The information about this being a big deal vis a vis 3d printing misses the bigger point. In fact I call bullshit. Why? Given it’s all true and factual? Well who cares about 3D? This would work just fine out of molded fiberglass or even wood. Heck there are very strong thermo plastics that you put in hot water to form to shape. With this cartridge, (not just a bullet) that adds barrel to the usual shell, primer, gunpowder and of course bullet it’s a gun. All that is missing is a striker or firing pin. Or a hammer. Literally a hammer. If I took these out to the range and mounted them in vise grip pliers and a bunch of duct tape I could fire it with a pin and tiny hammer.

This product if ever widely available would render moot most any gun control measures. I would say this product needs to be legally considered a gun or explosive device. Everything is there to make an explosion. If it were dynamite all that would be missing is a match. Congress and the ATF need to act fast.

It’s more than a bullet, more than a cartridge. It’s a gun. Bad idea.

3D printing is probably the most difficult way to use this awful new ammunition & gun part combo. So my point is wired is alll excited about 3D printing the more controversial the better. Way to miss the point guys. Sheesh.

As 3-D printed guns have evolved over the past 18 months from a science-fictional experiment into a subculture, they’ve faced a fundamental limitation: Cheap plastic isn’t the best material to contain an explosive blast. Now an amateur gunsmith has instead found a way to transfer that stress to a component that’s actually made of metal—the ammunition.

Michael Crumling, a 25-year-old machinist from York, Pennsylvania, has developed a round designed specifically to be fired from 3-D printed guns. His ammunition uses a thicker steel shell with a lead bullet inserted an inch inside, deep enough that the shell can contain the explosion of the round’s gunpowder instead of transferring that force to the plastic body or barrel of the gun. Crumling says that allows a home-printed firearm made from even the cheapest materials to be fired again and again without cracking or deformation. And while his design isn’t easily replicated because the rounds must be individually machined for now, it may represent another step towards durable, practical, printed guns—even semi-automatic ones.

More: The Bullet That Could Make 3D-Printed Guns Practical Deadly Weapons