Don't you think eventually the technology will be able to produce these items? How soon do you think people will be unable to buy those other items needed?
I think it is okay for a child to own a gun (technically the parent owns the gun), but to have access to it without proper supervision, is just plain stupidity on the part of the parents. Irresponsible ownership is a problem.
I promise you those are the least of worries when it comes to 3D printing guns. Like said before, they are easily bought online or even from a gun smith at that. And if people have $25000 pieces of equipment for printing, I seriously doubt they are worried about a simple problem like that.
Well you have two components of a barrel. The pressure containing and the wear resistant precisely machined interior. We already have barrels wrapped in aluminum or carbon fiber which could possibly be replaced with some polymer in the future (not yet). Very unlikely for anything to replace the wear resistant steel rifling. The auto industry has plasma-sprayed cylinder bores for aluminum cylinder blocks, but the temperatures and tolerances are not close to those of a barrel. Plus they can only be used on a metal, not a resin based polymer.
See above. Also if someone has that kind of cash for a 3D printer, they would be much better served with a CNC machine.
If they did it would not be the same as forged metal. It would either be a liquid (like is currently done with resin) or powder. Both of those are weaker and less wear resistant than forged, and powder would really not be feasible. The tolerances would also be much lower. Basically, it would be much better to hook up a CNC machine and using a subtractive process, instead of an additive one like current 3d printing. And just to add, CNC machines don't make barrel blanks. The tolerances of the rifling is cut a different way.
While I agree, in 5 years holler at me. And CNC Machines are bad ass. Both of those machines combined in the near future are going to be the death of any gun control talk. It's pretty much at the " dial-up " modem stage. But just like the internet the " fiber-optics " set ups are already here, we just have to figure out how to make the machines catch up with the technology, not the other way around. Which renders gun control issues pointless. Bolts and Barrels are of no concern with anyone right now. Just fabricating the weapons are enough. Plus someone very soon will be designing something of the future that won't need forged metals at all.
Nothing will change in 5 years around the fact that thermoset polymers and metals are very different materials. The crystal structure of a metal is extremely important to it's characteristics, where the polymer is obviously chemically bonded. You don't heat treat a thermoset, but it is vital to heat treat a barrel. No engineering of weapons can change the heat and speed of a projectile pushing through a barrel, or the throat erosion of a chamber. In general I just disagree with your predictions, with a possible exception for low accuracy handguns.
We shall see very soon. It's not that incredibly hard to build a gun barrel. If you can get stress relieved steel, and a deep hole drill, you can do what you need. then just blueprint the reaming, and rifling. it's as simple as that now days. I understand everything you are saying. I just believe things will be figured out, and someone will figure out how to make something just as durable. Lots of geeks, and scientist are picking up the advantages this can have for future weapons manufacturing. Even if they make inaccurate weapons right now, it's still 100 years ahead of the weapons produced in the wild west. It's impressive what we are on the verge on.
Obviously you left out some steps, and glossed over how hard it is to do the steps you listed accurately. But what you JUST said, is outside of the ability of every dork with a 3D printer. Do you mean with a 3D printed barrel? I was just saying it might be possible (in the far future) if you made a short handgun barrel with a large caliber making very low velocity and low powder blast (to decrease throat erosion)
On a positive note, 3D printing would be cool to reproduce guns unavailable here in the future. You could adapt off the shelf M16 parts or something and make a hybrid Sig 556 or SCAR receiver. So if you want to design a SCAR 17 that uses a MR762A1 gas system, M14 mags and barrels...........
I know how hard it is to produce a barrel. But that's what technology is here for. It's hard if you don't know exactly what you are doing, sure. But that can be said for anything in life. I was just stating the most important procedures of producing a barrel. Nothing more. I know a few dorks right now that never even fired a weapon, but CAN produce and build a fully functional weapon that has zero malfunctions with 700+ rounds fired from the weapon. Obviously these dorks are doing something right
Or a a Glock with the safety bells like a Sig... that's what I am wanting to see. When someone can crossbreed a Glock and Sig. The gun world will go bonkers. Decockers on a Glock would be amazingly awesome lol.
