Can You 3d Print An Upper Receiver?

Can You 3d Print An Upper Receiver? It seems like 3d printing is everywhere these days. We can use it to print everything from clothing to food, and even guns! But what about the upper receiver? Is there a way to print an AR-15 upper receiver at home? The answer, unfortunately, is no.

There are many parts that go into making an AR-15 rifle including the lower receiver which houses all of the weapon’s working components.

So unless you’re willing to put in time and effort learning how to make one part at a time on your own or find someone else who will teach you how, you’ll have to buy one online or take your chances with whatever pops up on eBay.

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Can you 3d print an upper receiver?

It seems like 3d printing is everywhere these days. We can use it to print everything from clothing to food, and even guns! But what about the upper receiver? Is there a way to print an AR-15 upper receiver at home?

The answer, unfortunately, is no.

There are many parts that go into making an AR-15 rifle including the lower receiver which houses all of the weapon’s working components.

Can you 3d print an upper receiver?

Yes, but it’s easier to start by brazing (welding) or silver soldering smaller parts into a jig that your build from.

This is how the original Colt M4 was built and they’re still running strong today.

What about printing my lower?

That really depends on what you mean exactly and how you define “printing”. As long as you can machine it, there’s no reason why you couldn’t mill or lathe your lower from a solid billet of aluminum.

If we’re talking about using a 3d printer to form the shape and get relatively close to the finished product… possibly. But this would definitely not be cost-effective.

As far as strength, I’d estimate something like 80% of the strength you’d get out of a forged upper.

If printing or forming ABS plastic (even with complex shapes) would yield 100% of the strength then just about anything that can machine aluminum could also 3d print it at the same time.

How long does it take to print a AR 15?

It depends on how big it is and what kind of printer you have.

I’m assuming a standard FDM style 3d printer, not a resin-based printer like the FormLabs series or something similar.

You can get parts printed in under an hour if your machine is fast enough and you use high-resolution settings, but these are usually very small parts. 30 minutes to an hour for something bigger… it all depends on the detail, the thickness of the layers, and infill density.

What about cost?

Another difficult question is because there are so many variables.

If you have access to a high-end printer like the Fortus 900mc (Dimensions are 39.3″x29.8″x47″) with high-quality filament it would be pretty cheap to print out smallish parts like the buffer tube, charging handle, or lower receiver, but if you go big enough to hold anything useful it’s going to cost some serious cash in material and time.

These printers run about $75,000 and filament runs about $30,000 per kilogram.

Most of the lower receivers I’ve seen printed have been on a smaller machine like a Printrbot for example, which costs around $1,300 new or you can get one used from someone who wanted to upgrade for around $700-$800. These machines are more suited for smaller parts and details so if you want to print your lower receiver, expect to spend a LOT of time on it. Some people have reported printing their lowers over the course of 5-6 months…

If you’re an experienced 3d printer (you’ve printed one or more guns before) and you already own a machine like this then go nuts, take your time and make something awesome. If you’re trying to get it done within say the next couple of months (like for Christmas or 3d printed gun week) then I’d advise against printing an AR-15 lower receiver unless you plan on leaving it unfinished with unpolished layers, bad interior finish work, etc. That would still probably take you months to complete if not a year or more.

Printing an unfinished lower receiver would be a little like trying to build your own car from one of those model kits, only after everything is done and assembled it isn’t drivable…

How do I print my gun? Are we allowed to 3d print guns?

I’m going to assume you’re printing something like an AR-15 and not a full auto (select-fire) AK-47 or M16 because those require special licenses and tax stamps to own.

There are multiple ways to do it, but we strongly suggest that you start by making a test jig that your build from.

It’s the safest way to make something like this because if anything goes wrong (if you slip during milling for example) then there’s no need to worry about ruining a $1,000 firearm part… Just make another one.

Take our advice and don’t try 3d printing any firearm parts unless you have some experience working with metal or plastics in general. Filament-based printers cannot replicate certain properties of metals so expect problems if you’re a novice.

Can You 3d Print An Upper Receiver? (cre: thefirearmblog)

What kinds of problems?

The two most common materials used in ‘filament’ based 3d printers are ABS and PLA.

If you use either of these materials to print anything that must hold tolerances (parts that fit together) then there’s going to be some problems.

Depending on the setup this can be anything from cosmetic work like filling seams with Bondo or touching up paint, all the way to leaving an unfinished lower receiver and calling it a day because you don’t want to risk ruining something important by trying to mill it yourself.

Another problem is strength vs rigidity when dealing with metal parts that have complex shapes or moving components such as springs and cams etc.

It’s just not possible to print something like that with material thin enough to make it strong but not flexible. That’s why the only printed AR-15 lowers I’ve seen were solid blocks of plastic with little or no moving parts.

I want to know more about this lower receiver printing process

If you’re really interested in making your next build a 3d printed one then you will probably find this article interesting: “Toward an Open Platform for Prosthetic Orthotic Production”.

It was written by two hobbyists who are using 3d printers and free open-source software to manufacture customized replacement limbs for people who don’t have them…

If you read all 62 pages of their work so far, you’d have a general idea of what’s involved with printing most of the parts that make up a 3d printed AR-15 lower receiver.

If you’re not familiar with printing things from files then be sure to read this entire article before attempting anything, if you don’t have any experience working with CAD programs or downloading models from Thingiverse.com then it’s going to be very difficult for you to understand all the material and requirements involved…

Can You 3d Print An Upper Receiver? (cre: businessinsider)

What is a ‘free’ file? And why can’t I find one for a printed firearm?

Do a search on CNCguns.com and you’ll find an AR-15 lower receiver model which was designed by us.

The description says “Download free files to print your own cncguns LLC AR 15 lowers”, but what does that mean exactly?

It means that the file is available for free to download, but it must be noted that you do not retain ownership of anything you make from a free 3d model. You may use the file(s) as many times as you like to create your own prints and parts but it does NOT belong to you no matter what.

The reason we set those parameters is that if some company wants to mass-produce our ‘free’ model on their $10k-$100k+ 3d printers then they can without any royalty fees or licensing costs…

They don’t have to ask us if they can use our files or pay us so long as their production quantity falls under the 100 unit limit we’ve set. This helps keep CNCguns.com free for hobbyists so they can continue to share our work without spending money.

One good example of an open-source license is the GNU GPL.

When you download a file from Thingiverse.com or Makerbot’s ‘thing’ library, it comes with one of these licenses attached to it which explains how you are allowed to use the file and what not… look for the download agreement below the download button on anything you want to print.

The lower receiver model found at CNCguns.com is under GNU GPL V3 license, which basically means you have full access to modify, duplicate, distribute or sell prints but if your final product contains 100% original material (meaning all parts were printed by yourself) then it only has to contain background information that states where the file originally came from, not necessarily this website.

If that’s too complicated then just remember that if you intend on selling prints of our work (or someone else) to make money… be sure they’ve modified it somehow so they can claim their own copyright/authorship or use a 3d printing service like Shapeways.com instead of creating their own Thingiverse account to upload designs for public download.

The reason for this is because sites like MakerBot and Shapeways allow you to sell things while Thingiverse does not without uploading it under your user name (and thus losing ownership).

Can You 3d Print An Upper Receiver? (cre: quora)

3D printed AR barrel shroud/heat shield

The printed part is made of ABS, it has been acetone vapor smoothed.

It is currently mounted on an AR-15 upper receiver. Print time was about 9hrs. Post-processing with acetone took about 4 hrs.

The gun had no issue cycling with the new shroud installed, though I do not plan to use it for any extended sessions.

I will be making a second version that is hollowed out with cooling holes, as well as installing rails along the top and bottom edge to mount attachment points, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaearjQUwk4

Conclusion

We’ve shown you the process of 3d printing an AR-15 upper receiver. If you want to print your own gun, check out this article for instructions on how to do so!

Although it is legal in most states with some restrictions, please be aware that there are still risks involved when manufacturing a firearm at home or attempting to make any other homemade weapon. Be safe and think before printing anything!

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