Pederson Device

Ok I give, what is a pederson device? never heard of one! some body tell me what this is. please!

Not the expert here but I believe that the Pederson device, when inserted into a Mark I M1903, allowed the shooter to fire .30 carbine rounds in semi-auto.

It was a device that replaced the bolt. Was basicly a miniture rifle action - held it's own bolt . firing pin , mag holder , etc. Used the '03's trigger to fire . The round would leave the device ( the front was the same as a 30-06 case in size and would fill / set in the chamber ) and go down the rifle's bore. The mag held 30 rounds and the device was semi-automatic. The round was a new round , but was adopted by the French between wars in thier pistol . Not quite as powerful as a carbine round.
Chris

It was the super-secret weapon that was to win the first world war during the expected Spring offensive of 1919. That was all short circuited with the Armistice of Nov 1918. It was a strict military secret and was officially called the "Automatic Pistol, Caliber .30, Model 1918, Mark I". It was, in effect, a device that converted the M1903 Mark 1 rifle into a semi-automatic, blow back rifle which fired a pistol-power level cartridge. The Pedersen Device

now that i would love to see work ,makes you wonder how relieable it was. do any of these left over ones still work? thanks for the info every one .

The Army ordered them destroyed sometime in the late 20's or early 30's. They piled up the PDs & the ammo & burned them. Some PDs didn't make it to the pyre; some were salvaged from the ashes. Working models today are very rare as is the ammo. Service models apparently were reliable enough to use.

I heard Lee Ermey fired one on "Mail Call", but I have not seen the video, yet.

If you want a quick rundown, here's a link to Dick Culver's article on the PD on the CMP website:

Pipsqueak Pistol That Never Was