asciilifeform: correct.

asciilifeform: runs on a CR2450

asciilifeform: ~1 tall

asciilifeform: 2 x 3 inch.

asciilifeform: in that most bayonet charges did not end with a mass perforation, but with one side fleeing

asciilifeform: if i recall, bayonet is the original 'MAD' weapon

asciilifeform: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill

asciilifeform: "an officer without a sword is improperly dressed"

asciilifeform: for further anachronism value: chariots (albeit with maxim) saw plentiful action in the russian civil war.

asciilifeform: there are persistent rumours of a Polish ww2 lance charge against a tank column.

asciilifeform: maxim vs. zulu, perhaps most famously

asciilifeform: maxim against cavalry, 'drone' against rusty truck in afghanistan...

asciilifeform: technologically-mismatched battles are a curious fetish among some people

asciilifeform: famous 'before their time' techno masterpiece...

asciilifeform: the one where the air bottle sometimes burst?

asciilifeform: potato digger?

asciilifeform: this legal oddity rings a bell. i once wandered into an antique shop near wash. dc, and they had an Ottoman musket for sale. no paperwork, etc.

asciilifeform: how did it come about that they aren't considered arms?

asciilifeform: interesting

asciilifeform: with traceable pedigree, etc.

asciilifeform: i recall reading that they're bought and sold rather like famous paintings.

asciilifeform: right. 'open bolt' schema is easy to manufacture, and for that (among other reasons) is forbidden in the u.s.

asciilifeform: point remains, that the military significance of 3d printer is small, while that of the hand file and forge, remains great.

asciilifeform: muzzle-loading submachine gun?

asciilifeform: that was the point

asciilifeform: the gun is the easy part

asciilifeform: the original discussion was, i think, about what could in principle be made with one's own hands, out of commonly-available raw materials

asciilifeform: u.s.

asciilifeform: the20year: this is a tremendously-popular hobby here.

asciilifeform: today. in a civilized place.

asciilifeform: if you have to make it with your own hands

asciilifeform: cheap is a tricky concept. a plastic fork is cheap, until it isn't, and is entirely unobtainable

asciilifeform: if you're in a real bind, you might want to go with liquid propellant and electrical priming.

asciilifeform: primers are tricky

asciilifeform: certainly, for a musket.

asciilifeform: modern ammunition, on the other hand, requires industry.

asciilifeform: not rocket surgery here.

asciilifeform: in afghanistan, in africa, blacksmiths build perfectly good ak clones with hand tools.

asciilifeform: which is why 3d printer is a mass topic at all

asciilifeform: some people seems to fetishize the process of 'push a button without thinking'

asciilifeform: printed crossbow could conceivably be of some use.

asciilifeform: not that armour is worthless - simply that reality is a complicated place.

asciilifeform: the helmet focused the shock wave.

asciilifeform: he had a computer model which explained why certain - helmeted - men ended up with brain damage, while grunts in the same vehicle, sans helmet, didn't.

asciilifeform: i attended an interesting talk once by a concussion expert

asciilifeform: there are men strong enough to run about, climb, etc. in plate mail, yes.

asciilifeform: the20year: ask a soldier how much he'd like to wear plate mail.

asciilifeform: rather than tank

asciilifeform: it will be interesting to see reactive armor built for a man

asciilifeform: or simple good aim (hit same spot twice.0

asciilifeform: the pill against it: round with two warheads.

asciilifeform: arms vs. armour is a classic race that the latter tends to lose. witness 'reactive armour' on tank.

asciilifeform: no reason why this shouldn't apply to armour makers.

asciilifeform: legend has it that submarine architects were once made to take a trip to max depth before the machine would be paid for.

asciilifeform: neck.

asciilifeform: headshot

asciilifeform: at the time of his death.

asciilifeform: phun phact: archduke ferdinand is said to have worn an early bulletproof vest.

asciilifeform: like those pocket cameras that highlight faces.

asciilifeform: the phuture, if one insists, is in the self-aiming rifle.

asciilifeform: unless you're willing to wear the equivalent of a 19th century diving suit

asciilifeform: 1kJ applied to a head with impenetrable armor -> neck trauma

asciilifeform: let's say 1kJ on impact, for the sake of argument.

asciilifeform: take simple example. ordinary ak round, ~2kJ (muzzle)

asciilifeform: wait till people remember that kevlar (and other fiber armour) is useless against: arrows.

asciilifeform: or virtually any work on prison weapons

asciilifeform: see harlan ellison's memoir of his '50s childhood

asciilifeform: benkay: hardware store (or junkyard.) steel pipe.

asciilifeform: nobody cancelled newton's laws...

asciilifeform: broken ribs.

asciilifeform: but try finding a vendor willing to stand in it for target practice, for ten rounds much less a thousand.

asciilifeform: soft lead.

asciilifeform: this is entirely plausible

asciilifeform: the kinetic energy still has to go somewhere...

asciilifeform: not to mention other fine point: armor sets you up for blunt trauma.

asciilifeform: american grunts are issued 'kevlar', but tend to throw it out. and they, oddly, won't sleep in it.

asciilifeform: heavy, sweaty.

asciilifeform: state-of-the-art ceramic plate is rated for: 1 ak round.

asciilifeform: the people to whom the question applies have a rather lukewarm enthusiasm for it.

asciilifeform: armor is a tricky business

asciilifeform: 'there are many 3d printed doorknobs, but this one - is special!'

asciilifeform: wonder if anybody's fed Plastique into a 3d extruder.

asciilifeform: not that such a thing is impossible: medieval Korea had: leather cannon!

asciilifeform: the funniest part of the 3d printing in the popular media is the 'plastic gun.'

asciilifeform: (currently there is only metal sintering, under noble gas. $0.5M.)

asciilifeform: (for those who have no truck with 3d printing or the like, this isn't something which afaik exists.)

asciilifeform: but life is short.

asciilifeform: i've thought about ways to electrolytically replace a (conductive) plastic with metal.

asciilifeform: benkay: two-step mold process. positive shape, wedge into clay for negative mold, bake, cast metal.

asciilifeform: dip it in 'plasti-dip'

asciilifeform: but one can sand it smooth, or coat it in something

asciilifeform: extrusion printer usually gives a rough surface

asciilifeform: but why the mass hysteria

asciilifeform: i mean, i get the usefulness of wangling together mechanical prototypes without the dust of machining, etc.

asciilifeform: i still don't get why '3d printer' is so fashionable.

asciilifeform: you can buy uv-cured 'rubber', yes.

asciilifeform: and the resulting product is quite brittle.

asciilifeform: problem with stereolithography is that you need a foul-smelling, poisonous, and quite expensive liquid polymer.

asciilifeform: moving the 'z' platform by draining a tank (a la ancient greek 'klepsydra' clock) instead of a stepper motor.

asciilifeform: actually the fellow in the link did make a useful twist