Not sure if I mentioned it here @THE-PEW, but my son, USMC VETERAN, is pretty heavy into 3D printing. He has 2 printers set up and working, plus a CNC router which is not yet set up. Among other things.
He asked if I had any projects that he could make, and I brought over the big-boy VR60 magazine and some shells. It has a rather heavy spring and I believe it would be beneficial to have a simple loader.
Saying "voila" makes it sound like a dead simple accomplishment, but it took 4 iterations to get a functioning loader. Attempt 1 was not looking good on surface finish, so he made some adjustments and started over. Number 2 had a minor issue, so he again scrapped a pretty small piece and began again, and attempt Number 3 was a good looking one but was delaminating or breaking between layers... he was able to load some shells with it, however. The BINGO MOMENT was when he switched to a stronger material, he called it PLA. Here's some shots of #3 so you can see what I'm calling 'delamination' plus some of the interior design details....
This 2nd picture of the above pair shows the pushing post, which does the work that is difficult for thumbs and fingers. I have loaded these 9 rounds several times by hand, but quickly figured out that a loader would be pretty sweet 馃構
I also like an open front to this device, makes shoving the shells back quicker, since the operator does not have to reach inside the front of the loader to push the shell back. This would be cut off at the red line, or look more like picture 2 above.
Lots of work just to make ONE Functional Item!! But the design is saved for future, and then any more will have all the upgrades. I think I'm loving this, having my own R&D Skunkworks for firearms accessories 馃槏
