The first metal gun printed on a 3D printer

^{A working copy of the self-loading pistol M1911, developed by John Browning. The gun was in service with the US Army from 1911 to 1985.}

Engineers from the Texas company Solid Concepts for the first time in the world printed a metal gun . They did this to demonstrate the capabilities of modern industrial 3D printing and do not set the goal of making technology available in every home. Although, sooner or later this will inevitably happen.

For demonstration, the iconic M1911 pistol was created by John Browning. This is the first self-loading pistol that began to be used in the US Army, before that they only had revolvers.



Gun parts are made by direct laser metal sintering (DMLS), the same method that NASA uses for printingdetails of rocket engines . Only the springs were made separately. After printing, the parts were polished and adjusted to each other manually.

During testing, the gun proved high accuracy.



Representatives of the company say that they printed the gun, not in order to make this process cheaper and more affordable for every layman, but simply to demonstrate the reliability of the parts made by the DMLS method. You can’t buy metal printing equipment for less than $ 10,000, which most 3D printing enthusiasts cannot afford. Solid Concepts itself used an even more expensive industrial printer, see video.



Solid Concepts is licensed to manufacture weapons and promises to manufacture and send a set of 3D parts for assembling a pistol within five days. Naturally, only a US citizen with the appropriate permission can make a purchase.