U.S. firm claims first 3-D printed metal gun

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― A Californian engineering company says it has produced the first metal gun made on a 3-D printer, releasing a video showing the firearm scoring repeated bullseyes in successful tests.

But Solid Concepts, which describes itself as a world leader of 3-D printing services, said making the classic 1911 shotgun did not come cheap, requiring a lot more than a souped-up desktop printer.

“It functions beautifully,” it said of the gun, in a blog accompanying the video clips. “Our resident gun expert has fired 50 successful rounds and hit a few bull’s eyes at over 30 meters.”

The gun comprises more than 30 3-D-printed components, including stainless steel and other metal parts.

“The whole concept of using a laser sintering process to 3-D print a metal gun revolves around proving the reliability, accuracy and usability of 3-D metal printing,” said Solid Concepts’ vice president Kent Firestone.

“We’re working to change people’s perspective,” he added from the company’s base in Valencia, 48 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles.

The 3-D printer they use does not come cheap.

“This isn’t about desktop printers ... the industrial printer we used costs more than my college tuition ― and I went to a private university,” said Firestone.

“And the engineers who run our machines are top of the line; they are experts who know what they’re doing and understand 3-D printing better than anyone in this business.”

The use of 3-D printing technology to manufacture weapons is not new. But making them out of metal is.

Earlier this year computer files allowing someone to make a single-shot Liberator gun were downloaded more than 100,000 times from Defense Distributed, an open-source website dedicated to 3-D printable gun components.

The State Department, which oversees U.S. weapons exports, ordered the blueprints to be taken off the Internet in May ― but by that point, users had already reposted them widely on various file-sharing sites.

But Solid Concepts said its system is legal, claiming that they are the only 3-D printing service provider with a federal firearms license.