For generations, the Aland Islands, an autonomous stretch of rocky coves in the middle of the Baltic Sea, were home to hunters and a gun culture rooted in Nordic backcountry traditions. Islanders hunted seals and varmints with bolt-action wooden rifles passed down through families.
YouTube channels and American-dominated internet forums inspired one island resident, a 28-year-old named Elias Andersson, to bring that history into the 21st century. After securing permission from the Finnish government, which controls the islands, he designed and made a 3D-printed rifle called the Printax 001.
He spent years building and perfecting his strange gun, which looks like a cross between an AR-15 and a laser blaster from a science-fiction film. Its name has local roots — .AX is the country-code web domain for the Aland Islands.
The gun’s existence on a remote island chain of about 30,000 people is evidence of the spread of 3D-printed firearms. Once a niche hobby, the guns have been popularized by American enthusiasts as a desirable option, particularly in locations where firearms can be hard to come by. The 3D-printed guns have appeared in the hands of rebels in Myanmar and criminals in Europe and South America.
Mr. Andersson’s decision to design the Printax grew out of the long hours he spent during the Covid pandemic watching American gun-related YouTube videos, which promoted a far more aggressive brand of firearms ownership than he had experienced on the Aland Islands. And when Russia invaded Ukraine, he found a new purpose for the Printax’s earliest iterations: Urged by a friend, Mr. Andersson discussed with contacts in Ukraine providing the Printax to the country’s military.
Mr. Andersson grew up around guns and maintains an interest in firearms and their evolution. Something of a hobbyist, he built the Printax because, he said, he had to create his own next thing on an isolated island.
“The Alands don’t have the weapons that I find interesting,” said Mr. Andersson from the deck of his family’s cabin on one of about 6,500 islands in the Aland archipelago.
Members of the islands’ unofficial territorial defense unit, known as the Aland 13th Recon, train with pellet guns. Their official coast guard unit patrols with pistols and little else, warily watching Russian-flagged vessels from a distance, according to a member of the guard.
Finland’s relationship with Russia, never tranquil, has deteriorated since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia and fought the Soviet Union in World War II, sees Russia as a growing threat.
With his home isolated and, for the most part, peaceful, Mr. Andersson discussed introducing the Printax and other 3D printing concepts for drones to the Ukrainian military during a trip to the country two years ago. Mr. Andersson and his friend decided that his skills could help its army fight Russia. Though military officials expressed some interest, the gun is unlikely to have a future soon with the Ukrainians, who need drones, not small arms, to stave off Russia’s prolonged assault.
Mr. Andersson wants to keep trying to help Kyiv with his 3D printing skills. He sees it as the most direct way to aid the Ukrainian cause. “I’m interested in modifying and improving and creating stuff that goes ka-boom in Ukraine and for Ukraine,” he said.
A byproduct of the gun’s design means it’s a cheaper alternative to other AR-15-style rifles, he said. With the right components, the Printax could cost around $200, hundreds less than other models. But, while functional, the gun has some drawbacks. Despite containing parts commonly found in AR-15 rifles, it lacks a key feature that shows the gun is out of ammunition when the bolt locks to the rear. The gun is also chambered in 9-millimeter, an ammunition common in handguns, turning the Printax into what is known as a pistol-caliber carbine.
Mr. Andersson grew up shooting a .22-caliber rifle with his father, and like thousands of others on the Aland Islands, he hunted overpopulated seals and raccoons. In 2019, he used parts from an old BMW to make the chassis of his own bolt-action rifle and sought mentorship from the islands’ sole gunsmith, Janne Stenros, who died in 2023.
Mr. Andersson has no formal engineering education and was trained as a seaman, so his journey into gun design might have ended there. But during the pandemic, he spent time on an internet forum dedicated to 3D gun design and mostly used by Americans, fertile ground for his self-education.
“I was drawn to the extremely precise mechanics and physics needed to put a bullet on a target thousands of meters away,” he said. “That kind of knowledge is around here, but not like in the U.S.”
The design is his own, Mr. Andersson said, though he took some measurements from Hoffman Tactical, a U.S.-based 3D gun company.
Another source of U.S. inspiration was a popular YouTube channel, Print Shoot Repeat. It is hosted by an American who wears a mask to conceal his identity. The channel, with more than 600,000 subscribers, has become a gateway to the hobby for many people interested in 3D printing firearms.
Finland has a restrictive approach to gun ownership. Speaking in his workshop in the middle of Mariehamn, the capital and ferry port of the Aland Islands, with his year-old Belgian Malinois named Kira at his side, Mr. Andersson said he believed in firearm regulation. He made clear he was unlike many well-known 3D-gun creators who aim to get arms into the hands of everyone.
Mr. Andersson said he had no plans to circulate assembly plans for it, which would be illegal under Finnish and European laws. “The harsh reality is that there are idiots everywhere,” he said.
Gun violence on the islands is practically nonexistent. In one of the more notorious episodes, more than 20 years ago, a hunter shot to death two friends after an argument over a doughnut.
As his 3D printer chirped away building a new barrel shroud for the Printax, Mr. Andersson said his goal was to make the perfect gun.
“I’m trying to search for perfection,” he said. “But I don’t think anyone knows what perfection is.”
Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a national correspondent for The Times, covering gun culture and policy.
The post How U.S. Gun Culture Spread to a Remote Island in the Baltic Sea appeared first on New York Times.
