How strong are metal and plastic printed parts?GE is doing 3D printed parts for the CFM LEAP engine, and my employer is working with the technology.
Generally, I believe most of the work has been with sintered metals using fairly powerful lasers.
Personally I don't believe we are too far from 3D printing everything, including barrels and bolts. There will likely need to be post printing processing, but the initial form will be 3D printed.