https://www.guns.com/news/2020/02/04/homemade-3d-printed-12-gauge-shotgun

3d printed parts combined with home depot make for a pretty slick overall design. Seems pretty well conceived and executed. 

I give him points for innovation.

I'd hate to be the guy who pulls the trigger when the plastic parts start to fail...

All the parts taking pressure are metal. 

It's definitely a interesting design. 

I dunno, plastic and 00 Buck don't mix.  But, I like the concept.

13 hours ago, Ray Ray said:

I dunno, plastic and 00 Buck don't mix.  But, I like the concept.

The chambers in the cylinder are steel, as is the barrel. Plenty of people have made single shots out of the materials used. 

The only thing I see of general concern is that I'd want to verify the cylinder timing hasn't gone off due to wear prior to operation. 

There's also issues with heat and material choice. So type of filament used will matter, as will fill type used in printing. 

 

outstanding, hope he sells this design and he makes a killing; I'd buy one

4 hours ago, raz-0 said:

The chambers in the cylinder are steel, as is the barrel. Plenty of people have made single shots out of the materials used. 

The only thing I see of general concern is that I'd want to verify the cylinder timing hasn't gone off due to wear prior to operation. 

There's also issues with heat and material choice. So type of filament used will matter, as will fill type used in printing. 

 

It's great that there are steel parts, but I'd be concerned with fatigue.warping/flex being introduced into the non metal parts over time.

If it was a .22lr I wouldn't be as concerned, but with full 00  buck and slugs?  That's a lot of stress and energy to the plastic connections and marriage points with the metal.

Here's a still from one of his videos that shows gas escaping from somewhere other than the end of the barrel:

It's a revolver setup, so there will be cylinder gap. That's where it's coming from. Plastic is strong stuff. A lot stronger than most people intuit. My first concern is how much heat it tolerates for how long as that is a much shorter path to delamination and shape distortion. 

 

There are also videos of development on it depicting where it failed with slugs and was redesigned. There's an overall update coming out 9pm tonight about all the changes. 

 

Also keep in mind it is meant to be disposable. hence the liberator. 

7 hours ago, raz-0 said:

The chambers in the cylinder are steel, as is the barrel. Plenty of people have made single shots out of the materials used. 

The only thing I see of general concern is that I'd want to verify the cylinder timing hasn't gone off due to wear prior to operation. 

There's also issues with heat and material choice. So type of filament used will matter, as will fill type used in printing. 

 

The plastic stock is where all that recoil is going.  And the action is going into a polymer housing?  I still like the concept.

1 hour ago, Ray Ray said:

The plastic stock is where all that recoil is going.  And the action is going into a polymer housing?  I still like the concept.

Shh let me tell you a secret.  

 

Most if those shotguns sold by all those manufacturers? The majority without wood stocks? Their stocks are plastic.

 

Based on watching the development videos, I'm going to guess they switched to polycarbonate tube. Its not a home depot build anymore. They went with fancier steel pipe. 4130 iirc. 

It’s like if Glock made a shotgun 

16 minutes ago, Zeke said:

It’s like if Glock made a shotgun 

lol

1 hour ago, Zeke said:

It’s like if Glock made a shotgun 

Smooth Bore Glock.

On 2/5/2020 at 7:35 PM, raz-0 said:

Shh let me tell you a secret.  

 

Most if those shotguns sold by all those manufacturers? The majority without wood stocks? Their stocks are plastic.

 

Based on watching the development videos, I'm going to guess they switched to polycarbonate tube. Its not a home depot build anymore. They went with fancier steel pipe. 4130 iirc. 

Although the plastics used on firearms are extremely durable, I would still be cautious about this process.  Homemade guns don't last long.

On 2/5/2020 at 4:16 PM, raz-0 said:

Also keep in mind it is meant to be disposable. hence the liberator. 

 

1 hour ago, Ray Ray said:

Although the plastics used on firearms are extremely durable, I would still be cautious about this process.  Homemade guns don't last long.

If it can do what it was designed to do for a few magazine's worth of full power shells and only cost a couple bucks to make, then has it not served its purpose as a disposable firearm?  I don't think anyone is fooled into thinking it is a family heirloom which will be passed down for generations.  Maybe it is designed for New York reloads.  Maybe - like any Liberator type pistol - it is simply good enough to get the job done...

Should the plans to make them become available, I am sure the internets will be full of people building their own and stress testing them.  And I'm sure at least one person will do the important "can it shoot something completely unrealistic through it" tests (i.e. load the single shot break action with a .50bmg or something else equally ridiculous).  Maybe they'll last 12 shots of magnum loads.  Maybe they'll last 120.  Maybe they'll hold up to 1200 shots.  Maybe they will be the ultimate NJGF shotgun shoot skeet gun (I would like to see one show up).  Maybe you'll be missing your hand after the first and only shot.  Maybe these can be the perfect trunk gun for a state like NJ.

But if it works well enough to do what a Liberator -type gun is supposed to do, I'd call it a success.  And should it be released to the public, it is a big F-U to grabbers who cannot control the distribution of files over the internet, which is an even greater success...

Look mah. No hands..