Printing Brass

Are there 3d printers that work with metal, and if so how cost-effective would it be to print older calibers that aren't easily made by resizing?

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  1. 2 weeks ago
    Anonymous

    Yes, metal 3D printers exist, but they are terribly expensive and much slower than a lathe. They also leave a rough finish which isn't usable as-is so you'd have to do further work to finish them anyway.

    • 2 weeks ago
      Anonymous

      How cost effective? Depends on the volume. Yes it is possible and there are FDM (filament) metal printers now, so you're not stuck with sintered metal powder.

      You may actually prefer to print something intermediate and then resize it and aneal. It will be caliber and gun specific for how strong the case actually needs to be.

      Yes possible, however nobody else is doing it so you have to figure it out for yourself.

      Black Lotus Coalition is working on 3d printed and improvised ammunition for Myanmar rebels. Check out their stuff.

      A thin coat of oil or lithium grease fixes a lot.

  2. 2 weeks ago
    Anonymous

    >Are there 3d printers that work with metal
    yes
    >would this actually be practical for use in making cases
    probably not, metal 3d printers still suck ass and the end product is substantially weaker than a conventionally made item, only really useful for making things that won't ever be subjected to a large amount of force.

    • 2 weeks ago
      Anonymous

      Yes, metal 3D printers exist, but they are terribly expensive and much slower than a lathe. They also leave a rough finish which isn't usable as-is so you'd have to do further work to finish them anyway.

      Figures. Meanwhile, even rather common old rifles (Lee, Arisaka, Mauser) have relatively few sources for affordable ammo or brass, because all American ammo companies know "MUH 9MM, MUH 5.56, MUH .308!!!"

      • 2 weeks ago
        Anonymous

        That sort of stuff pisses me off too since I love antique guns which are often in obsolete calibers. I can see why companies aren't cranking out brass for, say, .577 Boxer or .298 Millinex. But there are a lot of Arisakas, Lee-Enfields, etc, out there. I would think it would pay to make some brass for those now and then.

        • 2 weeks ago
          Anonymous

          >I love antique guns which are often in obsolete calibers. I can see why companies aren't cranking out brass for, say, .577 Boxer or .298 Millinex. But there are a lot of Arisakas
          >arisakas
          I really really want to get a Type 38& rechamber it in 6.5creed due to ammo availability, but not change anything else about the rifle. Same with a Model 8 rechambered to .350leg. I feel like the one-time pain in the ass of finding a competent gunsmith to do it outweighs the constant pain in the ass of having to find or load obsolete unobtainium calibers

        • 2 weeks ago
          Anonymous

          PPU does limited runs of obscure cartridges every year, but boy are they pricey because of limited production. Curious to know whether PPU actually makes decent money off of those or if it's a bit of a passion-project for the company that happens to build brand loyalty or something
          >t. kills deer with 7.62x54r PPU soft points @ $1.75/rd

          • 2 weeks ago
            Anonymous

            Lucky bastard, I'm still waiting for another run of 7.5x55 soft points.

          • 2 weeks ago
            Anonymous

            I just wish they didn't frick up their 6.5 carcano ammo. They sell the proper diameter projectile, they just don't use it for their cartridges for whatever reason.

            • 2 weeks ago
              Anonymous

              Try hand loading.
              https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/29101

              • 2 weeks ago
                Anonymous

                https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/reloading-components/bullets/268-162gr-round-nose-gc-for-6-5-carcano/

              • 2 weeks ago
                Anonymous

                https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/reloading-components/bullets/268-162gr-round-nose-gc-for-6-5-carcano/

                I do, it's still nice to not have to every time I want to go to the range. Some people enjoy reloading, I mostly see it as a chore.
                I know steinel sells it sometimes, PPU tends to be cheaper.

      • 2 weeks ago
        Anonymous

        Well inferior ammo like genes die out.
        Maybe if those calibers were any good they would be made by smart people.

        But smart people know that making those is pointless.

      • 2 weeks ago
        Anonymous

        I don't know why you expect people to fund your hobby with fricking charity. buy the brass from the people that make them you whiney Black person.
        >t. shoots dead as frick calibers

        • 2 weeks ago
          Anonymous

          >"Hey, there is demand for [product] and low supply of [product], if more [product] was manufactured, people would buy and use it, lowering prices of [product] by economy of scale."
          >"Wow, poorgay! Just buy $100 batches of 20 cases made by some specialty boutique!"

          • 2 weeks ago
            Anonymous

            wrong, there isn't more demand you brainlet. if there was there'd be money to be made and people would do it.
            You are one of those dumbfricks that say
            >oh ehm gee they should make [stg44, H9, Maxim9, etc.] that would be so heckin awesome.
            then those companies go out of business because nobody bought them, despite espousing that they would.
            go to Grafs, wait your turn, shut the frick up.
            or resize existing calibers, it's not that hard if (you) aren't a moron.

            • 2 weeks ago
              Anonymous

              There wasn't really any deman for single-shot hunting rifles, and then the Ruger No.1 happened.

              • 2 weeks ago
                Anonymous

                there wasn't any demand until when? sixty fricking years ago?
                how about you check to see if you are a stupid Black person before posting.

      • 2 weeks ago
        Anonymous

        You can make 7.7 jap from 8mm brass or cut down 30-06.

      • 2 weeks ago
        Anonymous

        Unfortunately, that's just market forces for you. 5.56 et all sell the moment they're manufactured which, from a business perspective, makes any line producing them a reliable money printer. If they shut those lines down in order to make something less common they are trading guranteed profit for potential profit. They'd have to charge obscene amounts to balance out the lost profits, not only from projected loss of sales volume but also down time on the machines. Noone's gonna pay $10 per round for .303 or 6.5 jap. We probably won't see less common calibers getting serious attention again until the market for more common calibers gets saturated.

    • 2 weeks ago
      Anonymous

      There has been fully 3d printed metal guns that worked

  3. 2 weeks ago
    Anonymous

    Some of the hype around the True velocity stuff was that it would become really cheap and easy to produce obscure and old ammo types again. I'm not sure if they've done much with it since it didn't get get adopted in NGSW though.

    • 2 weeks ago
      Anonymous

      Without military production to kickstart economies of scale it's probably ded. Frick the NGSW process again really.

      That said in fairness I think there were legit concerns with it as well over more plastic shit everywhere, brass at least might be expensive to leave in the woods but doesn't hurt anything. There were some cool ideas on how to fix that but it'd be more R&D. Ideally government would kickstart a lot of this stuff but there isn't much long term vision when it comes to this kinda thing.

      • 2 weeks ago
        Anonymous

        you say that like there aren't thousands of shotgun hulls laying around in every woods I've ever been in. Like, just today I went into the woods looking for mushrooms and found 5 cases right at the entrance. Either someone decided to unload at something right there or they dumped them on purpose.

        Clean up your shit, it's not that hard.

    • 2 weeks ago
      Anonymous

      >True velocity stuff
      i saw some of this on the ground in .223 at the range like 2 weeks ago and thought it was odd

  4. 2 weeks ago
    Anonymous

    >how cost-effective would it be to print older calibers that aren't easily made by resizing?
    Significantly less cost-effective than turning them from barstock.

  5. 2 weeks ago
    Anonymous

    You'd be better off using a resin printer. Modern resins can flex a lot before breaking.

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