The firearm is a replica of the classic M1911 handgun

Nov 9, 2013 11:31 GMT  ·  By

The world's first full metal and fully working 3D printed gun has been created by Solid Concepts, a manufacturing company that works with several 3D printing techniques.

The company wanted to prove that the method of 3D printing metal that it uses, dubbed selective laser sintering (SLS), could be used to create highly reliable and strong parts, like the ones used by a firearm.

The company's shop in Austin, Texas also holds a Federal Firearms License, so it can legally build custom guns.

Of course, the company could have built many other things with SLS, but none of them would have gotten as much attention as a gun.

Solid Concepts proved their point, they made a replica M1911 pistol that's just as accurate and reliable as the real thing, though the reliability part still has to be tested.

But building a gun is one thing, the fun part is getting to shoot it. So the company turned to a local gun expert to set up a few test fires. The first were remotely operated, using a high-tech string technique, but once the gun proved its worth, it was live tested by actual people.