Question:
How should I go about bringing my gun design to life?
Hunter
2013-12-20 17:46:11 UTC
I'm 15 and been homeschooled for going on 3 months now. Being that my classes are online I have a ridiculous amount of free time. I've always been fascinated by firearms and know a reasonable amount about them. During these months I've created a design for an urban combat shotgun unlike any shotgun you've seen before ( while remaining fully reasonable and practical).

One thing I want to make clear is that i have no experience with building guns and gunsmithing, and no experience with engineering. I do however have a pretty fair amount of experience with wood working.

Back to the gun, I'm still debating whether to have it close or open bolt, gas, recoil, or blow back operated but the overall design is completed. I'm currently working on creating a 3D mock up in Blender. I plan to get it patented and sometime here in the coming year have a non-firing prototype 3D printed. But once its printed I need some ideas or pointers on how to get the ball rolling from there.

Before before someone goes on about telling me that I'm some ignorant kid who's idea belongs in the fantasy world in which I supposedly live in. Let me make it clear that yes I am young, I am not experienced, I'm completely new to gunsmithing and engineering. But I am not some foolish kid who draws guns and expects them to be quickly and easily made for little money. I understand there are many many things I do not know and that creating a gun is a process better off not rushed and performed by experienced workers.

Believe me this is not just an idea I had one day watching TV, this design has months of creating, trashing, and repeating, invested in it. I think that once completed, this gun could have the same effect on the world as the 1911 or M16 did when the where released.
Seven answers:
Lime Green Medic
2013-12-20 18:53:31 UTC
You are very fortunate. Metallurgy and plastics have come a long way since the days of JMB and the classic designs. You have the advantage of having space-age lightweight materials to work with which have amazing tensile and compressive strength attributes unheard of only about 50 years ago.



However, that being said, you still need to have at least a working knowledge of engineering to be able to understand why certain aspects of your design either a) won't work, or b) have already been tried and won't work.



Finally, you need a much better knowledge of the law than you demonstrate.



For instance -- you're talking about an open bolt design. Were you aware that since about 1988, open bolt semi-auto designs are prohibited for civilian use by the ATF? Because they determined it was too easy to "convert" such designs to fully automatic? So, open bolt is out.



As far as a "new" recoil system: Are you familiar with what has already been done and how? Take a look at the Browning Auto 5 for a shotgun recoil system designed by a master with true engineering skills and NO advantages with modern metals (The Auto-5 was designed by JMB back in 1898, patented 1900, and in production until 1998 - 100 years.)



I know you're eager and excited, but your question is full of ego and not much technical knowledge. I'd say your first step is to, as I said before, STUDY WHAT IS ALREADY IN EXISTENCE. If you're designing a shotgun, then you study the Auto-5, the Remington 1100, the Remington 11-48, the Saiga-12, the Akdal MKA-1919, and even the Atchisson Assault 12 if and when you can find pictures of it, and its modern redesign, the AA-12. Understand innovations and derivative works -- like the difference between the AA-12 and the USAS-12 -- and what works and what doesn't. Especially of intrest could be the Intrepid Tactical AR-12.



Along the way, you definitely need to study Federal law, specifically Title 18 of the United States Code as it pertains to firearms, and Title 26 of the United States Code as it pertains to firearms.



With all of this data, then you study your ammunition, in which case I'm talking about the 12-gauge round. Dimensions. Powder charge. Velocity. Cartridge composition -- what kind of brass? What size is the primer pocket? What material is the hull made of usually? What kind of shotgun wads are available? And most importantly: What dynamic range of loadings, from birdshot to slugs, are available in the 12-gauge configuration and their pressures and velocities, are available?



Then, decide what you want your gun to shoot...all of them? Just the combat loads? Specific ammo?



Understand that your decisions along the way will affect your marketing of this product, and your target sales demographic.



Once you understand the AMMO and the pressures involved, start considering the physics of firearms materials. How thick does your chamber have to be to safely contain those pressures? What margin of safety do you want to build into your shotgun? What materials will you use to contain those pressures? How will you design the tooling to make your receivers/chambers/barrels/other parts efficiently?



Which means you have to go back to knowing what already exists. JMB didn't have CNC machines. His designs were at the start of the industrial revolution, and among other things, he was a machinist. You have the advantage of expert machinists with industrial machinery, presses, mills, CNC 3-axis machines, waterjets, and, as I have just recently mentioned, laser sintering in stainless steel.



Just coming up with a design that looks cool is not "Designing." Don't get me wrong, it's a good start. But don't go patting yourself on the back just yet. You just did the fun part. Now it's time to do your homework so you have something to at the very least, EXPLAIN to an engineer, both so you can actually patent something PATENTABLE and so you can have an engineer take your design from the drawing board and turn it into a working prototype.



Good luck. If your design is all you say it is, I look forward to seeing it in the marketplace.
Squiggy
2013-12-21 02:24:14 UTC
First off, you already received a good answer to essentially the same question THE FIRST TIME YOU ASKED IT THREE WEEKS AGO:



"Every single gun maker has a web site with contact information. If you want to go this route, you should either patent the design or get an attorney to draft up non-disclosure agreements. Your main problems are:

1. Without credentials no company is going to want to go through the legal hoops to even consider talking to you.

2. Every design that a home school kid with time on his hands has thought of probably been though of before."



However, since it wasn't what you wanted to hear, I'm guessing that you didn't pay any attention to it.



Second, you state that, " i have no experience with building guns and gunsmithing, and no experience with engineering. I do however have a pretty fair amount of experience with wood working." AND you haven't even figured out what the operating system is going to be, NOR do you even know if this contraption is going to operate.



This leads me to a few conclusions. Whatever your groundbreaking design is, I'll bet that:

1. It is NOT an original design, it has been tried before and not put into production for various reasons.

2. If it COULD possibly operate.

3. It is far more complicated than it needs to be.

4. You will NEVER get it to work because you have no idea what you are doing.



AND 5. You are some ignorant kid who's idea belongs in the fantasy world in which I supposedly live in as well as being some foolish kid who draws guns and expects them to be quickly and easily made for little money.
?
2013-12-21 01:53:03 UTC
You don't mention anything about knowing how to operate guns, or if you frequently shoot guns at all. If you don't then I highly recommend learning how. Once you have operated all the different types of guns you will start to put together what it practical for your operation.



I also suggest that you learn about guns. Everything you can, from operation to loading shells. This knowledge will help you design parts sturdy enough to hold up against what you are planning.



I also suggest that you begin by modifying already manufactured guns. Starting from scratch will be much more difficult in your basement without high tech cutting machines.



And please find a safe way to test these modifications. Guns are rated for certain amounts of powder and other factors go into making the rounds that they fire. Fooling around with them can be extremely dangerous.



You might consult with a local gun smith if you can find any or, talk to some online.
Pookie McGurk
2013-12-21 02:47:06 UTC
There's already a very reliable, simple, recoil-operated self-loading semiauto shotgun that works VERY well and therefore has been in production for over 100 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Auto-5



When I was 12 years old, I came up with a revolutionary design for a drive mechanism that needed no linkage or differentials, would slip and/or stall under an overload without breaking stuff and tat would provde smooth, continuous power under normal operation. I thought that I had changed he world for the better! Then we bought our first John Deere combine with Hydrostatic Drive.



Believe me, Junior . . . it's been done before.
MrMossberg500
2013-12-21 03:05:52 UTC
Open bolt won't work as well unless you plan on making it full-auto. Gas operation makes things smoother when firing. "blowback" designs are often heavier than recoil-operated or gas/piston designs, which would be problematic. look at current designs to get ideas, like Benelli's inertia system for example. perhaps you cand find a flaw or improvement to the design without infringing on patent rights. also, consider your market. is it military, civilian, etc.
Brennan
2013-12-21 02:16:38 UTC
Its hard to say not knowing exactly how radical and complex your design is and whether you will have a base platform that you will be modifying or completely fabricating all the parts from scratch. I would probobly visit some gunsmiths and machine shops with your design and non functioning prototype and see what it would take for them to help you fabricate an actual functioning firearm.
?
2013-12-22 18:20:19 UTC
One other thing you might do . Make friends with a local gun smith . someone knowledgeable. bounce ideas off him then sit back and take notes .. For the fun of it google aa12 shotgun .


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...