Is this the first 3D-printed BULLET? YouTube video shows range of homemade ammunition being fired

Three 3D-printed guns are shown being fired from a Mossberg 590 shotgun

Each bullet is a different weight and shape and is fired at targets of various thickness



A video showing what is thought to be first ever 3D-printed bullet being fired has appeared on YouTube.



In the video, from user Taofledermaus, three bullets of different weights and shapes are fired at various targets using a Mossberg 590 shotgun.



According to the video, each plastic pellet has been 3D-printed. A small lead shot was then added to give the bullet weight.



In the YouTube video, uploaded by Taofledermaus, three different 3D-printed bullets are fired at various targets. The first bullet, pictured, weighed four tenths of an ounce. A small lead shot was added to each bullet to give it weight as it travels through the air

Each of the three 3D-printed bullets were loaded into shotgun casing and fired using a Mossberg 590 gun. In this screenshot, the shooter - YouTube user JackIsMyCopilot - is shown loading the bullets into the gun

THE £16 3D-PRINTED GUN

Earlier this week a working plastic gun, printed using a self-assembled 3D printer, a nail and some household screws, successfully fired nine shots. The gun, based on blueprints made available online by Defense Distributed last month, cost just $25 (£16) to make and fired the .38 caliber shots by the Wisconsin engineer who built it. Up until now, the blueprints for the 'Liberator' gun have been mainly printed using industrial-grade 3D printers that cost around £5,250 ($8,000). This latest gun is one of the first to be 3D printed using the much cheaper Lulzbot A0-101 3D printer - a printer that can be bought online, assembled at home and costs £1,136 ($1,725). Because the gun is made entirely from plastic it makes it possible to carry the gun through airport security metal detectors, for example, without being found out. Earlier this month, the Mail On Sunday tested this theory by smuggling a version of the Liberator gun onto a Eurostar train.

In the video, Taofledermaus is heard saying: 'Y ou've heard of a 3D-printed gun? How about 3D-printed bullets.'

He goes on to explain that YouTube user ArtisanTony printed a 'couple of shotgun pellets' with the first weighing about four tenths of an ounce.

Taofledermaus adds that a small piece of lead shot is added to the casing to give the bullet enough weight to travel and pierce the target.

Each pellet took an hour to print and is fitted into a traditional shotgun case.



In the video, YouTube user JackIsMyCopilot is shown firing the first bullet using a Mossberg 590 shotgun aimed at a dartboard, perched above a wooden table in a field.

The bullet goes through the dartboard, and through the plastic cans its resting on.

In a second experiment the pair are shown firing another bullet, this time weighing five tenths of an ounce, at a block of wood with a target on it.

The second bullet fired in the YouTube video weighed five tenths of an ounce. It also had a small lead shot added and was fitted to a shotgun casing. This bullet was nicknamed the Red Rocket

The Red Rocket 3D-printed bullet was fired at a target attached to a plank of wood. The wood was rested up against a wooden table. The bullet appeared to bounce off the plank, yet when the Taofledermaus inspected the wood he discovered it not only pierced the plank, (pictured) it also pierced the wooden table behind it

This second bullet, nicknamed in the video as the Red Rocket, had a honeycomb-design with strips of plastic.

In the video, the bullet hits the target but doesn't appear to pierce it, instead it looks as if the bullet bounces off.

Taofledermaus goes on to explain the reason the Red Rocket didn't pierce the wood is because of the 'stability problem that's common with a bullet not shot through a rifle barrel.'

Adding 'It goes on the path of least resistance, and this path is usually sideways' and this is known



However, when Taofledermaus examines the piece of wood he finds that the bullet not only pierced the plank of wood, but it also pierced the wooden table holding the plank of wood upright.



He's heard saying: 'That's amazing. I didn't expect that. That was pretty awesome.

'Even though it hit sideways, it still went through.'

A third bullet with three points on the end, nicknamed the 'Tri-Factor round', is then shown being fired at a polystyrene mannequin head on the wooden table.



The bullet hits the top of the head, knocking it off the table, but then ricochets off behind.

The third 3D-printed bullet, nicknamed the Tri-Factor because it has three points on the end, was fired in the YouTube video at a polystyrene mannequin head

The Tri-Factor bullet performed the weakest of the three 3D-printed bullets. It hit the polystyrene mannequin target before bouncing off sideways. This may have been because the head was knocked off the table, due to its light weight, before the bullet could penetrate

Earlier this week a working plastic gun, printed using a self-assembled 3D printer, a nail and some household screws, successfully fired nine shots.

The gun, based on blueprints made available online by Defense Distributed last month, cost just $25 (£16) to make and fired the .38 caliber shots by the Wisconsin engineer who built it.

Up until now, the blueprints for the 'Liberator' gun have been mainly printed using industrial-grade 3D printers that cost around £5,250 ($8,000).

This latest gun is one of the first to be 3D printed using the much cheaper Lulzbot A0-101 3D printer - a printer that can be bought online, assembled at home and costs £1,136 ($1,725).

Because the gun is made entirely from plastic it makes it possible to carry the gun through airport security metal detectors, for example, without being found out.

Earlier this month, the Mail On Sunday tested this theory by smuggling a version of the Liberator gun onto a Eurostar train.

As a result, 3D-printed plastic bullets could also be smuggled.



VIDEO: You've seen the 3D-printed gun. Now meet the 3D-printed bullets

