Halo fans will certainly recognize them immediately

Jan 12, 2015 12:45 GMT  ·  By

3D printed firearms lit a fire under the behinds of safety regulation authorities almost as soon as 3D printing technology became something accessible to the common man. That was a few years ago.

Presently, the world is still quite ambivalent about the matter. Some nations believe that existing gun regulations cover 3D printed ones well enough, so long as 3D models aren't made easily available.

Others, however, are debating special laws (like in Australia) or already cracking down on makers and owners of guns. A Japanese man was arrested last year just for owning one.

Fortunately, there is one type of gun that will always fall outside this gray area: fictional props. Props like the Halo weapons that Ultimate Gaming Championship (UGC) revealed in St. Louis earlier this month.

There are three weapons in total

Ultimate Gaming Championship (UGC) is a company that hosts tournaments and leagues in which gamers can meet, socialize and have LAN parties together.

This year, for the tournament hosted in St. Louis, MO, owner and founder of UGC, Matt Jackson, created perfect replicas of three weapons from the acclaimed Halo franchise.

Those weapons were the standard M6 Hand Gun, a second M6 Hand Gun (the gold MVP Award version), and the Halo 4 Sniper Rifle.

The rifle deserves a special mention for being 5.3 feet / 1.61 meters in length all on its own. That's one big gun. No wonder Spartans and ODSTs like it so much.

Quite fitting really, since the central showdown of the event was the Halo 2 Anniversary 4 v 4 $20,000 payout tourney (€17,000, give or take).

We wouldn't be surprised if, in the future, these sorts of 3D printed props get equipped with electronic insides and turned into controllers for new games. Duck Hunt has to get a high-graphics follow-up at some point.

Availability and pricing

Unfortunately, Jackson didn't release the plans for the guns, and doesn't intend to release the completed ones as sellable products. However, it shouldn't be too big an effort to get a hold of a model from Thingiverse or some other online 3D file hosting website. Even if there aren't .STL files available yet, Halo is a big enough franchise that you're guaranteed to see the designs sooner or later.

When it happens, you'll only need a decent 3D printer to make your own, rugged, awesome and somehow still perfectly harmless weapons. Well, harmless unless you club someone in the face with them anyway.

Halo-inspired weapons (4 Images)

The Halo 4 Sniper Rifle
Halo 4 Sniper Rifle held by the winning team, DenialEsportsM6 Hand Gun
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