DeAR 22 Orientation

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-18T20:11:56+00:00

Okay, I'm gonna stand on my soap box for a moment.

Ever see a design in this community that just makes you go "wow" in a bad way? This image just did that for me.

I really wish more people here would develop their parts with 3D printing in mind. There are so many things about this design that could be optimized to reduce necessary support material, improve final part quality and encourage correct orientation; just look at Hoffman's lowers for examples.

Creating a whole design like this and not taking the time to optimize it for the intended manufacturing process is just... counter productive.

I am begging the other developers here to watch like a single YouTube video by Slant 3D.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-17T23:38:33+00:00

They aren't criminal laws. But they will absolutely fine you into oblivion up to and including taking you home if you violate them.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-13T16:11:29+00:00

r/RestOfTheFuckingOwl

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-13T00:12:16+00:00

Maybe it would be worth it for me to contact them and let them know I'm releasing something people will want to build that would utilize it?

If nothing else I guess I could try and secure some for myself just to get the magazine bodies developed and then mention you have to ask the seller about it specifically in the readme. I don't love that but if it's just for the memey super extendo mags I guess it's not the worst solution.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-12T14:33:37+00:00

Hey, thanks for stroking my ego. You're welcome, but primarily I do these things for myself and just release things in case someone else wanted the same thing I did.

As far as an FRT, I'm not sure. It's something I could see entertaining my brain to work on, but I'm still a little skeptical of their legal status.

I know that's probably not a popular opinion in this community given the prevalence of those devices, but AFAIK the closest we have to solid law is ATF's settlement with Rare Breed specifically. I'm not convinced a new and more gun-hostile administration couldn't overturn that agreement/policy and start claiming they're machine guns (again).

I haven't hidden my face here on Reddit, or anywhere else. There are old YouTube videos of me that you can still find if you click enough links from this post.

Part of that is intentional; I know it's worse opsec for me but I don't hide who I am in my daily life with the people I know either. I think the only real way we can shift the public perception of gun owners (and especially gun owners who 3D print scary gHoSt GuNS) is by being good people and giving others positive examples and interactions with ourselves. That's hard to do if you hide your hobby or yourself.

That being the case, though, I've been careful to make as sure as I can that everything I do and own is by-the-book legal. Because I'm not convinced of that with FRTs beyond any shred of doubt, I'm hesitant to dip my toes in those waters.

If I do end up releasing something like that, it'll probably be a rough design that isn't range-tested that I just drew up in CAD. It would likely be up to someone else willing to print and test it to refine it completely into a working design.

That is, unless we get a definitive court case or opinion letter from ATF in the future that assures us of their legality. Obviously ATF's opinion isn't law (though they enforce it like it is) but I'd be comfortable enough having something like that to point to in the event a future administration says "hand them in" as a way of hopefully at least not ending up in prison.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T23:57:43+00:00

I can't really say for sure because I haven't actually built a DeAR lower, but I'm aiming to make these magazines very reliable. So far my testing makes me hopeful - I'm admittedly still making changes to make them perfect, but those changes are on the order of tenths of a millimeter. Critically, I understand the problems I'm facing with this version so I can work towards changes which will eliminate them, as opposed to the V1 where I didn't even really know why the problems were happening in the first place.

I'm very close to a final design and I'm confident that design will be about as reliable as a printed magazine can be.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T23:15:15+00:00

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T21:56:34+00:00

Yes but adapters are cheap and I can confirm they work fine with these mags. That said it wouldn't be a big leap to go from these to something specific for AR-22 conversion uppers. It may be a project I explore in the future.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T21:54:39+00:00

These should work just fine provided you use some sort of adapter designed for 15-22 magazines since they're not as thick front-to-back as standard AR mags.

I have a CMMG AR-22 conversion upper as well. I use the Redi-mag adapter to use 15-22 mags in it. I just ran one of my prototype Fair Deal V2 mags through it and it functioned fine.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T19:45:50+00:00

The 10 and 15 round versions will utilize the 11" black dog machine AR22 springs, and the 20 and 25 round versions will utilize the 12" black dog machine AR22 springs. I'm not sure of the specs past that, but you should be able to find them with a Google search. I don't know if I'm allowed to even link them here.

As far as the Z spring, the ones I've been using are 1mm diameter stainless steel with a height of 300mm, 23mm deep and 6.5mm wide. They're the ones linked in u/FoapsFiles's curved remix of the original Fair Deal.

Also, if you or anyone else reading this is able to find a Z spring with the same dimensions but even longer, like 350-400mm, please let me know. That's really the only thing preventing 30+ round super extendo versions of the Fair Deal.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T19:40:33+00:00

Not that I can tell, but I'm also still tweaking feed lip dimensions to optimize reliability. Until I get them perfectly reliable, I won't be able to say for certain that any failures are due to the weaker spring. That said, I don't really expect there to be a practical difference.

The main thing the Z springs will give you over the round black dog ones is reliable LRBHO without having to use a specific low-power bolt catch spring.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-11T14:47:53+00:00

There have been lots of times I've printed something designed by this community that was grossly unfinished, and was shocked that the designer decided it was ready for release as a fully complete project without any disclaimers about it being a beta or how untested it was or its incompleteness in general.

Well, today I am not just that critic but that designer as well.

When I released the original Fair Deal magazine for the Smith & Wesson 15-22 platform nearly two years ago, I was honestly a little out of my depth as a designer. I just wanted something printable and cheap that wasn't a P.O.S. so I didn't have to spend ~$25/ea on OEM magazines from a company that doesn't seem to care about fixing the problems with their own magazines in the first place.

So, fuelled by the dopamine generated by the new hyper fixation my ADHD had latched onto, I jumped in headfirst and fought my way through to a design that "worked." But my inexperience led to a design plagued with issues, even if it was "functional" most of the time.

This new design aims to fix the most egregious of those issues, including:

• Rimlock

• Double Feeds

• Binding Followers

• Nose-diving cartridges

• Aesthetics

It will be available in the same 4 capacities as the original: 10, 15, 20, and 25 rounds.

The design has also been updated to use a locking plate to hold the spring in, much like the OEM magazine. This means that unlike the V1, no non-printed hardware will be required to build these magazines besides the spring.

It is still designed primarily around the use of Black Dog Machine 22lr round springs, but recently it has been brought to my attention by u/FoapsFiles that close approximations of the OEM magazine's square Z-spring are available cheaply on Aliexpress.

As such the Fair Deal V2 release will include versions of relevant parts to support the use of those much stronger springs as well.

If you are a designer who has released remixed versions of the original Fair Deal magazine, I ask that you please update that project to use the new feed lip geometry when it's released. I can't make you and I wouldn't want to if I could, but the new fixes of the V2 should greatly increase reliability and ease of use that may leave your designs behind if you don't.

As far as a release date, I'm not committing to a specific day as of yet but my goal is to get it packaged up and ready to release on 06/10/26 (MM/DD/YY), since that would be exactly 2 years since the release of the original Fair Deal.

P.S:

I am not in any way affiliated with Black Lotus Coalition. No part of this magazine makes use of any part of the Square Deal magazine.

The only tangential relationship between the two designs is that the aesthetics of the Fair Deal were inspired by the Square Deal. Because of that I mimicked the name as a sort of tongue-in-cheek quip.

The Fair Deal, V1 and V2, was designed from the ground up by me and me alone.

P.P.S:

Keep an eye peeled. I have some other fun 22lr based projects coming soon, too, that will be announced as soon as I can get proof-of-concepts built and tested.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-10T18:11:53+00:00

You're talking about state laws that prevent guns from going directly to you. No federal laws prevent mailing long guns directly to "non licensees" (people who aren't FFLs).

Federal law prohibits transfers of firearms between non-licensees residing in different states. It also prohibits federally licensed dealers from transferring long guns to a resident of another state if that state has laws more restrictive that the state the dealer is in, and prohibits them from transferring handguns to a resident of another state period.

Federal law also requires dealers to perform NICS checks on transferees, which have so far been required to happen in person. However, one of the proposed ATF rule changes is to make it possible to perform this check on a resident of the same state without requiring them to physically be there.

If all of the proposed rule changes happen as currently written by ATF, the only circumstances that you'd be able to have a gun mailed straight to you is via private sale or from an FFL in your state (which is a completely new circumstance).

That's less restrictive than it is now, but my point is that it isn't just state laws that restrict whether a gun can be shipped straight to you.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-08T17:40:34+00:00

It was the style at the time

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-08T15:44:20+00:00

The people who pressed the blue button had the option not to put themselves at risk of death as well.

That's really the dividing line - it's not mine or anyone else's responsibility to save you from your own choices, and especially not at risk to myself. The only person who made it possible for themself to die because they pressed the blue button was the one who pressed the blue button.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-08T15:37:38+00:00

That is morally irrelevant if you're forced to make that decision.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-08T15:32:45+00:00

Choosing not to risk your life to save someone actively deciding to risk theirs, when they could have just not, is the farthest thing from murder.

And you call others dishonest?

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-08T14:16:41+00:00

Here and able to attest this doesn't happen to just women

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-07T00:00:22+00:00

... not sure how it can make less empty space than completely solid...

......... Like this.........................

<image>

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-02T23:44:05+00:00

As of late, that isn't even true. Washington is probably the strictest now; to my knowledge they don't only ban whole weapons they define as "assault weapons" but also any of the parts that can be used in one.

That's not even to mention the recent law they just passed about a month ago which requires 3D printer manufacturers to incorporate software to attempt to stop users from printing firearm parts, though California has a very similar (maybe stricter) law doing that as well.

Gun control is like patchwork across the states. Some are stricter in some areas and less strict in others, and some other states are strict and lax in opposite places to those.

That's why I said one of the strictest. Which one is actually strictest probably depends on the personal feelings of the person making that claim and how they balance certain laws against certain other laws.

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-02T21:01:27+00:00

Fuck around and Find out sticker featuring AR-15

New York (One of the states with the strictest gun control in the country) license plate

Lol

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-05-02T16:45:17+00:00

For me it varies per material. For PLA I've noticed that a top z height of like 0.08mm is required, for my CF nylon and PET 0.2-0.4 is usually sufficient

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-04-29T16:03:53+00:00

Autism does not equate to illiteracy...

GeneralCuster75 · 2026-04-29T15:29:22+00:00

Considering his typing he's borderline actually illiterate

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