3D Printing Getting Started Guide, FAQ, Videos, and More

This guide is designed to give the reader an understanding of the process of making 3D printed guns, and also serves as an an easy-to-follow path to building 3D printed guns in one’s own home or workshop. Here you’ll find the information and resources necessary to gain an idea of the time, tools, and materials required to successfully arm oneself outside of bureaucratic constraints.

En Bloc Press considers the right to arms a fundamental aspect of individual liberty, and views attempts by powerful people to disarm the common citizen with great suspicion. The information on these pages serves to frustrate the efforts of the anti-gun bureaucrat, to further demoralize the progressive bugman, and to degrade the efficacy of enforcement agencies.

Legal Warning Be aware of the laws in your jurisdiction and act as you see fit. 3D printing a firearm is generally legal in the United States, but your state or local laws may vary. We are not offering legal advice. Consult an attorney if you are unclear on the laws governing your possession or manufacture of a 3D printed firearm (or don't). This website does not host any 3D gun files, nor do we engage in the sales of any firearms or firearm components.

Typical Workflow & Steps

Read This First

Deterrence Dispensed: Getting Your First 3D-Printer and How To Use It

Learn where you should buy the 3d-printer, how to properly assemble it, which upgrades improve it the most, and how to get the most effective use from it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does a Printer Cost?

The recommended printer – the Creality Ender 3 – usually costs between $175-$225 depending on the vendor and whether there are any discounts available.

Where Should I Buy From?

We suggest you purchase from the Creality official website or the Creality official AliExpress page. Be careful ordering from sites like Amazon because you may get an older printer from a storage facility instead of one with the latest firmware.

How Long Does It Take To Assemble the Printer?

A Creality Ender 3 only takes about an hour to setup for a new user. Do yourself a favor and watch the setup video in the Getting Started Guide.

Where Can I Find 3D Gun Files?

How Long Does It Take To Print A Gun Frame?

Print times will vary with your printer model and settings, but expect larger prints (things like Glock frames, AR-15 receivers, and Tec-9 receivers) to take ~15-28 hours on a Creality Ender 3.

How Much Space Do I Need?

To comfortably print on a Creality Ender 3, you’ll need about a 2′ x 2′ square surface, and about 30″ of clearance to fit the frame and spool of filament on top. Your surface should be level and stable. The printer won’t do well on carpet or wobbly surfaces.

Is It Legal to Sell What I Print?

No. It’s only legal to manufacture firearms for sale if you have a Type 07 Federal Firearms License.

Why Is It Called a Ghost Gun?

Because they’re spooky. 3D printed and craft-made guns generally don’t have serial numbers. This makes such firearms “untraceable,” and scares the media and gun control lobby.

What Material Do I Print With?

There are a lot of different types of filaments to print with. Probably the most widely used for gun printing is a material called “PLA+”. If you’re just getting going, PLA+ is a really good starting point and offers a great mix of being easy to work with and producing quality parts.

You’ll probably see other materials mentioned (PETG, Nylon, “Carbon Fiber”) but just stick with PLA+ to start.

How Many Guns Can I Print From a Spool of PLA+ Filament?

You can expect to get five or six Glock 17 frames from a 2.2lb (1kg) spool of eSun PLA+ 1.75mm filament.

What Brand of Filament Should I Buy?

eSUN 1.75mm PLA+ has widely produced good results and is used by many people in the community. It can be purchased on Amazon and is usually $25-$30 a spool. En Bloc Press has no affiliation with eSun, but we do use their product and have been happy with it.

Do I *Have* To Get a Creality Ender 3 Printer?

No. There are plenty of options for 3D printers. But the Creality Ender 3 is probably the most commonly used printer in the 3D gun printing community, and a lot of the design files and documentation/instructions are designed for the Ender 3. The Ender 3 will be the most supported, but you can buy whatever you want as long as the bed is big enough.

Is There A Group For This Stuff?

Yes. Deterrence Dispensed is probably the largest and most active 3D gun printing group right now. If you have questions or want to be involved in a group chat about 3D printing, you’ll want to find Deterrence Dispensed on the Keybase app.

Given the nature 3D guns, major platforms like Facebook or Twitter will not support Deterrence Dispensed, and so they operate off of major platforms.

Keybase is an encrypted chat app for teams and is currently home to the 13,000+ members of the Det_Disp chat.

Find Det_Disp HERE. Be sure to read the rules before posting.

Deterrence Dispensed Chat Considerations

There are currently over 13,000 people in the Det_Disp chat. This means a few things for you:

Do your homework. Your question has probably been asked before. Don’t spam the chat with questions answered in the rules or FAQ.
There are cops there. Think about what you say or share.
Probably a good idea to avoid posting pictures with identifying marks like tattoos, addresses, license plates in your garage, mailbox numbers, landmarks in the background, your printer serial number, etc.
Strip your metadata before uploading any image files. Google It.

How Do I Design My Own Stuff?

You’ll need to learn computer-aided design (CAD) using a program like Fusion 360. Learning to design 3D files is outside the scope of this guide, and I’ll refer you to the excellent Ctrl+Pew’s guide on learning to CAD, found here.

Helpful Videos

Taking the time to watch these ahead of time will give you a huge advantage when stepping into 3D printing. Invest the time and you will have a much more enjoyable experience with much less frustration and re-work than you otherwise might.

Initial Assembly

Leveling the Bed

Initial Upgrades

Silent Motherboard Upgrade

Initial Unboxing and Assembly

Watch this video before putting together your Ender 3. It will stop you from making common mistakes and will get you started off on the right foot. Required viewing!

Leveling the Bed

If your bed is not level, your print will fail. This can be daunting the first time you set it up, but it’s 100% necessary. Take the time and do it right. You will not be able to make anything — let alone a firearm frame — unless your print bed is level.

Initial Upgrades

You don’t have to do all of these upgrades, but we’d suggest doing a few of them. The fan cover and filament guide are extremely useful. And the small projects are a good way to practice your printing without a huge block of time being committed.

Silent Motherboard Upgrade

Upgrading the motherboard is by no means required, but it’s a nice upgrade. It’s relatively simple and quiets down the printer quite a bit. It also adds thermal runaway protection which makes it safer to leave your printer unattended.