Cody Wilson fires his 3D-printed handgun, the Liberator
Cody Wilson, of Defense Distributed in Austin, Texas, fires a handgun manufactured entirely of 3D-printed parts, in a screenshot from a YouTube demonstration video.
Defense Distributed has already made plans for this open-source weapon -- dubbed a Wiki Weapon -- available online for free, and continues to refine and test the design to improve reliability.
Defense Distributed's 3D-printed weapon, the Liberator, is seen here mounted on a metal holder during testing at a secret location outside of Austin, Texas.
The parts for the Liberator are almost completely 3D printed. The only nonplastic components of the weapon are the firing pin -- a standard metal nail -- and a six-ounce piece of steel whose function is to make the gun spottable with a metal detector. (The U.S. Undetectable Firearms Act, which is set to expire at the end of 2013, prohibits weapons that don't set off a metal detector.)
