The Pedersen rifle, known officially in its final form as the T1E3, was a semi-automatic rifle designed by John D. Pedersen and made in small numbers for testing by the U.S. Army in the 1920s as part of a program to standardize and adopt a replacement for the M1903 Springfield.
It ultimately lost out to the Garand.
History[]
Prior to World War I, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department had shown interest in semi-automatic rifles. Combat experience during the war made clear two general points, the first of which being that the standard .30-06 was too powerful for the ranges that infantry combat were to take place (at 500 yards and less). The second general point was that bolt-action rifles, such as the M1903 Springfield, were severely lacking in firepower and second-shot hit probability. The Ordnance Department had no issue soliciting designs and prototype weapons from various inventors, and sought to facilitate their work by supplying them with barrels and other equipment that the inventors were likely unable to fabricate. Unfortunately, such a method of developing new weapons far too often saw potentially worthwhile designs wash out of the testing process due to lack of engineering skills and experience in the design and manufacturing stages.
Testing in the early 1920s led the Ordnance Department to identify three weapon designs - the Bang rifle, Thompson Autorifle, and Garand Model 1919 - as promising candidates. However, they were hindered by the high pressure and heat generating characteristics of the .30-06 cartridge, which looked likely to result in a weapon that is too heavy and too subject to overheating to be worthwhile. While unsuited for combat, a small number of "militarized" .25 caliber Remington Model 8 rifles used in trials provided practical experience with semi-automatic rifles and an appreciation for the idea that using less powerful ammunition might be a critical part of the successful development of such weapons.
Around this point in time, prolific firearms designer John Douglas Pedersen, who had developed the Pedersen device used during WWI, made an unsolicited proposal to the Ordnance Department, one that would have a profound impact on their efforts to develop a serviceable semi-automatic rifle. Essentially, Pedersen proposed to develop rifle that is neither recoil- or gas-operated, along with developing a new cartridge in the .256 to .276 caliber range that, while weaker than the .30-06, would be effective out to 300 yards.
The Ordnance Department was impressed with Pedersen's proposal that, in 1923, they gave him a contract providing office space, a project budget, an annual salary, and, in compensation for his departure from Remington, the right to patent his work and collect royalties from the government if his rifle was adopted.
In 1924, Pedersen began development of the weapon, first focusing on the cartridge. The .276 Pedersen cartridge, as was finally standardized and manufactured at Frankford Arsenal, was shorter, lighter, and generated less heat than the .30-06 cartridge with about half the recoil energy. Despite its smaller size, the .276 Pedersen developed a similar trajectory to the .30-06 with a muzzle velocity of 2,600 feet per second (792 meters per second). Despite diminished tracer performance, less effective armor piercing capabilities, and anticipated logistical complications from the fact that the .30-06 would remain in use for machine guns, the .276 Pedersen did make possible a reasonably light yet effective semi-automatic rifle.
MORE TO BE ADDED
Technical Details[]
The Pedersen uses a toggle lock mechanism, similar to weapons such as the Schwarzlose M1907 and the Luger pistol. The weapon's internal magazine holds 10 rounds of ammunition and is fed from an en-bloc clip. It features a safety, which would prevent the weapon from firing when engaged. When the magazine is empty, the bolt locks open and the en-bloc clip ejects from the rifle. The rifle lacks a breech lock, and as a result, required lubricated ammunition to ensure reliable extraction. For this, Pedersen developed an invisible, dry wax process to solve the lubrication problem.