Market for 3d printed mags?

[cactusjack]

I would like some serious feedback on this idea...

Do you guys feel you would pay for 3d printed mags? If so,what would the price point be to justify buying a 3d printed mag? Lets us ar15 mags as an example in this scenario.

Beyond ar15 mags and price point, what are your thoughts on other magazines that could be 3d printed that would be successful?

[nn21]

I suspect your issue would be durability and printing method. Sure, you could probably fdm print a magazine and have it work (I've printed a few basepads and they function fine but get beat up pretty quickly) for a while. I wouldn't expect it to hold up to much abuse, however. Mags have pretty thin walls that would make the print be nothing more than a couple layers thick. Add on that the mag would have to be printed vertically and I'd be seriously concerned about layer bond strength and the mag body shearing.

Now, I could certainly see a sls/sla printed part working and holding up just fine. The problem you run into at that point is cost. I dont see a sls/sla printed magazine being anywhere near competitive in the market against pmags. I dont see any advantages of a printed magazine over a regular pmag other than trying to cut cost. I dont see that happening for quite some time. Just my two cents

[Bigtwin]

I would pay you three fifty for said mags.....not a penny more!

[Cokebottle]

Ya...
AR mags are cheap to mass produce. No way you could build a durable mag, sell it for less than $15, and make a profit.

The market would be for some of the vintage guns where 10rd mags are not available, or for modern guns where it is not practical to block them to 10.

[xxINKxx]

You can buy pmags now days for $8 (free state version) Theres too many cheap durable plastic mags on the market that are hard to beat. I would rather have injection molded mag over some 3d printed thing.

[17+1]

Injection molding or stamping is way cheaper and stronger then 3D printing. Just buy p mag or GI metal mags.

I printed a magazine body, follower, and base plate at the objet/stratasys 3D printer training class I did. Wasn't anywhere near the strength as a p mag.

[tradecraft]

Maybe SCAR mags

[sonofeugene]

3D printing is fine for prototyping, but not for magazines. And I use vendors that use machines costing 100,000 and up. The ones most people can afford are toys.

[The Shootist]

Like others have said op I don't see a market for magazines as they are already cheap, reliable, and proven. It would be a hard sell to me.

[billped]

3D printers are the wrong tool for the job. It's like using a screwdriver as a hammer. You could, but why?

[deephouse]

You'd probably make more money making mag extensions. people pay $10 for AR mags all day long and then they go and pay $30 for a +2, +3 extension. Think about it.... don't limit yourself to the CA market...


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[sonofeugene]

Inexpensive printers are completely inadequate for most final products. And the parts from the high quality, expensive printers are going to be far too expensive to be able to sell and make money.

I design parts for injection molding and use high end printing technologies for prototypes. They use the latest materials printed at extremely high resolution. Even using the latest expensive machines and materials, the parts are still limited in their functionality and are very expensive. One can't get a really usable part or reasonably priced part until you go to injection molding. Fact.

[NPFreedom]

Durability is the main concern. I am not caught up on 3D printing but some materials are real strong these days.

AR mags are cheap ($10-$15), so its hard to make a profit from that. Maybe you can try out less popular mags. Try to find some that are now readily available in 10 rounders.

[17+1]

Inexpensive printers are completely inadequate for most final products. And the parts from the high quality, expensive printers are going to be far too expensive to be able to sell and make money.

I design parts for injection molding and use high end printing technologies for prototypes. They use the latest materials printed at extremely high resolution. Even using the latest expensive machines and materials, the parts are still limited in their functionality and are very expensive. One can't get a really usable part or reasonably priced part until you go to injection molding. Fact.

This has been my experience as well.

The company I was working for spent some bucks on the objet 260 they bought. We would use the printer for product development and then injection mold the parts for production. The printer was absolutely amazing though, well worth the money! Objet came out with the color version right after we bought ours.

Some vendor chimped out on me on here when I said 3D printing isn't good for production...by the look of their products, they're using a fairly cheap printer. Also, I saw what they were charging. For a part like that, you could mold it for a few cents maybe a dollar a piece.

[sonofeugene]

Fit and function are big concerns as well. Most cheap printers are only capable of low resolution. This means rough surfaces that will increase friction between the follower and the mag and between the rounds and the mag. Also, if the feed lips are plastic, then printed materials likely won't hold up.

Too many people think that they can buy an inexpensive printer and go into business for themselves. The goal is noble but the reality is different.