The Product Development Technology Station (PDTS) assisted a client to design and manufacture cost effective rifle sights for sharpshooting as new sights were very expensive. The station used various iron sights as reference and decided on the Additive Manufacturing (AM) process to manufacture certain components of the product.
A new unique design was made for this purpose and therefore differed from existing iron designs of rifle sights. AM gives more freedom of design, which no other manufacturing technology provides.
The PDTS chose nylon for its durability, light weight and lower cost. The design was based on a brass railslide system and tried to keep most of the moving parts low profile in order to keep a low centre of mass.
The rifle sight was 3D printed in nylon and features 5 mm brass round bars for the rails and two M4 threaded rods for adjusting the slides. The adjusting dials rotate on spring-loaded bearings that divide the rotation in increments. Each increment gives an adjustment of only 0.07 mm. The rest of the hardware is stainless steel for durability.
This AM produced rifle sight is one of a kind and the client was satisfied to such an extent that he can commercialise the product.