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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   31474 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 7, 2022

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I'm not an expert in shop, but what's stopping people from publishing digital, open source schematics for using more traditional metalworking to make firearms? Would it be too effective, a kind of "how to build a nuke in your kitchen" type thing, or are 3d printers really that much more accessible?

What does it take to make an AK, probably more than just a lathe right?

Nothing is stopping them. If you have a metalworking workshop you can make a Sten SMG. Or an AK. The benefit of things like FGC-9 is that you don't have to be seen around a lathe or a clapped-out Bridgeport machining something that looks very much like a gun barrel or a receiver.

I read a decent primer on making zipguns (the name for what you're talking about) a while back. Takes some skill to make a weapon that isn't going to blow your hand off but it's definitely not rocket science. Sufficiently motivated people do it; Shinzo Abe was recently assassinated with a zipgun.

I'd take a zipgun made of metal over a plastic one any day.

These aren't plastic, though. It's a metal gun with plastic frame and some minor parts.

What's stopping people from publishing digital, open source schematics for using more traditional metalworking to make firearms?

Because the people doing the publishing generally rent apartments or reside in condos without garages. Autistic single nerds in their 20s and 30s don't generally own homes.

It's hard to make schematics when you don't have the tools to test them with; by contrast, even a shoebox apartment can accommodate a 3D printer, a vise block, a bucket for EDM rifling, and some hand tools.

I'm not an expert in shop, but what's stopping people from publishing digital, open source schematics for using more traditional metalworking to make firearms?

Nothing. It's easily accessable. You can just search "AR lower CNC file" and it should show up as the first result.

Building a gun from entirely from scratch is extremely difficult and costly for one person, but most of these files assume you're only interested in making the part that's actually regulated (the lower reciever).

I’ve assumed that’s already the case. Not sure how amateur gunsmiths are most likely to learn. I guess it wouldn’t be too surprising if (at least in America) it’s one of those skills managed entirely by cultural norms.

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