A German designer has 3D printed a futuristic and functioning M-1 Enforcer airsoft rifle.
The weapon isn’t very powerful or accurate but it does work and marks a big step for the 3D printing and airsoft worlds.
The gun is the work of a young artist who’s known only as Alex, and who shows off his work on his Youtube channel -
‘Printing the Revolution’. His work is all done using 3D modelling software and in the past he’s created a Star Trek Starship Enterprise model as well as Star Wars X-wing and Tie Fighters.
Now he’s mixed his love of 3D modelling with his passion for Airsoft by creating a fantastic M-1 Enforcer airsoft rifle, which was 100 per cent designed, printed, and finished by Alex.
He said the idea came to him while he was thinking about creating a few modifications for his airsoft rifle. “I was going to create a few little parts,” he said, “but the more I thought about it the more I started to think I may as well just print an entire weapon.
“There aren’t many futuristic looking airsoft rifles and I wanted one, so I decided to make it myself. I designed everything myself and just took some inspiration from the movies, games and other stuff. I didn’t look at any design in particular.”
Although Alex spent a lot of time thinking about what his gun would look like he says his main concern was always whether or not it would work.
“My main focus was actually the functionality,” he said. “I wanted to make sure everything was in working order, otherwise what would the point be in making the gun. Luckily once I finished I found it really does work flawlessly.”
The gun isn’t entirely 3D printed though, since Alex admitted to having bought a few parts for it. He decided not to follow in the footsteps of Arnie’s Airsoft user iozjik, who
3D printed an entire airsoft gun, gearbox and all, in June 2014.
“I could have printed every aspect of it, and I did try, but I always had to think about the capabilities of my 3D printer,” he said. “I used an Ultimaker 2 and the maximum dimensions were 22 x 22 x 20cm or something and I had to think about how everything would fit together once it was printed, plus what the tolerance and strength of the pieces would be.
“In the end I realised it would be easier to buy some parts and fit them with the printed parts so I got a commercially available airsoft gearbox, a performance inner barrel, screws, an aluminium outer barrel, and an LED strip.”
While the model, created using TinkerCAD, is able to utilize standard M4 Airsoft magazines it is only considered a toy, with firepower of just 0.5-0.7 Joules in kinetic energy.
So while it’s no substitute for a high quality airsoft rifle it is a
cheap airsoft gun alternative suitable for having a bit of fun with.
If you take airsoft seriously check out our store for more
air rifles, airsoft guns and BB pistols.
