Since the blueprints of the Liberator were published and successfully tested, countless new designs for said
3D-printed firearms and 3D-printed firearm components have been created and made publicly available.
These new 3D-printed firearms, which are praised by their designers as ever more reliable, can be found on
the Internet with little effort. Press reports have shown that various models of 3D-printed firearms have
already been confiscated by law enforcement services around the world. So far, forensic studies have addressed
this set of problems relatively little, whereby for the most part only the Liberator has been examined
in detail and three other designs were only included a few times. The rapid pace of this
development poses new challenges for forensic investigations and unveils new spheres of investigation
regarding 3D-printed firearms. This research initiative aims to determine whether the results from previous
studies on Liberators, are also reproducible and observable when using other models of 3D-printed firearms.
In this respect six fully 3D-printed firearms – PM422 Songbird, PM522 Washbear, TREVOR, TESSA,
Marvel Revolver and Grizzly – were produced on a material extrusion type Prusa i3 MK3S using PLA as the
material. Test firings of these 3D-printed firearms have shown that they are indeed functional, but that,
depending on the model, they suffer different levels of damage when fired. However, they were all rendered
inoperative after one discharge and could not be used for further discharges unless the broken pieces were
replaced. As in other studies, the firing process and the resulting ruptures on the 3D-printed firearm,
projected polymer parts and fragments of different sizes and in different quantities into the immediate
environment. The parts could be physically matched, allowing the reconstruction and identification of the
3D-printed firearms. Elements of ammunition also showed traces of melted polymer on the surface and
cartridge cases bore tears or swellings