"The one main problem with 3D printed firearms, at least those fabricated on at-home 3D printers, is the fact that they are printed in plastic. The combination of a plastic gun with that of an exploding metal bullet will obviously cause some problems. For example, if you were to take both a plastic hammer and a metal hammer and bang there heads together multiple times, one can guess what the outcome would be. The plastic hammer would simply crumble and break apart, probably after the first hit, due to the much heavier, denser metal material that its opponent is made of. The same thing happens when a plastic gun fires an exploding metal bullet. The plastic just can’t hold up after multiple shots.
This has led a 25-year old machinist from Pennsylvania, named Michael Crumling, to develop a new type of round, designed specifically for firing from a 3D printed plastic gun. What he did was basically construct a thicker steel shell that can house the typical lead bullet. When fired, this shell acts as a buffer between the actual gunpowder of the round, and the weak plastic of the 3D printed gun. Much like how a motorcycle helmet protects our vulnerable skulls in instances of an accident, by absorbing the majority of the impact when one’s head makes contact with something more dense, the steel shell does the same for the plastic gun.
3D printable blueprint of Crumling's gun with his special ammunition in dark grey -Michael Crumling via Wired
3D printable blueprint of Crumling’s gun with his special ammunition in dark grey –Michael Crumling via Wired
Crumbling tells WIRED.com that this new “bullet” allows a 3D printed, plastic gun to be fire over and over again without any signs of cracking or deformation, no matter how cheap the material used is."
https://3dprint.com/23119/bullets-3d-printed-guns/
This has led a 25-year old machinist from Pennsylvania, named Michael Crumling, to develop a new type of round, designed specifically for firing from a 3D printed plastic gun. What he did was basically construct a thicker steel shell that can house the typical lead bullet. When fired, this shell acts as a buffer between the actual gunpowder of the round, and the weak plastic of the 3D printed gun. Much like how a motorcycle helmet protects our vulnerable skulls in instances of an accident, by absorbing the majority of the impact when one’s head makes contact with something more dense, the steel shell does the same for the plastic gun.
3D printable blueprint of Crumling's gun with his special ammunition in dark grey -Michael Crumling via Wired
3D printable blueprint of Crumling’s gun with his special ammunition in dark grey –Michael Crumling via Wired
Crumbling tells WIRED.com that this new “bullet” allows a 3D printed, plastic gun to be fire over and over again without any signs of cracking or deformation, no matter how cheap the material used is."
https://3dprint.com/23119/bullets-3d-printed-guns/