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Originally Posted by elysiantraveller
Your issue is density, inertia, and energy.
Sure is possible to throw plastic fast enough to offset those problems but that just requires more propellant and pressure then becomes the enemy.
It's interesting and in sure there would be sweet spots for performance within the allowable tolerances... sounds like something more for hobbyists or engineers though and much less a practical way of causing harm to anything.
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I admit I am not a gun person and only looked at the problem from an engineering point of view. Gun enthusiasts are naturally looking for a very "close" approximation. I suspect eventually, but only a rough one is available now or soon.
However if the costs and manufacturing skills are lessened, these plastic weapons will be used on a more widespread basis.
Technology like cell phones and computers are rapidly taken up by kids, usually quicker then their parents. Regulations will be tougher to enforce.
Technology advances faster than anticipated. A double edged sword. These 3D "printers" were basically unknown 10 years ago. Although some large concerns used "Stereolithography" (SLA), since the 1980s's,. called Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies, their offshoots flourish today.
Give the technology another 10 years and my guess is almost anything including high muzzle velocity weapons will arrive.
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Originally used with plastics and polymers, recent innovations include a type of 3D metal printing as an additive process that uses a laser beam to melt micron layers of metal powder
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