WOODIN LABTucson, Arizona

The Woodin Laboratory

The collection.

A remarkable record of ammunition history, preserved through specimens, drawings, and research.

A look inside

Rows of wooden specimen cabinets extending through the Woodin Laboratory.
Rows of specimen cabinets, with display boards and reference material surrounding them.Photo: Pepper · IAA Resource Center
Open wooden drawers holding rows of cartridge specimens in different sizes.
A closer look inside the drawers reveals the variety of specimens in the collection.Photo: Gyrojet · IAA Resource Center
Framed ammunition display boards covering a wall above laboratory cabinets.
Display boards lined the walls above the specimen cabinets.Photo: Gyrojet · IAA Resource Center
Bookshelves and tables filled with books, binders, and research papers.
Books, binders, and working papers formed the laboratory’s reference library.Photo: Pepper · IAA Resource Center

A lifetime’s work

Bill Woodin was born on December 16, 1925, and died peacefully at home in Tucson on March 14, 2018, with his family. His wife, Beth, had died on January 10 that year.

After his death, his four sons hoped that the collection could remain intact and continue to be available to collectors, researchers, and military and police personnel. After nearly four years of efforts to find a single buyer, the estate and Woodin Foundation board announced that the collection would be dispersed.

The recorded collection

The 2022 description recorded approximately 207,784 items:

185,195
Individual rounds of ammunition
4,886
Ammunition engineering drawings, including U.S. Army Ordnance Department material dating to the 1880s, contractor drawings, and foreign manufacturers’ drawings
1,071
Pieces of research literature, including books, ordnance reports, magazines, technical manuals, and subject files
112
U.S. and foreign military ammunition display boards
16,520
Empty military and police cartridge boxes

The main room held display boards, reference material, and specimens in 44 wooden cabinets with 1,034 drawers. Other displays, miscellaneous material, and duplicates occupied additional areas of the laboratory.

Meet the man behind the collection ↗