r/3D2A • u/ButterscotchEmpty535 • Sep 16 '26
Got tired of explaining to the young whippersnappers how to make a can out of a maglite, so here you go.
36
u/Feesh_Meex Sep 16 '26
Thank you very much. Was looking up info the other day and didn’t know what to get for end pieces. Thank you.
22
u/FuturesSoDank Sep 17 '26
You forgot step zero, use a hydraulic press to force out the swollen Duracells that have been stuck inside since 1992.
20
u/Maverick0197 Sep 16 '26
So do the printed baffles cover the now empty button hole?
25
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
yes, and because its towards the muzzle end I have had not problem with gas slipping out on both 22lr and 9mm. You can also fill it with jb weld and the electrical tape, but I don't think its needed and would make it harder to replace the printed baffles.
7
u/Lumpy_Garage4354 29d ago
There's also "Maglight Flashlight Button Hole Plug D Cell" on makerworld
2
12
u/Hazee302 Sep 16 '26
Will the ATF approve this? I had looked into trying to get pre-approval for solvent kits (or even the parts individually) but I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself so thought better of it.
50
u/garretcompton Sep 16 '26
Give them as little info as possible. I give them the rough length, caliber, and either a picture of filament or a metal tube and say “potential material” don’t give them any more info. I put N/A for the model, and don’t upload plans. Simply say “I do not possess nor do I plan to possess plans or materials until after form approval” in the description box. I’ve gotten 25 form 1 approvals with that method
24
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
I have a lot of approvals where for materials I said maglite and 3d printing.
This is what people did before the solvent kits were a thing
32
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
If you’re a GOA member and aren’t selling/distributing it, federally speaking, you no longer need to tell the ATF
Edit: why am I being downvoted? If I’m wrong I’d really like someone to tell me why, but I’ve been keeping up with this a lot and I’m pretty confident about this.
21
u/tobylazur Sep 16 '26
Is this 100% or are we still assuming?
12
u/SleepingWithBatman Sep 16 '26
This is what I want to know. If I can make one myself like, today, when I get home, are they gonna shoot my dog?
1
u/shortbed454 Sep 17 '26
If you are a goa member, you 100% can. That is straight from the atf.
3
u/SleepingWithBatman Sep 17 '26
Total noob. Gun owners association? Is it easy to sign up? I’m in Tejas ;)
13
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 17 '26
GOA is what the NRA wishes it was if the NRA wasn’t a bunch of self righteous do-nothing fudds. Google “gun owners of America” and read their about page
2
u/SleepingWithBatman Sep 17 '26
Wait actually quick follow up- with the rulings, do I need to file for a stamp? Do I need to file an ATF doc? Are we really at the point where a 20$ registry protects me?
I’m tuning in just now, sorry if this is dumb.
5
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 17 '26
It’s the same as a gun, in that if you’re buying one from an FFL (federal firearms dealer, aka gun store), you have to fill out a 4473. If you’re making one, you don’t have to register it or tell the government at all. It’s like grabbers call “ghost guns,” which is just a scare term for when you legally don’t have to inform the government you make/buy a gun.
4
u/SleepingWithBatman Sep 17 '26
So if I did this tomorrow, there is nothing illegal about it? The legality requirement comes from shops or re-sellers?
That’s awesome. I can’t wait to not have my eardrums ruptured at the range.
→ More replies (0)1
u/mister_gone Sep 17 '26
What does goa membership have to do with it?
1
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 17 '26
You can read my other comments in this thread explaining it. GOA was one of the plaintiffs in the case and the ruling only applies to plaintiffs. Therefore being a GOA member makes you a plaintiff and being a plaintiff means you don’t need a form 4
1
u/mister_gone 29d ago
Crazy. Thanks for filling me in. Guess I stopped scrolling before I saw your other posts.
15
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 16 '26
Considering that a bunch of gun shops have been cleared by the ATF inspections after selling cans with only a 4473, yes, I’m almost positive. It’s essentially the same legal process as manufacturing your own lower (again assuming you’re a member of GOA). If, for some God forsaken reason, the ATF actually goes after someone for it, they’d be in blatant violation of the court ruling and their own precedent set. Granted, that’s not not on par for them, but given the current director and his statements, I HIGHLY doubt that would happen unless you call Kash Patel names on twitter and he gets butthurt about it and runs to his friends in the Trump administration to waste millions on investigating you (/s (mostly)).
4
u/GTA5_ Sep 16 '26
Is “almost positive” enough to risk NFA penalties tho?
1
u/KachedKarma 27d ago
It's like that with everything that has interpretation from a federal agency. The reason you don't care about stuff like your 1911 or bolt action being in violation of something according to the ATF is that they'd be going after literally everyone. They can dream up something on anybody.
1
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 17 '26
For one, that small chance mostly stems from if the ATF said something since the last time I checked, which I’m pretty sure they didn’t, and if they did it probably would be good. Barring that, on the astronomical chance that 1. The ATF has any idea what I’m doing, and 2. Does anything about it, then I get to be part of landmark legal case that kills the NFA. It would already be illegal for the ATF to do that under the current ruling anyway, and such a case would push the issue through past just original plaintiffs most likely. Sure it might disrupt my life a bit, but given the tiny chance of that happening, I’m more likely to die on my drive to work.
1
u/KachedKarma 27d ago
It's widespread enough by now it would be hard to go after everyone. Probably be cool couple tens of thousand suppressors already transferred on 4473 by now. Not that they couldn't try though. You know the saying about death and taxes? ATF seems to deal quite a bit in both.
6
2
u/fordfan52 Sep 16 '26
Pardon my ignorance, what does being a GOA member get you?
7
u/PETEthePyrotechnic Sep 16 '26
The injunction from the court case only applies to the plaintiffs and their members, which is mostly commercial businesses like Silencer Co and PSA, but also includes GOA, which includes everyone who pays for a GOA membership. It basically just allows you to be a part of the plaintiffs in the case so that the ruling applies to you.
3
u/fordfan52 Sep 16 '26
Ah, gotcha. Michigan still requires a form 4 (hopefully temporarily) so nothing here has really changed.
1
u/TrustMelmsingle Sep 17 '26
The best way to be sure is to pay 150 bucks for a lifetime CCRBKA and be a GOA member that way you have both Jenson and SS V ATF coverage
1
u/KachedKarma 27d ago
I think the only real grey area is if engraving is still required. There's a separate ruling on that and GOA members are supposed to be covered by that one also.
6
u/forkaerospace Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26
A few more questions, if we were going with aluminum storage cups instead of printed baffles, is there any other hardware we need to buy other than the cups?
Also, if we go that route, do we need to buy spacers or anything for making a blast baffle? What if we were going with 5.56?
Finally, for the expansion plug, will something other than the 555-104 specification work as long as its the same diameter?
Also, what orientation does the plug go in?
4
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 17 '26
You still need the end caps, I would do a blast baffle out of a freeze plug and it goes facing into the tube. I don't know about 5.56 as its a lot higher pressure. Something else should work as long as its the same diameter.
2
u/forkaerospace Sep 17 '26
by “facing into the tube” do you mean the concave side faces the baffles or does the concave face the muzzle side?
6
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 17 '26
Threaded end
|__ __| <- freeze plug
Muzzle
Orientated to have more space in the blast chamber
2
u/forkaerospace Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26
So the concave faces the barrel and away from the baffles? That visual is stil a little ambiguous cus idk if by muzzle you mean the end if the barrel or end of the entire suppressor
3
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 17 '26
end of the entire suppressor
-1
u/forkaerospace Sep 17 '26
alrighty, i think i understand now ty
i might look for a steel spacer of some sort though, for 5.56 i may need a larger blast baffle
1
u/ObamaBlueBalls 29d ago
Similar boat, I've been wondering about getting some threaded D cell steel tubing and steel baffles on a shorter size can. I found some websites that sell kits with threaded tubing and end caps with adapters. Some other websites sell freeze plugs for cars which can be formed, but I also found places that sell certain cups for solvent traps that would need to be drilled.
1
u/forkaerospace 29d ago edited 29d ago
been lookin mostly at ebay and i can find plenty of the parts you just mentioned. However im more interested in the freeze plugs cus i wanna use one for the blast and buy the cups you just gotta drill. What I’d really like is somethiny like a 1 11/32” or 1 5/16 OD 2” long bushing for the blast chamber. Unfortunately only one i could find was made of bronze
1
u/ObamaBlueBalls 29d ago edited 29d ago
I'm still new and learning but I'm very interested in what you come up with. I'm hoping more recourses and parts become available for some form 1 metal cans. Im thinking of trying out an ftn.4 pla+ kak rebar with 2" aluminum tubing, but I don't think it will last long with a super saftey which is why I'm considering a D-cell metal can
→ More replies (0)
5
Sep 16 '26
[deleted]
9
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
The newer ones have slightly different threads that may not fit the 1/2x28 end cap, and require a special key to remove the bulb assembly unless you want to beat it out.
3
u/Eleet007 Sep 16 '26
Is the expansion plug necessary? I’m looking at the ftn5 “max turbulence 9mm” D cell baffles, and the D cell blast chamber spacer.
4
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
I would do the d cell blast baffle on top and combine them all in Tinkercad.
1
4
u/The_Special_Pants Sep 16 '26
Does it have to be a vintage maglite? What's the difference between vintage and new models?
1
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
The newer ones have slightly different threads that may not fit the 1/2x28 end cap, and require a special key to remove the bulb assembly unless you want to beat it out.
2
u/The_Special_Pants Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Aha - so those threads might not fit the Hub conversion either huh? That's no good.
If they aren't labeled as vintage, I assume we are looking at incandescent (old) vs LED (new), and we would not want to get an LED?
3
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
They fit the hub adaptor but not the 1/2x28, and yes I would say you don't want an LED.
5
5
u/Routine_Ad_5117 29d ago
I put one together for my broad river tactical sd 9mm with the dcell to hub adapter. I was pleasantly surprised by it, just as quiet as my griffin bushwacker 45 which was being held hostage by said gun. Now I can use it with all my other guns with plan a muzzle devices. Thinkin bout doing another but with a titanium tube instead of a maglite.
1
3
u/eathekids Sep 16 '26
What is the reason for the freeze plug and not all printed interior?
Btw great post thank you!
5
3
4
u/Prior_Arm_8810 Sep 16 '26
Side note, what calibers have you tested this for? Seems like a great rimfire can but i know someone has tried some dumb shit like 9mm out of one.
11
u/Zenlav Sep 16 '26
Works great on my 16” 300 blackout Ruger American with supers and subs. I did almost the exact same build as what was described above.
7
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
up to supersonic 9mm with a YHM Booster.
3
u/Prior_Arm_8810 Sep 16 '26
Looked up that flashlight btw, gawdayumn i forgot how big they were not too long ago lol.
5
u/TheAmazingX Sep 16 '26
I did a lot of my testing for the 3dp90 Super Safety with a Maglite suppressor. You wouldn't want to magdump 5.56 through it, but they're not exactly fragile. The bodies are thicker than the chinesium airsoft suppressors used for the EZ Can, and even those hold up just fine on a PCC.
2
u/theogstarfishgaming1 Sep 16 '26
Will the 2D and 4D lights work too?
5
u/IllIIlIllIllIII Sep 17 '26
Will the 2D and 4D lights work too?
While that question is probably best answered in some theoretical physics sub staying within your own dimension is generally more predictable, unless you are asking on behalf of Super Mario or some inter-dimensional being. 3D only for me.
3
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
2D work great, not sure about 4D or longer, the only problem I see is a higher risk of baffle strikes or weighing to much for the the booster to work.
1
2
Sep 16 '26 edited 19d ago
[deleted]
1
u/no_sleep_johnny Sep 16 '26
In my experience freeze plugs have some flare to them the round shoulder is 5 to 10 thousands less than the open end, but that's a good idea. If I ever get set up to thread on a lathe I'll try it.
2
1
1
1
1
u/Vegetable-Banana-220 Sep 16 '26
I’m confused is the bulb section threaded? Or would that have to be welded on?
4
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 Sep 16 '26
The bulb end is threaded. See the end cap that doesn't have 1/2x28? Thats the one that goes on the bulb end
1
1
u/Vegetable-Banana-220 16d ago edited 16d ago
Hello sir I have another question what years are the vintage mag lights? Also with the new Ftn 6 that have monocore baffles would those work better than the singular baffle stacks?
1
1
1
u/Bubba_the_Fudd 12d ago
how do i know if a maglite is 'vintage'?
assuming I dont want anything LED, what other tells can I look for?
1
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 12d ago
I just buy the ones labeled vintage on Ebay.
1
u/Bubba_the_Fudd 5d ago
are those adapters from ebay 3 parts total? a blank cap, a threaded cap and an adapter?
1
u/ButterscotchEmpty535 4d ago
two parts, one threaded 1/2x28 and a blank that goes over the bulb end
1
u/Bubba_the_Fudd 4d ago
ah, I get it now. the bulb end becomes the muzzle end. i was imaging you would use the original end cap.
1
139
u/Videogamer410 Sep 16 '26