3-D Printed Guns can Now become Lethal Weapons

Bullets that have the ability to transform 3-D printed guns into lethal weapons have been introduced.

Over the past 18 months 3-D printed guns have evolved from a science fiction into a real thing, although they still face many fundamental limitations. After all cheap plastic could hardly compete with solid steel guns, or contain an explosive blast. But now a new type of bullets has been introduced by a gunsmith and these bullets have the ability to turn 3-D printed guns into a fatal weapon. 

At the age of 25, Michael Crumling has developed bullets that are meant only for the 3-D printed guns. These round ammunitions have a thick steel shell and the shell bears the pressure of the explosion rather than transporting it to the barrel of the gun or the plastic body. His design of the bullets cannot be easily replicated.

According to Crumling, the mechanism behind these bullets is very simple. It’s like a barrel is integrated into the shell. Basically, all the pressure and stress is removed from the 3-D printed gun. You don’t have to replace any part of the gun, beside the shell even if you fire an unlimited number of shots through it. 

Last week, Crumling shot 19 rounds from a 3-D printed gun that he designed himself. However, the gun did misfire a few times, but it did not suffer from patent internal damage. Crumling said that when his gun was shattered in the earlier test, he realized that the breakage was caused because of the explosion inside the gun, rather than the shell movement. Thus, he decided to leave the roof of his gun chamber open in order to avoid breakage. Therefore, allowing the shell to eject itself. 

Crumbling also said because of his method, 3-D printing guns can become semi-automated weapon provided some sorts of auto loading mechanism or revolver components are used. He then said that his work is the building block for the future of these guns and the main objective behind the development of these bullets was to enable people to develop semiautomatic 3-D printed guns in the near future. 

Last year in Australia’s New South Wales, Andrew Scipione, a police commissioner held a press conference to warn people regarding the danger of 3-D printed guns. He said that it does not matter at what end of the gun you are, you still can die. The press conference was conducted because of a due to the damage caused by a 3-D printed gun.

However, the Defense Distributed denies this fact and claims that the government officials are either using the wrong printing methods or wrong caliber bullets. But John Sullivan, the Defense engineer admits that every time someone fires a conventional round, the plastic barrel gun and the liberator bear damage.

He also said that a printed barrel works only for 10 rounds after that it wears out. Crumbling says that all he wanted to do was master this amazing engineering technique. He is not looking for money and his design would be available on his website for people. 

Source: Wired via The Verge