A new type of bullet has been developed that will allow 3D-printed guns to remain intact after firing shots.
The creator, 25-year-old machinist Michael Crumling, gave his lead bullets, called the .314 Atlas rounds, thicker shells and had them inserted an inch inside so that it would be deep enough for the shell to contain explosions from gunpowder, according to Wired. The force of the explosion would otherwise be sent to the gun's plastic body or the barrel.
Crumling said the design is intended to let owners of home-printed firearms fire rounds repeatedly without cracking or breaking the gun's body.
"It's a really simple concept: It's kind of a barrel integrated into the shell, so to speak," he explained. "Basically it removes all the stresses and pressures from the 3-D printed parts. You should be able to fire an unlimited number of shots through the gun without replacing any parts other than the shell."
The fragility of 3D-printed guns is often due to their plastic bodies, which make these firearms prone to blowing up, The Verge reported.
Crumling used a $400 Printrbot to print his gun and only had to spend 27 cents on materials used to build the rounds. However, it takes an hour to make each round.
The York, Pennsylvania native added that the main reason for creating the bullets was so that people would eventually be able to print semi-automatic weapons, Wired reported.
"This is a building block for the future of 3-D printed firearms that will enable people to develop semiautomatic and- if you had the proper legal paperwork- even fully automatic weapons."
The .314 Atlas round is the most recent creation aimed at solving the problem of fragile 3D-printed firearms, with others including a weapon 3D-printed from metal that can reportedly fire over 50 rounds, according to The Verge.
There are currently no plans to sell the bullets, but Crumling is allowing people to go on his website to look at the plans for the rounds.
