I was cruising the internet looking for obscure firearms blueprints to model in solidworks when I stumbled on a forum post that suggests there is or was an Aberdeen facility called AARDC that one can send FOIA requests to and receive blueprints of historical military firearms.
Does anybody here know what the AARDC is/was? I can't find anything about it on the internet.
The forum post:
thehighroad.org
Other urls found in this thread:
archives.gov
github.com
atc.army.mil
weaponeer.net
unredacted.com
gunhub.com
twitter.com
archives.gov
Fucking QTDDTOT
But user, this is a question that deserves its own thread.
No idea, but this could be a gold mine.
On a related topic, does there exist a common repository for 'known' ordinance blueprints, and if not, why don't we make one? I've got a handful of drawings I wouldn't mind scanning if I knew there was interest.
I'm interested in any blueprints you have, and no, I don't know if there is a known repository specifically for ordnance prints. We should make one.
There is a github repo called FOSSCAD that has a collection of CAD files for firearms. I could go make a github for blueprints if you're serious about this.
I'm not all that intimately familiar with Github. How do you regulate the quality of submissions? What happens when the guy maintaining the archive disappears?
Most of this stems from my own frustrations in finding reference material. Maybe my google-fu is weak, but there's a lot of stuff out there marked as as 'blueprints' that aren't – if it doesn't have at least dimensions, preferably also tolerances and material specifications, it's not worth considering. Then there's the material that is correct but incomplete or illegible. Of the few sources where physical copies can be purchased, a lot of it has to be bought sight unseen, hoping that what you get isn't garbage.
How do you regulate the quality of submissions? The github way of doing it is that people wanting to contribute to the project fork the project and then make changes to their fork and create pull requests to the original project.
The project managers are notified of presented pull requests and from there able to allow or deny the changes.
There is nothing stopping anybody from forking the project if the original maintainer gets up and walks off.
github.com
Here, I made a repo. I'll figure out the command line add system and start uploading my stuff to it.
Have my ppsh fun plans.
Awesome. One thing I don't quite understand about them though is the lack of detailing in the stock contour. Somehow the stock just doens't seem complete.
Its a gun you shit out by the thousands the moment you have a jig set up for the thing. Stocks being varied on originals is a thing. And yes, you can shit those guns out by the thousands, only thing simpler is a STEN.
What is the radius on the ppsh41 pivot block fillet?
Just enough
Its on the second heat shield print.
If I dumped everything I had to the repo would you help me autismitize it?
I think it would be better to have these blueprint pdfs broken up into individual components.
Model 21, M1918, M1919A4 and A6, AR18, Garand, PPS43, and PPSH41 committed.
Update!
I think I found what the guy in the forum was talking about.
"There will be a designated FOIA office within the command."
I'll send a request for blueprints for the m1903 stock and see what they say. If it's what I think it is, we can start mining.
These are a little blurry but they should be readable if you blow them up big enough.
And as far as low hanging fruit, weaponeer has a bunch of stuff.
>weaponeer.net
...
That's where I plucked most of mine from, although some of the gun models I've downloaded from grabcad had blueprints packaged with them. The russian internet has a lot of surprising things on it as well.
What are the chances of them giving out the production level Pancor Jackhammer and the G11 K2?
The DoD only ever had the two toolroom prototypes for testing, right? I'm not sure a full set of drawings would have ever existed, let alone formally ratified.
Still worth a shot. The worst they can say is 'no'.
And as long as we're making wish lists, I'd really like the prints for the M3 37mm Gun, or really any other sliding wedge breech cannon. I want to scale the breech mechanism down to 3.5" 12ga and make a punt gun.
I don't know if they would have those. It would be awesome though. I love retro spaceguns.
Check the link that ahmed posted at the top. There was a couple entries that dealt field artillery guns. You might get lucky.
Out of the three two of them were fully functioning guns. The one that survives is the actual proof of concept, i.e no mag release and other vital features outside of trigger making the bang finger hit the bang button.
Can't we just send them a polite letter that says
SEND EVERYTHING!
and call it a day?
No, they require you to be specific about what you want on the FOIA request. I can only assume that's why I see parts lists that have drawing sheet id numbers on them are so sought after. So people know exactly what exists in the construction of the weapons and what to ask for.
Do they only have American guns, or captured foreign ones too?
The forum post in the OP strongly suggests the idea that aberdeen has blueprints for the gewehr 43, if it has stuff that obscure then it def others. I don't know about the artillery place but do some digging and send foia requests. I'm sending the springfield request to aberdeen today so stay posted.
How specific, though? Is it enough to say, for instance, 'ordinance blueprint for 1903 stock', or do you have to have the exact drawing number and filing location?
I guess we'll find out.
depends on how much shit you want to wade through. see this link:
unredacted.com
knowing the drawing identity will offer a better guarantee that you get what you want, let alone that they're even able to find it.
and yes, you need to know the EXACT filing location, which should be aberdeen, provided mr. Willie Sutton knows his shit.
another research update. see pic for important excerpt.
gunhub.com
another day, another mile. we're definitely headed in the right direction.
It's an ITAR thing. The same thing that hit Defense Distributed, when they tried to distribute 3D printed gun CAD files gratis. But he is in a better position, because he's not charging.
If the ruling goes in his favor then these plans should get released to the world on the Internet, instead of so obnoxiously. It's not like Russia, China, or whatever else doesn't have a fucking copy of 1911 handgun plans.
That's not what I was getting at. The point of interest is the suggestion that FOIA is how Nicklaus acquired the drawings he offers for sale on his website.
Any news? In case anyone else wants to send a letter:
FOIA OfficerUS Army Aberdeen Test CenterBuilding 4006943 Colleran RoadAberdeen Proving Ground MD 21005-5059
They have an email address on that website too, but considering this is the military, they probably don't use it for security reasons.
They're supposed to acknowledge the request within twenty business days, but it doesn't always happen because bureaucracy. So we've got some time yet.
I do need to work on my own requests though, thanks for reminding me.
Just sent out my own request. Nothing now to do but wait.
What else do you think could be got from them? One could assume they were given for testing captured samples of whatever materiel they could get their hands on, but would they have any documentation beyond the test reports?
Is it possible that they have the blueprints for this?
Would it be better for me to go onto Aberdeen and just hand it in in-person?
I'll take a pic of the coastal battery if you want me to when I go there, removing all those awesome tanks from the field was a sad idea
You may want to try using www.muckrock.com It is a site that has some interesting FOIAs on it you can use as templates.
It's been more than a month. Anything?
Looks like that's the only way we can get any info considering how long it's been since we've sent the letters.
I want the bittaker murder audio tape.
I've actually gotten a reply back, even if it was just a "we acknowledge your request and are conducting a search" form letter.
IN REAL TIME
bump