The project and drawings of the world's first 3D-printed revolver published

A student from the USA, an American student, Patrick Stewart invented, created and demonstrated a working version of a revolver, fully printed on a 3D printer. In addition to the shock striker and several rubber bands that replace the springs, all other parts of the weapon are fully printed in plastic. This is the first self-cocking weapon printed on a 3D printer. The revolver was named PM522 Washbear .22LR.



The idea of ​​printing a revolver was born this summer among enthusiasts from the FOSSCAD website - the local community develops and freely distributes CAD drawings for various devices. In September, Patrick demonstrated ready-made computer models of weapons, and by November he managed to bring it to a working prototype and test it in practice.

Among the tasks set by the engineer to himself were safety, the ability to print weapons on a printer no more than Rostock Max, minimizing components that cannot be printed on a printer (and using components that can be easily purchased), ergonomics, ease of operation, easy replacement of consumables and the ability to make at least four shots.


Brief demonstration A

six- or eight-shot drum is inserted into the frame of the gun, if desired. True, in the case of an eight-shot drum, it will have to be printed from ABS plastic reinforced with metal inserts. The six-shot can simply be printed from Bridge Nylon 's special nylon .



The design is thought out to the smallest detail, and special attention is paid to its strength. For example, the drum is printed “standing”, while the frame is lying on its side. Stewart does not recommend using PLA - you need ABS instead, and printing should go without any voids. For the final assembly of weapons, an epoxy is used. At the same time, Stewart added metal inserts to the weapon frame - according to American laws, they are necessary so that the gun can be detected by standard metal detectors.


Detailed description

As a result, unlike the well-known Liberator, the PM522 Washbear .22LR weapon can work many times. The creator recommends only to use cartridges flying at subsonic speeds in order to minimize shock waves acting on the revolver. Gum is used in the descent mechanism, and a slightly sharpened roofing nail acts as an impact striker.

All necessary drawings can be downloaded from the author's website . But to make such devices in Russia is most likely illegal.

The first functional firearm printed on a 3D printer was the Liberator pistolfrom Cody Wilson, a libertarian enthusiast and founder of Defense Distributed. His appearance led to a slight panic and the urgent adoption of laws related to the manufacture of firearms in this way.


Liberator

Government agencies have unsuccessfully tried to “remove from the Internet” Liberator blueprints - despite the fact that the United States is officially allowed to make firearms at home. In 2014, it became known that a Japanese citizen was sent to prison for printing such a gun on his 3D printer.

And Cody Wilson went further in his attempts to “free” people, and offers everyone a Ghost Gunner automatic milling machine that can grind the receiver for the AR-15 rifle.