World's first 3D printed metal gun tested, firing 50 shots

A Texas 3D-printing company has created the first handgun printed completely using metal, and tested it firing over 50 rounds on their firing range. But, they say, there are "barriers" which will prevent people following suit in their own homes.

Previous attempts to make guns with 3D printers have either used plastic parts, or relied on non-printed metal components to work. The most sophisticated example, known as the Liberator, was only able to be fired once.

Solid Concepts, from Austin, Texas, used a process known as direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) to create all the parts - with the exception of the springs. Assembling the gun from its printed parts takes between five and seven minutes, according to the video.

Eric Mutchler, a project engineer at Solid Concepts, said "The slide, the frame, and many of the internal components were made out of stainless steel DMLS. A couple of the items were made from [alloy] Inconel 625, such as the spring, the beavertail and the hammer."

The Liberator gun, whose plans were shared online earlier this year, is modelled on a WWII pistol, and is capable of only firing one shot. It was accurate only up to a few metres, and required a metal firing pin which could not be printed in conjunction with the gun.

By contrast, the M1911 pistol created by Solid Concepts has been fired over 50 times, and is filmed hitting targets at a distance of a few dozen metres. Solid Concepts claims that they are the only 3D-printing company in the US with a firearms license. It fires .45 Winchester white box ammunition, which has to be bought separately.

The gun is inevitably going to attract controversy. The risk of individuals being able to print illegal weapons in their own home has been a hot political topic ever since the rise of 3D printing. Earlier this year, Greater Manchester police made headlines when they claimed to have discovered parts for a 3D-printed gun - only to find that they were, in fact, parts for a 3D printer itself.

[Manchester police 'jump gun' on 3D weapons discovery]

Philip Conner, DMLS manager at Solid Concepts, said that "We weren't trying to figure out a cheaper, easier, better way to make a gun - that wasn't the point at all. What we were trying to do was dispel the commonly-held notion that DMLS parts are not strong enough or accurate enough for real-world applications."

Scott McGowan, the company's head of marketing, added that ""There are barriers to entry that will keep the public away from this technology for years."

Printing items in metal requires a very different printer from the models currently available for home use, access to powdered metals and the expertise to correctly and accurately make a pistol from scratch. The main deterrent to would-be criminals is the prohibitively high cost.