3d printed

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Mssmith

Mssmith

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Feb 19, 2017
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Indiana, United States
I am curious if anyone has tried using 3D printed pills or other 3d printed ammo. I am thinking about trying it for indoor target shooting.

I know that it is possible to design the ammo using various CAD programs and it should be able to be printed with various fills for weight and solidity. Using biodegradable materials I believe one might even be able to design and print a hunting grade ammo.
 
MOD EDIT: Content deleted, sarcasm is not welcome and will only get you (-) accuracy points. A more productive response would've been "3d printed ammunition may be possible, but a lightweight projectile may not be accurate. Heck, experimentation is always fun, so let us know what kind of results you get."

deja edit : I do enjoy having my posts modded.
 
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If you can print accurately enough, you could try printing sabots for sub-caliber projectiles. It would be great if you could use something like small nails, but I doubt they'd be stable. Maybe you could use 4.5 mm steel BBs in a 5.5 mm rifle. Or maybe you could get a bunch of military surplus flechettes and design your sabots around those.

For indoor target shooting, I wonder if standard 6 mm airsoft BBs are soft enough to be forced down a 5.5 mm barrel. Maybe you could make a sizer for them by sharpening a tube of the correct size.
 
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I have been looking into getting a 3D printer as one place that does have one will not print ANYTHING that might be harmful to people or animals, other 3d print shops want around $50 to $75 a project. I will try to keep the group informed of progress.

@ hasenpfeffer, The 6mm softair ammo might work better in a 25cal rifle as it is, I believe, about .23 or .24 inches.
 
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As a competitive benchrest shooter, I would love anything that is more accurate than the currently available pellets. Ideally you could print a diablo pellet that was of a higher quality than is produced today. The weight would need to be the same or more in some calibers.

Are 3D printers available to the average man capable of the tolerances you would need? We are talking controlling to the 0.0001" e.g. 7.62mm (30cal) = 0.3000" but what shots best in my 30cal is 7.63mm which is 0.3004".
 
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Part of the design is the CAD program that is used, some will work with measurements as small as .000001in. The other part is the 3D printer. One free CAD program that I have looked into and tried would take measurements as smallI as 0.0001in or about .0003mm. I have seen some sub $4k printers that print at a resolution (the thickness of the plastic being fed out of the extruder) of about 100 microns or about 0.1mm or about 0.004in, some higher end models go down to under 20 microns or 0.02mm or 0.0008in.

I have been looking at the sub $4k models to start with and try to work up from there. It is just a matter of finding the best of both, program and printer.
 
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Sorry but I was talking about the printer when I made mention of resolution, I know that accuracy comes from actually making the rounds and test firing them. It is one reason I asked if anyone has tried using 3d printed ammo.

I am also totally aware of the hundred other things that can affect the accuracy of any weapon. Weight is another thing that I have to think about when I am able to try printing ammo, how much fill do I use to get the proper weight and solidity.

I am trying to get a feel for the possibility of the use primarily in competition shooting in the 10 meter arena.
 
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A very interesting idea that has great potential! Unfortunately, I can't afford a 3d printer at the moment, but the idea of tinkering and producing large quantities of custom pellets is pretty cool! ☺

I would wonder about the cost per pellet avg., once everything's set up, and also the total output possible per hour/day/etc.

If an efficient process was developed, the possibilities are endless!
 
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"Deja"MOD EDIT: Content deleted, sarcasm is not welcome and will only get you (-) accuracy points. A more productive response would've been "3d printed ammunition may be possible, but a lightweight projectile may not be accurate. Heck, experimentation is always fun, so let us know what kind of results you get."

deja edit : I do enjoy having my posts modded.
Click to expand...
Hah, this turned out to be ironic since Deja here assumed he was going to print plastic ammo. But instead Mssmith is going for hardcore 3D machines to make REAL premium hunting ammo! ;)

@Mssmith, I am subbing to this thread, I expect good results. Good luck and keep us posted!
 
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I was watching someone make these 9mm sabot slugs enclosed in a 3d printed case/skirt. Sorry new to airguns so I'm not 100 percent about the terms. But I was wondering if you could do that for a smaller pellet with a larger caliber 3d printed case or skirt. A skirt 3d printed the shape of a 30 cal pellet with a hollow core and fit a .177 or .22 pellet inside. The 3d printed pellet would be the case or skirt for the smaller cal pellet.

Screenshot_20230304_181201.jpg
 
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