lot of them did not hold up to well, which is why it was switch to forged and machined. But again, there have been cast lowers in the past, now if it could be done in wax and do lost wax casting, so you can custom formulate a metal, it might be fun to pursue... |
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Of course it's possible. Â You'll have to figure out what your print shrinkage is, then figure out what your AL shrinkage is from casting, and size up the requisite amount. Â
If you're actually in CA though, you'll have to adhere to your state's asinine laws in regards to home made firearms. Â Easy enough to print your lower/receiver with your required info though. Â |
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Oh boy, 50$ for 1kg of wax filament. lol  Do keep in mind you'll have to calculate shrink rates between materials you're using, so on and so forth.
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Cast receivers as mentioned previously has been around for awhile. IIRC DPMS and Olympic started out with cast receivers, and recently there was a company (Vision Armory) selling complete and 80% receivers cast from AL380. From what I read AL380 is similar to 6061 and way easier to mill that 7075.
I have no idea how the previous maker's lowers were cast, whether they were die cast or investment casted like the OP wishes to try. I know Ruger has done well with investment casting of various metals. |
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Quoted:
I just received a 3D printed block for installing and removing FSB's and I am surprised, it is very durable and works quite well. Now, on a receiver, the amount of stresses involved with the continuous vibration is not going to be as durable, I don't believe it would hold up for more than a couple of hundred rounds before you start oblonging trigger/hammer/sear pin holes another area of concern would be the front section of the FCG pocket where the hammer falls, I think you may have a problem there. Another area you would need to look at, if you print a 3D lower in a ready to go configuration, you would be manufacturing a firearm without a license because the lower is what is considered the firearm in the AR world, so it would have to be printed in a 80% configuration to be legal for anybody except yourself, or you would have to apply for and secure all the proper licenses and tax certificates. Doing it in a one off situation might be interesting to see if it can be done, but I would not show it to anybody, in fact I would not shoot it anywhere in public. Look, I appreciate you are an FFL/SOT - ie a "manufacturer." The rules YOU have to follow as an FFL DO NOT APPLY to OP, or anyone "making" a firearm for personal use only. "Making" does not equal "manufacturing" in the eyes of the atf. This fact is why individuals can "make" a firearm from an 80% part. Or a 50% part. Or a 0% block of metal. Or a spool of filament. |
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NO LICENSE REQUIRED!!!! Look, I appreciate you are an FFL/SOT - ie a "manufacturer." The rules YOU have to follow as an FFL DO NOT APPLY to OP, or anyone "making" a firearm for personal use only. "Making" does not equal "manufacturing" in the eyes of the atf. This fact is why individuals can "make" a firearm from an 80% part. Or a 50% part. Or a 0% block of metal. Or a spool of filament. Quoted:
NO LICENSE REQUIRED!!!! Look, I appreciate you are an FFL/SOT - ie a "manufacturer." The rules YOU have to follow as an FFL DO NOT APPLY to OP, or anyone "making" a firearm for personal use only. "Making" does not equal "manufacturing" in the eyes of the atf. This fact is why individuals can "make" a firearm from an 80% part. Or a 50% part. Or a 0% block of metal. Or a spool of filament. You obviously didn't read my whole message, if you did, your comprehension is lacking, because I wrote the follow in the message: so it would have to be printed in a 80% configuration to be legal for anybody except yourself |
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