Welcome to the Guncad Digest! This newsletter will regularly round up the best and most interesting 3D2A releases, betas and news.
If you want the Guncad Digest delivered straight to your inbox, you can subscribe to this Substack.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Reddit, where we’ll post notifications when a new issue of the Digest is live!
In today’s issue:
Suppressor Smorgasbord Sunday:
By a nice coincidence, this newsletter drops on a Sunday, so we get to revive the old Suppressor Sunday verbiage for this roundup of new DIY suppressor releases - and there’s a lot of them!
Indeed, the NFA Day of Defeat has led to a truly astonishing amount of suppressor designs and remixes getting dropped. Here are some of them:
Tisha, FAUXWRX, FAUXDIE and More from “Z”
By pure volume, a developer known only as “Z” has released several suppressor designs across many different calibers. The most popular one looks to be the Tisha, so named because its outer design looks similar to the commercial product, which he has rapidly iterated up to V5.2. Also available are the FAUXWRX, designed after the HUBWRX, and the FAUXDIE, patterned after the Ridgeback Rhodie 6J.
The latter two seem to originate as FTN designs, while the Tisha appears to be original - in any case, all have been through several iterations as the devs tweaks and customizes them. Very cool!
Red Bull .22 from FTN Team
Next up is the Redbull22 Gen 2, an update to a design from about a year ago, which mounts .22LR baffles inside a Redbull can. This Gen2 update replaces the old internls with those from the FTN.6 Rimfire Elite, and includes a centerline version for rifle use. Nothing says DIY than an energy drink can on your gun!
EZ Cans Gets an Update
Kaewon’s EZ Cans got an update to version 1.4, adding FTN.6 baffles for .22LR and 9mm, along with a handful of other changes.
As a reminder, the EZ Can system is essentially a pack of printable baffles and cores meant to be installed in commercially available metal shells of various kinds. Lots of cool options here for folks not looking to go totally full DIY!
Saturn Suppressor Hose Clamp Update and More
We’re celebrating the NFA defeat by updating even the oldest designs! The Saturn Suppressor, released in 2021, is probably not the first printed suppressor, but it’s the earliest one I can remember. This update by Guns.4.U adds a hose clamp to help better secure it on your barrel.
New “EX1” Print-In-Place Suppressor from Grixxly
From GrixxlyPrints comes the EX1, a single-piece print-in-place suppressor design supporting 9mm, 5.56 and .22 calibers. The only assembly required is to install a thread adapter, otherwise it’s print-and-play.
This leans quite nicely into a concept I’ve been writing about, which is how the NFA defeat has made suppressors “disposable” - not in the sense of trash, or of having no longevity, but in the sense that suppressors are now so easy to print that you can genuinely print new ones after each range session without feeling bad about it.
Escape from Tarkov in Style with Fossprey 9
Finally, the Fossprey 9 from Kruscle again remixes an FTN design into having SilencerCo Osprey style aesthetics, which undoubtedly looks cool as fuck.
These are just some of the recent suppressor designs that have come out - there are many more! There was a time where it was almost impossible to get people to test suppressors, because who wants to spend $200 on a totally untested design? The world is very different now - if you see a design you like, grab it, print it, test it and report back!
New Releases:
In this section, we cover new file releases that we find notable. If something catches your interest, go download and start printing!
Plissken’s Plinker Puts Big PP In Your Hand
Fresh from the Bullpen comes a new entry in the Macs that Look Like Macs pantheon, and one that deliberately calls back to the halcyon days of the 1980s. The Plissken’s Plinker is a Mac-11 pistol lower that uses an OEM parts kit and Sten mags!
Also included is an FTN remix with a pic rail, so you can mount an optic on it, just like Snake!
Based on the credits I think this is an iteration of the old Gunny Mac design that first emerged from AWCY in 2021! I love seeing old projects get rescued.
Easy DIY Target Stand Base
Every so often a man gets an urge to shoot at an actual target, instead of dirt or trash. But target bases are expensive! No more, thanks to developer Ryan Hoff, who brings us the COPYCAT.
The idea is straightforward - two printed connectors allow you to mount common 1” x 2” furring strips into a target stand. It’s all held together with wing screws, making setup and takedown a breeze.
You can make a bunch of these for easy and cheap, allowing you to set up your own IPSC stage in your shooting bay. This means you all now have one fewer excuse to suck at competition. Get printing!
Loosen Tough Clogs with the BullPlunger
Another one for the “weird shit” file, in this case perhaps literally! Developer HeavyRainBuilds of Stience fame brings us the BullPlunger, which is best described as an airgun built around a pneumatic toilet plunger.
For those of you not as prone to record dumps, a pneumatic plunger uses compressed air to break up stubborn clogs. It is the unique genius of 3D2A that we see such a tool and think: what if I could shoot stuff with it instead?
HeavyRain didn’t release any media, but here’s a video by an other developer who built something similar. No ammo has yet been released either - this is left as an exercise for the reader to DIY.
Updates:
In this section we will mention updates to major releases - fixes, new variants, etc.
Hoffman Provides Comprehensive Guide to Troubleshooting Trigger Kicker
The Trigger Kicker has, from my point of view, been an unmitigated success. It spread across the gun world like wildfire and is now being resold at many quality vendors, and of course from Hoffman himself!
This popularity has of course led to Hoffman being deluged with troubleshooting requests - this video was made to help stem that flow. For 30 minutes our boy goes over every possible issue with the current Kicker design, and sprinkles in notes about future developments as well.
Give it a watch and remember to always, always support Hoffman!
SBR Your Decker with GBS Add-Ons
Most Deckers are built as pistols, but now that the NFA has been decisively cucked, you can officially build one as an SBR!
These add-ons from developer GBS give you all you need. GBS also developed the Decker Bolt-Thru, and it appears these mods are designed to be compatible with that.
As always, find Decker kits at 3D2A!
Printable Template for Menendez Mag v3 Feed Lips
This is a small release, but a cool one. It’s a printable tracing template to help you trace the right shape for DIY Menendez Mag v3 feed lips.
The bending jig is already included in the v3 release files, but prior to this release you had to figure out how to cut the blank yourself. Every little bit helps and it’s small releases like this that make the world more DIY.
New Betas:
In this section we round up recently opened betas. Help support development by joining these betas and testing!
UMP-VO Detent Delay Remix Enters Public Beta
We caught this one right as we went to press! After months of edging us, FoapsFiles has finally released his remix of the UMP-VO for open beta! What’s the story here?
There are two main additions: detent delay action and super safe compatibility. Detent delay is achieved through the now-familiar mechanism of spring-loaded ball detents interacting with the bolt, which provides a smoother shooting experience and reduces bolt bounce. This in turn allows safer super safe operation with a modified slip trip!
This has been extensively tested and is now ready for you to try it out yourself. Download today and get blasting!
Integral Suppressor Mod for Urutau Mk2
What’s better than a one stamp gun? That’s right, a no stamp gun, because the NFA is cucked (I’m not going to get tired of mentioning this).
This project by sortotte creates a suppressor for the Urutau Mk2, based off the Fossprey 9 mentioned above, which mounts to the gun’s frame instead of threads onto the muzzle. This extends the overall length of the gun by some amount, which looks cool, although the barrel remains the same ~9” length.
To reiterate, this is not a ported suppressor that slips over the barrel itself - it is integral in the sense of being integral to the gun’s frame. This doesn’t make it any less cool!
Another true beta, apparently the dev didn’t even test it lol. Give it a try report back!
FTN Core 556 Beta Opens Call for Testers
The FTN Team recently announced the FTN Core 556 project, which is a 5.56 can built for strength!
The design, as you can somewhat see above, uses a KVP XL linear comp as the blast baffle and chamber, with subsequent baffles built into the printed “shell”. The entire thing can also be sleeved into a carbon fiber tube for additional strength!
I’ve been doing a lot of suppressor research lately and it’s interesting how 5.56 suppressors have travelled a slightly different path compared to the (admittedly easier to design) 9mm and rimfire suppressors. The latter two have consistently gotten better on almost every metric with each FTN generation, but 5.56 suppressors are more complex. The move to print-in-place nylons have made these suppressors lighter and in some cases quieter, but not always necessarily stronger.
This was an intentional trade-off, but with projects like the Core 5.56 the pendulum is now swinging back the other way, towards modern 5.56 FTNs that last as long (or longer?) than the old FTN.4s did!
If you’re a tester looking for a cool suppressor project, this might be your jam. Ping the FTN team and get testing!
DB-zon Bizons Your DB Alloy
Now that the Bizon cherry has been popped, we’re seeing more designs adapting it to various platforms. The latest is the DB-zon, which adapts it for use with the famous DB Alloy!
What’s actually being adapted here is the DB Alloy frame, although there are some mods to the Bizon mag as well. Get printing and have fun!
Meowser - Cursed C96 Hits Open Beta
Well, it’s finally here - the Meowser by MostlyPrintedMachineShop has entered beta at Black Lotus Coalition.
In case you’ve forgotten, or blocked this one from your memory, this is a 1911 slide jammed atop a C96 lower frame. It’s most akin to the old 3011, using an AR FCG and OK Boomer rails. Currently supports only 9mm, just like a real Red 9!
I’ve semi-facetiously shit on this design in the past since I’m a C96 fanboy, but the truth is that this is way cool and I’m happy to see it advance. I’m even happier to hear that a trigger kicker model is “almost ready!”
Want to help test? Join BLC and get going!
Super Safe Trip for HAN-9
I don’t know much about this HAN-9 pistol, but I’ve heard it’s gotten fairly popular. Its aesthetics remind me of the King Cobra 9, which is cool!
Anyways, developer DannyDracs has given us a slip trip for the HAN-9 that can be used with a standard Hoffman super safety. He claims it can reach 1000 - 1300 RPM, yowza!
It’s listed as beta currently, which likely just means it’s only been tested by the dev itself. If you’ve got one of these HAN-9s, print this and report the results!
12ga DIY Sabot’d Flechette Ammunition
This is a very beta project, but what can I say, I have a soft spot for improvised ammo. This project from Lumberjk, called “Sticks from Chester”, has no documentation but appears to be a sabot’d flechette design that mounts inside a 12ga shell. Wild.
The actual metal projectile appears to simply be a cut length of steel rod epoxied into a printed fin. How does it perform? Does it perform at all? Only one way to find out! Someone please send me a video of this thing shooting.
3D Printed Remote Controlled Weapons System
I hardly know how to categorize this - it’s a rabbit hole of a project. In short, we have a DIY turret, designed to be mostly fabricated on an Ender 3 (or equivalent) and controlled with COTS electronics. Notably, this includes some 3D printed bearings! The system is able to visually track a target and “fire” projectiles at it using a belt-fed cannon. Videos demonstrate it actually functioning:
Its developer wildcard1719 presents it as a prototype and proof of concept. It also appears to be incomplete, with much of the documentation “lost”, and what is there is presented essentially as a STEP with little guidance on what is required to build it.
I suspect this project is best understood as akin to the DIY MANPADS project from earlier in the year - a combination of experimentation, inspiration and provocation.
There are certain technologies where the value is possession and not use. Something like an automatic turret is a threat to power not because it might be used against them, but because it is a sacred psychospace which the proles are not allowed to defile.
Yet that is what 3D2A does, again and again and again. We will explore, we will build, we will not stop.
Coming Soon:
This section lists announcements or previews for projects that have not yet hit open beta. Keep an eye out for further news about these projects!
Hush Puzzle SCS Suppressor from DanishBulldog
Yep, more suppressors! The Hush Puzzle is a particularly cool design from the legendary DanishBulldog - it’s still coming soon so I can’t examine it, but it appears to be made from a series of laser-cut steel plates, likely interlocking, hence the name.
This could unlock an entirely new vein of DIY suppressor tech! DB says he’ll release it once he feels it’s adequately tested - keep an eye out!
Gremlin Break Action PCC
Coming soon from BigBore729, who I’m very happy to see still around, is a fascinating break-action single shot PCC design - the Gremlin!
The design is built around a pinned / glued 12ga shotgun reducer which acts as the chamber and initial section of barrel. As such, any caliber supported in one of these reducers can theoretically be run in the final Gremlin!
Bigbore mentions that the design will also be integrally suppressed, with no details on precisely what that means or how that will work - looking forward to learning more as the design develops!
MA40 Advancing
The MA40 project is still proceeding towards release! This week we got both an incredibly sexy build pic and a WIP pic of an FTN5.1 styled after a fictional suppressor for the gun.
I’m happy to report from inside the beta that the core gun has been done for a while and what’s being finalized now are all the electronics. I expect things will open up for a public beta once that’s finalized too. Once it opens, you’ll hear it here first!
Guncad Ain’t Easy - CANE15 Enters Closed Beta
Once you’ve made a 15mm launcher called the PEN15, where do you go from there? The answer is obviously to develop a fully DIY pimp cane launcher.
Developer PrintGunner unleashed this on the unsuspecting world last week and reports that it’s already entered closed beta. Soon you too can smack a hoe with a 15mm shell from across the block. (Editor’s note: don’t actually shoot a launcher at anyone, even if she is holding out on you.)
News:
In this section we’ll review major news events either originating in the 3D2A space, or particularly pertinent to this space.
Glock Reset Trigger Designs Hit with DMCA Strikes
In the last several weeks not one but three different creators have released selectable Glock reset trigger designs on Odysee, and all have been hit with DMCA takedown requests. These designs are:
The Glitch by randomredhead96, which we announced in our September 1st issue, currently taken down on Odysee at time of writing
Several designs by 144.1 Recoil Systems, including the 5mm Selectable Canik trigger, the 4mm version of the same trigger, and the Select Fire Glonk FRD. All the linked items are DMCA’d, although 144.1 has apparently uploaded new versions. These are live at time of writing, although they may be down by the time you read this!
The FRESS by Autonomy, covered in our last issue, but subsequently updated. This also received a DMCA takedown but has been subsequently restored.
Who is the source of these DMCAs? Both Autonomy and 144.1 identify the company G-Force CNC, inventor of the NEO Selectable FRD. I reached out to G-Force, and the owner confirmed that he is the origin of these DMCAs.
Having spoken to people on both sides of this issue, both are focusing on the technical details - what was produced when, whether the designs are meaningfully distinct, who lifted ideas from whom, etc. To my mind this is entirely beside the point. Instead of hair-splitting over technical details, I wish to argue against this use of IP law entirely.
The classic justification of IP law is that it promotes innovation - that absent legal protections against copying, nobody will be motivated to create innovation. I’m not entirely prepared to reject that universally, but I will note that 3D2A as actually practiced completely inverts this logic.
For almost a decade now, 3D2A creators have released tens of thousands of new inventions, many of which have genuinely advanced the firearms industry overall, as well as the broader political conversation around firearms. They have done this totally without IP protection. The longevity and productivity of the space proves that this trend is not an aberration - it is real, and all gun owners, American and worldwide, are the better for it.
Meanwhile, the actual uses of IP law within 3D2A have been universally destructive, resulting in file censorship at best and (attempted) destruction of creators at worst. These efforts seem particularly absurd to me in the space of reset triggers, given the legal precarity of these items. Shouldn’t a reset trigger manufacturer prefer a broad, thriving market to one in which they stand alone in the face of pending bans and regulation?
For comparison, see the world of DIY suppressors, which has successfully reshaped the entire suppressor market over the last few years. It is thanks to the incredibly widespread availability of these suppressors that American firearms owners were positioned to take such great advantage of the recent NFA legal victories.
Now imagine a world in which the FTN series and all other DIY suppressors had been censored by commercial suppressor makers. It would be a much different, much worse world for all of us.
I do respect G-Force’s position - he claims to have originated the technical idea, and he feeds his family with the money he makes from selling NEO-9s. The specter of putting tremendous work into a design, only to have it copied upon release and sold for peanuts, is a disturbing one.
My response is again an invitation to look at how 3D2A is actually practiced, with Hoffman as the prime example. Hoffman invented the Super Safety and committed it to the public domain, where it was immediately copied by anyone with access to an SLM machine. Yet when Hoffman himself tooled up to sell these parts, he received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of orders, even when there were less expensive alternatives easily available.
There are several reasons for this - Hoffman’s marketing indicated his SS design were tweaked and was made with higher quality materials - but perhaps more importantly, people liked Hoffman and wanted to support him. This love came in tremendous part from his decision to open source the SS.
This story indicates to me that the choice between between a broad, healthy, open source community and making money on your invention is no choice at all. You can have both.
That said, within the context of 3D2A, if you must choose one - choose community health. We are stronger together than separate, and there is nothing that weakens a community so much as frivolous, backbiting litigation.
To anyone reading this who is sitting on the next great idea - the next Super Safety, the next FTN - share that idea without restriction. Do not hamstring it with patents or copyrights, and for God’s sakes do not issue DMCAs or file lawsuits against your fellow developers.
Other Links:
This section will collect any other links I find interesting. These may be older designs I want to share, releases I find notable but don’t have much commentary on, or anything else that catches my eye.
Developer and educator PracticalTactical has put out a “Home Suppressor Fabrication Made Easy” guide that covers a more traditional form of DIY suppressor using commonly available metal parts. There are many ways to DIY!
We love reference projects and dev kits here. Southpaw Precision brings us another one for the collection with an M-LOK Dev Kit! Make use of it as you see fit!
Somebody may wish to see this - Stuck7hrottle has created software to sync posts between Reddit and Lemmy. A backup for /r/3D2A perhaps?
About the Guncad Digest:
Thank you for reading this issue of the Guncad Digest! Please send us your feedback and suggestions for improvements on the issue.
The Guncad Digest is sourced using the very excellent Guncad Index, from /r/3D2A, and from readers like you. If you know of a project you think should be featured, send it our way!
This issue was compiled and authored by Alyosha from 3D2A.com. We sell high quality parts kits for some of the best DIY guns available - if you’re looking for your next gun build, come check us out!