Media Platforms Design TeamWhen did you get interested in designing guns?I work for a company that makes tools related to the construction industry, and about six years ago, a coworker showed me some of his hunting rifles. I thought their construction was fascinating and I ended up getting my license within a few months of handling a real gun for the very first time.What about 3D printing?I got into 3D printing, also through my work, in May. I learned Solidworks, the program I used to design the Grizzly, through a month-long introductory course online. It gave me a great basis to work from, and I found that the more stuff I drew, the more learned.Why did you print the Grizzly rifle?I printed the Grizzly as a personal and technical challenge. The inspiration came from the work Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed did with AR-15 lower receivers and the Liberator pistol.Is the Grizzly rifle actually rifled?The barrel of Grizzy 1.0 was a smooth bore. Version 2.0 has a rifled bore, though the bullet barely touches it as it shoots out. I believe the rifling would melt or get destroyed if it were designed to the exact specs of a real bore. Another difference between the two rifles is that 2.0’s barrel is 50 percent larger.View full post on YoutubeDid you get professional feedback on your designs?I don’t know if I would call it professional feedback, but I did receive a lot of feedback on the design process I posted on the DEFCAD forum [associated with Wilson’s Defense Distributed] and a Canadian gun forum. Some ideas I have tried and some not, and some I intend to try.Was it difficult to get the Grizzly to fire?Getting the rifle to work was really just trial and error. The first issue was light primer strikes, so I had to alter the geometry of the hammer and trigger. Next, I tried an acetone treatment to smoothen out the bore. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I nearly melted it! Finally, the barrel of Grizzly 1.0 ended up cracking because it was too small.What do you have planned for the future?I may try a semiautomatic gun, but I will first need to solve the issue of hot bullet casings melting the plastic in the chamber. I may try either a full liner or a smaller chamber liner; people on the forums have been suggesting both. I was also thinking about replaceable 3D-printed liners to cut down on barrel costs.Is this just a hobby, or could the open sourcing of 3D designs affect the gun industry?I could see the 3D printing guns leading to new designs from major manufacturers, but only once the technology gets a little better. For now, I really see it as a hobbyist tool.
