[davesimondotcom]

A couple of weeks ago, I got caught up watching In the Line of Fire with Clint Eastwood. In it, John Malcovich makes his own gun out of what he describes as "polycarbonate" and some springs from an inkpen.

Now, I'm watching the X-Files and a guy is putting together something very similar. Three pieces of plastic that come together to form a gun.

Is such a thing even plausible? Probably? Do they exist?

[olePigeon]

I don't see why not. Most bulletproof items are made from plastics.

I've seen a few ceramic guns.

[sknapp351]

A major problem would be the intense heat generated when fired. If this could happen it would most likely be a one shot kinda thing.
SAm

[Railroader]

It would depend upon the load in the bullet. A lower velocity shorter range plastic gun is possible. And as stated earlier, it would be a one shot deal.

[macaddict0001]

Lexan might be able to withstand even the pressures of high-velocity .45 caliber rounds. However it is likely they are not in production due to the difficulty of detecting something like that. And as mentioned ceramics work good.

[ghporter]

No such thing as a plastic gun like "In The Line of Fire." Can't be done. There's no plastic (including Lexan) that can withstand both the temperatures and pressures generated in the chamber of a firearm when a cartridge is fired. Chamber pressure for a 9mm round is around 35,000psi, and standard powders burn at around 700-900 degrees. Further, the speed with which the pressure is developed would overwhelm the elasticity of just about any plastic before it reached its max.

Why not just make it all plastic except the barrel? What keeps the cartridge from blowing out the back of the barrel in such a situation? OK, make it all plastic except for the part that keeps the cartridge in the barrel. That works except that you have to hold the thing closed while the bullet leaves the barrel.

A Glock is about as plastic as you can get away with. And YES it is extremely identifiable in an X-ray, and was detectable by 1980's vintage metal detectors.

The only way it could work would be as a VERY bulky device that used very low powered ammunition. A block of plastic the size of a paperback book firing a .22 short (not the typical long rifle round) MIGHT be feasible. But it would be a lot of work for not much payoff.

[rozwado1]

I've seen a 6-shot ceramic pistol. I was told it had no metal parts. I'm pretty sure it was 'modified' for said purpose.

[Railroader]

I might be illegal to make a gun that will circumvent metal detectors. Anyone have an opinion or knowledge on this?

[Tenacious Dyl]

I think its legal to make / own / create one. Definetely illegal to sell them without license and other work first... probably illegal to possess in all "gun possession" laws in effect.

On beginning topic.... I think it is quite possible. First step though, would be using a different bullet. Either ceramic bullets fired with a different type of propellent, or something similar. Making a ceramic / epoxy / graphite / fiberglass / etc composite made gun would be pointless if it fired higher calibur / higher explosive bullets, it would just destroy the gun.

Probably better to figure out how much stress the gun can take for how long, and come up with a slightly different firing mechanism / bullet, that will accomodate that stress, or at least give the gun a longer life. May loose acuracy, but if you are sneaking it around, and its small, it won't have the time / place / size to be too accurate anyway...

[ghporter]

Kind of hard to make a spring out of ceramic. Elastomers tend to be underpowered as springs, so that's out. And even a ballpoint pen spring shows up on X-ray nowadays.

I believe that actions that defeat the detction purpose of TSA metal detectors would be found to be illegal. Probably only if they actually tried to defeat those particular metal detectors, though. But honestly, wouldn't that be the point.

There's still the issue of ammunition. A gun is just a heavy (or not so heavy) lump without ammunition. And it HAS to have considerable metal content. Conventional ammunition is particularly easy to spot on X-rays and WILL be detected by metal detectors.

[macaddict0001]

if you used a ceramic bullet and a manually packed the powder into the barrel(like on a musket) you could get around the metal part of the ammo. as for the gun a potato cannon can withstand the lower pressures of a butane propellant. I suspect that if the chamber where the powder in a firearm was ignited where bigger and the round wedged into a small hole it could withstand the pressures. but that would seriously hinder the velocity.