Released: Single-Shot / Pentagun: mid-2013; Hexen: September 2013 (1)
Download:
Single-Shot: https://github.com/maduce/fosscad-repo/tree/master/Firearms/Reprringer_6mm_v2.0-free-d
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The Reprringer is the first fully DIY design post-Liberator to attain notoriety. Upon its release in 2013 it stood out from the glut of Liberator mods as something fresh and original. It is the earliest completed design for what we would now call a printed derringer.
This design is apparently a plastic clone of a German pinfire derringer (2). Its design philosophy takes a fundamentally different approach from the Liberator, eschewing beefed-up reinforcement in favor of a slim, lightweight design. This can perhaps be justified by the Reprringer’s intended chambering in .22 CB / 6mm Flobert, one of the weakest commercially available cartridges.
Its name evokes the RepRap (3) printer, and much like that printer it appears that the idea behind the Reprringer was to be a fun, disposable toy. If a self-defense use was considered, it was to assist in acquiring something better, upon which it could be immediately discarded.
There are at least three design iterations in the Reprringer line and their versioning is confusing. To reduce confusion, they can be described first by their nicknames:
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Single-Shot: apparently the first version of the Reprringer. This version has a single-shot barrel chambered in 6mm Flobert. This design is credited to developer freed. (4)
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Pentagun: This appears to be the second Reprringer version released. It switches from a single barrel to a five-barrel pepperbox cylinder. This design is credited to franco.
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Hexen: this is undoubtedly the third Reprringer version, which uses a six-barrel cylinder instead of the Pentagun’s five barrels. This was released and promoted by developer franco, and is likely the Reprringer version that is best remembered today.
The confusion comes from the application of “V1”, “V2” and “V3” to these designs. In virtually all sources, the Single-Shot is called the “V2”, yet no “V1” can be found anywhere. On the “official” Reprringer website (5) the Single-Shot is instead called the V1 (6) and the Pentagun is called the V2. This versioning seems more sensible and, given its position on the “official” website, more credible. It seems likely that the incorrect labels were applied when the design was added to a FOSSCAD megapack, and have since been repeated everywhere else (7).
In any case, all three versions share apparently identical firing mechanics, using a long metal hammer spring and a printed trigger spring to power its operation. The cylinder in the Pentagun and Hexen is manually turned and indexed. The barrel (or cylinder) is a break-open design, retained by an apparently poor latch (8).
At some point in Reprringer development, a 6mm ID steel tube (9) was added to the design to act as a barrel liner. This can be seen in videos and commentary on the Pentagun (10) and Hexen (11). This may make the Reprringer design the first 3D printed gun to use a barrel liner (12).
Did the Reprringer work? Video testing (13) does show that the Single-Shot’s hammer is strong enough to set off a rimfire round, but it also cracks and fails on the very first shot. Other video evidence (14) show multiple shots fired from a Pentagun. It would seem that a well-built Reprringer actually was good for a few shots before breaking, but no more than this. Its poor longevity despite using a barrel liner is almost certainly a consequence of the aforementioned “slim” design philosophy.
Despite this, the Reprringer proved that the Liberator was not a once-off. Fully DIY firearm technology was evolving - beyond Defense Distributed, beyond single-shot to multishot, beyond large beefy hand cannons into smaller packages and novel engineering techniques. The DIY derringer concept itself would later be revisited far more successfully in the Harlot.
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(2) https://free-9.wixsite.com/reprringer/documentation?lightbox=image1uwf
(3) See 1
(4) There is also a remix of the Single-Shot by Proteus, accessible at https://github.com/maduce/fosscad-repo/tree/master/Firearms/Reprringer_6mm_v2.2, which claims to handle .22 Short and even .22LR without metal inserts “according to simulations.” I would advocate against testing this claim.
(5) https://free-9.wixsite.com/reprringer - which, somehow, is still live!
(6) https://free-9.wixsite.com/reprringer/old-versions
(7) It is also entirely possible that freed labeled his initial Single-Shot release a “V2”, perhaps after a “V1” internal test, and the subsequent version confusion was introduced by the remixing developers. This is perhaps an inevitable outcome of early FOSSCAD culture, which did not hold modern “ownership” norms over designs, or engage in governed private betas. Any released design could be quickly remixed and reversioned by any developer, creating a fast-moving but somewhat chaotic environment. The “Shuty v4” is another example of this versioning confusion.
(8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sgR0kF4fgw
(9) See https://free-9.wixsite.com/reprringer/documentation. It does not appear that the Single-Shot was designed to accept a liner. Reviewing the STEP files will show that the Single-Shot’s barrel is 6mm diameter exact, the expected bullet size, while the Pentagun’s cylinders are resized to 8mm for liner installation.
(10) https://vimeo.com/71010558?fl=pl&fe=vl
(11) https://vimeo.com/72449707?fl=pl&fe=vl
(12) The G22 Grizzly may also have used a liner. It is unclear which released first, the G22 or the Reprringer.
(13) See 8
(14) See “Reprringer v2 test with 6mm flobert” video in 6
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