The Pedersen RifleIn 1931 gun designer John Pedersen, inventor of the Pedersen Device, submitted thi
The Pedersen RifleIn 1931 gun designer John Pedersen, inventor of the Pedersen Device, submitted this entry in Army Ordnance trials for a new semi automatic rifle to replace the 1903 Springfield. The Pedersen Rifle had a delayed blowback action similar to that of a 9mm Luger and fired a small .276 Pedersen (7x51mm) cartridge. Like assualt rifle design decades later, Pedersen believed that the power and range of rifle cartridges was unnecessary and that a smaller cartridge was more practical.While initial trials looked promising the Pedersen Rifle was turned down in favor of the M1 Garand. The reasons for this were two fold. First traditional members of the Ordnance Department favored the stopping power of the .30-06. Secondly the Pedersen cartridge had to be lubricated with mineral wax, which the Ordinance Bureau believed would attract dirt.The Pedersen Rifle also attracted interest from Great Britain and Japan, but again nothing came of their experiments. -- source link
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