I'm very much a libertarian, pro-gun kind of guy and I'm glad this project project exists, but I do have to say I'm reluctant about it. There isn't really anything (that I can see) that can stop this movement. I abhor gun registries and most restrictions on firearms but I'm glad that there is at least a small hurdle to acquiring a firearm (purchase permits). Hopefully the trend towards more and more CCW holders increases as responsible people carrying guns will be a big line of defense against crazy people. See: http://www.reddit.com/r/dgu for a sampling of recent defensive gun uses, it is a very common occurance.
The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
21–30 of 152 posts
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#22So... it's a CNC machining apparatus? Why are people making such a fuss about that?
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#23I have to agree with the initial comment on the article, this is a fear mongering piece. Anyone that has a working knowledge of firearms can put together a usable weapon using readily available parts. In fact, a trip to home depot is all you need in order to build a crude (and pretty dangerous) shotgun. I also think it goes without saying that a criminal would probably opt to spend the $1,200 required to buy this CNC…
Not to mention, its been trivial to build "zip guns" with basic tools. Crude pistols aren't that tough to make, especially when the heavy lifting (making of reliable and safe ammo) is already done for you.
>> crude (and pretty dangerous) shotgun
> "zip guns"
This helps people make a fully automatic machine gun, an AR-15, not a single-shot gun.
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#24> ill your own lower receiver at home, however, and you can order the rest of the parts from online gun shops, creating a semi-automatic weapon with no serial number, obtained with no background check, no waiting period Besides the 6 months it takes to learn to make one that won't blow up in your face when you pull the trigger? Alarmist drivel.
More like an afternoon on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiHdV5slQps
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#25> ill your own lower receiver at home, however, and you can order the rest of the parts from online gun shops, creating a semi-automatic weapon with no serial number, obtained with no background check, no waiting period Besides the 6 months it takes to learn to make one that won't blow up in your face when you pull the trigger? Alarmist drivel.
While I haven't learned this in detail (I loathe the AR10/AR15 design), I gather it's quite a bit easier than that, e.g. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=11004/learn/ Maybe six months if you're busy with a lot of other things. And of course a fair amount of mechanical aptitude is required, if you're learning that from scratch or nearly so (not the case for many of us in flyover country), it could indeed take quite a while. And more than a few ruined parts.
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#26Or I could buy ~12+ lower receivers...
PSA blems are $45 on sale. LPK for $45 and a stock kit for $60 and you have a complete lower.
One with a serial number, but there it is.
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to mention, its been trivial to build "zip guns" with basic tools. Crude pistols aren't that tough to make, especially when the heavy lifting (making of reliable and safe ammo) is already done for you.
>> crude (and pretty dangerous) shotgun > "zip guns" This helps people make a fully automatic machine gun, an AR-15, not a single-shot gun.
No, it takes a semi-auto 80% receiver and finished the remaining 20%. (And after that, "Some assembly is required," e.g http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=11004/learn/ .)
But if you want to be concerned, look at how utterly simple a full auto (simpler that way, e.g. firing pin is a bump in the bolt face) 9mm Sten gun is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sten
(A semi-auto AR15 is a much more capable weapon, BTW.)
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to mention, its been trivial to build "zip guns" with basic tools. Crude pistols aren't that tough to make, especially when the heavy lifting (making of reliable and safe ammo) is already done for you.
>> crude (and pretty dangerous) shotgun > "zip guns" This helps people make a fully automatic machine gun, an AR-15, not a single-shot gun.
No. It helps them make a semi automatic rifle, an AR-15, not a machine gun. One pull, one shot.
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#29I'm very much a libertarian, pro-gun kind of guy and I'm glad this project project exists, but I do have to say I'm reluctant about it. There isn't really anything (that I can see) that can stop this movement. I abhor gun registries and most restrictions on firearms but I'm glad that there is at least a small hurdle to acquiring a firearm (purchase permits). Hopefully the trend towards more and more CCW holders incre…
I don't know what a purchase permit is. In Washington, Oregon, and Idaho guns are cash and carry.
Re: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
#30This looks awesome. For $1,200 you could set up as a company making little things for others, earn enough to pay for the machine and then benefit from it yourself. What I would do with such a machine is to solve the problem of bike accessories and mounts. i.e. every light has a different mount, as do GPS devices, and cameras, and bag attachments. Yet you could manufacture some common clamp, and then adaptors for each…
This machine is likely to have a very low machining speed due to weak motors and other motion components. You are unlikely to be able to out-compete a professional machine shop making small parts. So while this is nice for hobbyists, it is unlikely to pay for itself in a professional situation. If you want a machine to pay for itself and be more generally useful, you would be better off spending the money on a Chinese manual milling machine.