3D printed Bolt Action .223 Rifle, successfully Test Fired

[Elderberry]

Ammoland by Dean Weingarten 10/24/2019

In most “3D printed” AR-15 type rifles, only the lower receivers are 3D printed for the platforms they are on. The lower receiver holds together the fire control system. There is little mechanical strength needed. Upper receivers have not generally been printed because they are easily available in the United States. They are considered a firearm part, like a buttstock, a bolt, sights, or a magazine. They can be purchased over the counter or through the mail as part of ordinary commerce.



The rifle pictured in the Twitter post above is different. It is not using an AR-15 lower or an AR-15 upper. It is labeled a “bolt action”, that is a manually operated rifle.

This design appears to take standard type AR-15 magazines. It should be easy to alter the design to take different magazines from different platforms. Numerous magazines have been successfully printed with 3D printers, some with plastic springs.

The ingenuity if the design is interesting. Some features can be deduced from the picture and some from comments made on Twitter.

It was claimed the design has been fired once, successfully.

More: https://www.ammoland.com/2019/10/3d-printed-bolt-action-223-rifle-successfully-test-fired/#axzz63SvA3q5R

[Sighlass]

Sorry, but not really ready to trust my fingers to a "printed" barrel that might be imperfect.

[Elderberry]

Sorry, but not really ready to trust my fingers to a "printed" barrel that might be imperfect.

Now the article didn't say that all the parts were 3D printed. In Twitter the creator wrote that the fire control group, barrel, and magazine are metal.

meh
@701SKUHLsoyoAKQ
·
Oct 21
Replying to
@freegunzone
am i correct to assume the fire control group and barrel are still metal? the magazine, upper, lower, handguard and stock are all printed?

3DprintFreedom
@freegunzone
·
Oct 21
That is correct, other than the magazine. Magazines can be printed though.

[Elderberry]

One can take the 3D printed parts and utilize them as "Patterns" in "Lost PLA" casting the parts in metal.

Lost PLA Based 10/22 – From Data to Print to Cast Aluminum

WeaponsMan

http://weaponsman.looserounds.com/?p=24149

We have mentioned before that the great benefits of 3-D printing include not only the direct printing of parts, but the printing of tooling, models, and patterns. It was inevitable that sooner or later someone was going to 3D print a PLA (polylactic acid, the easiest and most common plastic for 3-D printing) pattern for a firearm receiver, and then make an aluminum alloy casting using the Lost PLA process, essentially identical to the lost wax process used by jewelers and dentists for millennia. And now someone has done it, yielding this receiver, which builds up into a clone of the popular Ruger 10/22.


The 10/22 is a good choice, as a vast quantity of aftermarket parts are available for this
rifle, and the original receiver was designed to be produced by investment casting in the
first place.