Originally Posted by
okie
The 3d printing doesn't really have anything to do with...well anything really. The basic design is completely ordinary, to the point that you can even form 1 something virtually identical from off the shelf components. MAYBE, and I stress maybe, it offers some weight savings in this case. The problem I always run into though is that while you can design a 3d printed silencer that's a few ounces less than the competition, the competition normally has at least, at a bare minimum, two stainless blast baffles. So what you end up doing is either making the silencer somewhat modular to be able to have a blast baffle, making it all titanium, or simply printing it solid with Inconel (like Delta P does). The solid Inconel and modular route eat up the weight savings and normally add some at that, and the all titanium... Well, who really wants to pay a grand for a can, 200 in stamp, wait 6 months to 2 years, then find out that it's not going to last very long under anything less than ideal conditions. Especially when for a little bit more you can get the latest and greatest Inconel/titanium/stainless hybrid. If and when multi-material metal printers become a thing, then maybe. Don't get me wrong, 3d printing absolutely is the future, and will likely all but replace conventional subtractive methods in the near future. For silencers, though, I don't personally see the utility at this point, with the exception being small batches where it doesn't make sense to tool up machines. Like the MP7 silencer from Delta P, that's a poster child use case for 3d printing since it's such a niche item.
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