Pedersen device

[1] Fewer than 100 Pedersen devices escaped ordered destruction to become extremely rare collectors' items.

His final design replaced the bolt of a modified Springfield M1903 rifle with a device consisting of a complete firing mechanism and a small "barrel" for a new .30 caliber pistol like cartridge.

Each magazine had cut-out viewing slots facing aft so the rifleman could observe the number of unfired rounds remaining.

The sear, trigger, and magazine cut-off also required modifications which did not limit the ability of Mark I receivers to function in the normal bolt-action mode.

[1] Pedersen traveled to Washington, D.C. on 8 October 1917 to conduct a secret demonstration for Chief of Ordnance General William Crozier and a selected group of army officers and congressmen.

To deceive the enemy, the Ordnance Department decided to call it the US Automatic Pistol, Caliber .30, Model of 1918.

[1] The use of the Pedersen device in the 1919 spring offensive was to be in conjunction with the full combat introduction of the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR.)

[1] A Mark II Pedersen Device was also designed for the M1917 "American Enfield" and a similar prototype was made for the Remington-produced Mosin–Nagant; neither of those were ever put into production.

Ammunition produced by Remington is headstamped "RA" (or "RAH" for the Hoboken, New Jersey plant) with the years (19-) "18", "19", and "20".

Following their destruction, noted writer Julian Hatcher wrote an authoritative article for the May 1932 issue of American Rifleman magazine describing the device in detail.