Way to go, I didn't think that one would last long.
A little more reading for your enjoyment, it is one of my favorite rifles, handled one but never had the chance to fire one.
.276 Pedersen rifle
Slow motion of one being fired
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...EE40EBB5316C1ED2502BEE40E&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedersen_rifle
The Pedersen Rifle, officially known in final form as the T1E3 rifle, was a United States semi-automatic rifle designed by John Pedersen that was made in small numbers for testing by the United States Army during the 1920s as part of a program to standardize and adopt a replacement for the M1903 Springfield.
Although the Pedersen was rated for a time as the most likely candidate for standardization and adoption, the .30 caliber M1 Garand was chosen instead.[1]
Background[edit]
The U.S. Army had shown interest in the idea of self-loading (semiautomatic) rifles before World War I. Combat experience during that war had made clear two general points: that the standard caliber .30-06 rifle cartridge was excessively powerful for the ranges (500 yards and less) where infantry combat was likely to take place, and that bolt-action rifles such as the M1903 Springfield were seriously lacking in firepower and second-shot hit capability. The U.S. Army Ordnance Bureau had no problem in soliciting designs and prototype weapons from inventors, and sought to facilitate their work by supplying barrels and other hardware that the inventors were likely not to be able to fabricate. However, such a traditional way of developing new weapons all too often saw potentially worthwhile designs wash out of the testing process due to a lack of engineering skills and experience both in the design and manufacturing phases.
Testing in the early 1920s led the Ordnance Bureau to identify three rifle designs - the Bang rifle, the Thompson Autorifle, and the primer-protrusion actuated Garand rifle - as promising candidates. However, all three designs were burdened with the high pressure and heat generating characteristics of the .30-06 ammunition, which looked likely to result in a weapon too heavy and too subject to overheating to be worthwhile. Trials with a small number of "militarized" .25 Remington autoloading rifles, despite their unsuitability for combat, provided a body of practical experience with semiautomatic rifles and an appreciation for the idea less powerful ammunition might be a critical part of the successful development of such weapons.
Proposals[edit]
At this point in time, John Douglas Pedersen made an unsolicited proposal to the Army Ordnance Bureau which would have a profound impact on the entire effort to develop a serviceable semiautomatic rifle. In essence, he proposed to develop a rifle that would be neither recoil operated (excessive recoil and inaccurate) nor gas operated (complexity, weight, and potentially undesirable operating characteristics). Additionally, he proposed to develop a new cartridge in the caliber .256 to .276 (6.5 mm to 7 mm) range that, while less powerful that the .30-06, would be effective out to 300 yards. Pedersen had gained a good reputation as both a firearms designer and production engineer at the Remington Arms Company. While at Remington, he designed four notable commercial firearms. Pedersen also designed the Pedersen Device during World War I. This was a sub-firearm intended to allow battlefield conversion of Springfield and M1917 Enfield rifles into semiautomatic rifles firing a pistol-sized cartridge.[1]
The Bureau of Ordnance was sufficiently impressed that in 1923 it granted Mr. Pedersen 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 U.S. Government if his rifle was adopted.
Development of the rifle and cartridge[edit]
Pedersen got to work in 1924, focusing first on the cartridge. The .276 Pedersen (7 x 51 mm) cartridge as finally standardized and manufactured at Frankford Arsenal was 1⁄2 in (13 mm) shorter than the .30-06, one quarter lighter, would generate nearly a third less heat and about half the recoil energy. Despite being smaller, it had a trajectory similar to the .30-06., with a muzzle velocity of 2,600 feet per second (792 m/s). The drawbacks of the design were diminished tracer performance, less effective armor piercing, plus anticipated logistical complications coming from the fact the .30-06 would remain in use for machine guns. The cartridge did, however, make a reasonably light yet effective semiautomatic rifle possible.
By early 1926, Pedersen had designed and built a prototype rifle. He had researched Army tactics and operational concepts, and had engineered the tooling for parts manufacture as an integral part of engineering the gun parts themselves. Such an application of sound research and development made a very strong impression on Army personnel when the rifle was presented for inspection and testing. The rifle was a solid, well-finished weapon, 44 inches (112 cm) long, weighing slightly over 8 pounds (3.6 kg). It utilized a disposable ten-round en bloc clip, a system favored at the time. Pedersen's rifle utilized a sophisticated up-breaking toggle-joint system like the Parabellum P.08[2] but improved by utilizing delayed blowback. This system was simple and free of both the fragility and severe kick of recoil operation, and the weight and complexity of gas operation (as in the Browning Automatic Rifle). To ease extraction, cartridge cases were coated in mineral wax.[3] This left a thin film that was “hard, and durable, and was not sticky,”.[4] The waxed cases solved the issue of difficult extraction, but hindered acceptance of the Pedersen rifle because officials feared that the wax would attract dirt and cause operating failures.
Testing and evaluation[edit]
En-bloc clip loaded with 10 rounds of .276 Pedersen. Image from John Pedersen patent.
In February 1926, the new rifle and ammunition were tested in the presence of representatives of both the Army Chief of Infantry and the Chief of Cavalry. The results were “highly favorable”[5] Production was authorized on May 20, 1926 of 20 rifles and 5 carbines. Following tests of reworked versions of the Thompson and primer-actuated Garand rifles, the Infantry Board in June, 1926 recommended further testing of all three rifles, but clearly indicated in its report the Pedersen rifle was the most developed of the three.
In April 1928 came the Infantry Board test report on the T1E3, and it was a solid endorsement of the rifle. The Board called for adoption of the T1E3 rifle to replace both the Model 1903 Springfield and the Browning Automatic Rifle. The Cavalry Board was also positive in its own evaluation of the T1E3. To soldiers used to the heavy recoil and exhausting manual operation of the Springfield rifle, the moderate recoil and self-loading functionality of the T1 rifle clearly must have made an impression. Due to problems with primer-actuation, John Garand gave up work on a .30-06 semiautomatic rifle and also focused exclusively on caliber .276.
Doubts about the lethal effect of the .276 round were strong enough to result in extensive tests in June and July 1928 by the “Pig Board” (so called because lethality tests were carried out on anaesthetized pigs). The Board found all three rounds (.256, .276, and .30) were wounding out to 1,200 yards (1100m), and lethal ability out to 300 or 400 yards (270-365m) was comparable. The “tiny” .256 caliber round was perceived to be the deadliest of them all. No compelling case could be made against the Pedersen rifle and round that it could not perform on the battlefield.
Further tests and a final decision[edit]
In July 1928, the War Department created the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Semiautomatic Rifle Board to further test and evaluate both existing and newly submitted rifles with an eye toward focusing on standardizing the most serviceable design. Unlike previous boards, this one would continue to function for three years, and would end up undertaking three series of tests. This Board displayed a strong interest in the development of a .30-'06 semiautomatic rifle, but at the same time recognized the potential effectiveness of the .276 round at ranges up to 600 yards and that relatively light weight rifles that could be built around it; the Board remained consistent with the de facto Army policy of favoring adoption of the .276 round. Counting the Pedersen T1E3 rifle (by this time covered by U.S. Patent 1,737,974), seven rifles were submitted for consideration. One of these rifles was John Garand’s gas-operated .276 rifle, the T3, which had a 10-round magazine loaded with a symmetrical en bloc clip.
Pedersen toggle-delayed blowback action. Image from John Pedersen patent.
The conclusion of the tests, held in August 1929, saw the Board rate the T1E3 and the T3 as superior to all the others.[1] Both rifles were found to be subject to excessive malfunctions, but the T3 was rated superior to the T1E3. Specific T1E3 defects were: failure of the breech mechanism to close, misfires, breech mechanism override (failure to feed), and breakage of a crank and a sear bar. The Board recommended manufacturing of 20 T3 rifles for service test, and in addition recommended building a caliber .30-'06 version of the T3 for evaluation.
Cartridge lethality was again investigated by the “Goat Board”, this time with shooting tests on anaesthetized goats and careful measurement of entry and exit velocities. However, the test results again demonstrated no superiority of caliber .30 ammunition at normal combat ranges.
The year 1931 saw testing of the T1E3 and the twenty T3E2 rifles by the Infantry. The Infantry Board rated the T3E2 superior in effective firepower and simplicity of construction (the T3E2 had 60 parts, while the T1E3 had 99 parts). This Board, which three years earlier had recommended adoption of the T1, now favored the T3E2; it continued to favor the .276. However, the Chief of Infantry broke with the Infantry Board and stated a preference for .30 caliber.
The .30-'06 Garand rifle (essentially an enlarged T3E2) was quickly built and, under the confusing designation T1E1, was tested along with the T3E2 and the Pedersen T1E3 during the remainder of 1931. The Semiautomatic Rifle Board now exhibited a notably critical attitude toward the T1E3. The Board found fault with the requirement for lubricated cartridge cases (seemingly regardless of the technical merits of Mr. Pedersen’s case treatment concept), poor trigger pull, and the upward break of the breech mechanism. A more substantive complaint had to do with the complete exposure of the breech mechanism when held open—the Board correctly cited the vulnerability of the rifle to mud and dust while in this condition. The Board also reported slamfires (the Garand T3E2 was reported to dimple cartridge primers with its firing pin, but did not slamfire).
In the end, funding issues forced a decision. Faced with the possible loss of funds already authorized by Congress, the Board met for one more time in January 1932 and decided to recommend approval of the T3E2 (the .276 Garand) for limited procurement by the Army and to continue development of the T1E1 (the .30-'06 Garand). With this action, the Pedersen rifle was effectively dropped from consideration. In four more years, almost to the day, an improved version of rifle T1E1 would be adopted as the M1.
As Springfield Armory tooled for and refined the Garand, Pedersen continued to work on another rifle. He developed a .30 caliber model with a conventional gas-trap piston and multi-piece operating rod system. He fought to have it tested by the U.S. Army prior to World War II. At around the same time, serious difficulties were being encountered with the Garand and questions had been raised. Both Pedersen and Melvin M. Johnson, Jr. attempted to capitalize on the troubles. Based on serial numbers, it is thought up to 12 prototype gas-trap Pedersen rifles were made. One example of the model G-Y resides at the Springfield Armory Museum.[6]