There’s been tons of chatter about using 3D Printers to build your own gun at home. Unfortunately there’s a problem with these… and that’s quality. 3D Printed frames are just not that strong. And if you can afford one of the big fancy metal printers that make strong parts… well, you could pretty much buy any numbers of guns you wanted for that astronomical price. And even then, those parts are still not as strong as factory forged or cast frames.
Then there are the Ghost Gun mills. That’s going to take your 80% Lower and finish it. Or a block of material and carve out that AR lower for you. That’s good. Certainly a step up. But that’s still not where I’d want to be… Even though I have seen some very good results. It’s very limited. A small CNC Mill is certainly where it’s at, but the Desk Top mills are not quiet there yet.
I like where this is going. This article is about Plastic Casting. And I think it’s got greater potential than current 3D Printers that are within reach of the DIY crowd. If you can Cast plastic… You can cast Aluminum. If you can cast Aluminum, you can cast steel. There are videos on how to make your own forges and smelters and pretty much anything you need to melt metal.
Ruger builds some awesome firearms using a Cast process. One that can be replicated on a small scale in your back yard. Now here’s where this gets interesting… You can cast just about anything. Any part. The small parts you can’t cast, you can order in.
I’m really digging the exploration people are doing in the making it yourself movement. We’ve seen some crazy cool things come of it. I’m expecting any day now to see someone build something truly unique in their back yard.