I have always wanted a Pedersen device or by the proper name U.S. Pistol, Caliber .30 M1918. The standard joke between my wife and I has been we should stop at this yard sale, antique store, or gun shop because there is a Pedersen device there. This has been going on for over 30 years. I guess if you keep hoping then some day it will happen. No, I did not find one to buy. However, I was able to photograph and shot one on this last trip. So the next couple of posts will be concerning this part of my trip. Today’s post is part one of the photo layout of the 1903A1 rifle and the Pedersen device. For every picture that I post I have another 20 with a slight angle difference. In addition to photographing it I also video it and shot it as well. Those videos will be in a later post. So here is the photo essay on the Pedersen device.
This one is with the device in the rifle
here is a view from the other side.
This is a closer look at the device it self in a rifle.
This is a look at it with a magazine installed.
This next series of photos is at various angles.
A few close ups of where the magazine is installed.
This next set is with the magazine installed.
The next few pictures are close ups of the modified bolt stop.
Now on to the device it self. This is a piece of work.
These are some pictures of the ejection port.
A couple of pictures of the barrel.
This one you can see the rifling in the barrel.
This is the pouch set that was issued with the kit.
I hope you enjoyed this essay. I will be posting more pictures in the future as well as a couple of videos.
Does not look like it for be hard for you to duplicate in 30 cal carbine. Harry
30 carbine is to powerful for this design. However 32acp might work.I wish I had drawings as to reverse engineer would be a great deal of work.
Chuck
i have been facinatide for some time now by The Pedersen device and i must say that it is a remarkably simple device and there are enough pictures and drawings on the web to reverse engineer it
what i have figured out so far
-it’s a open bolt straight blowback mechanism (no fancy delayed blowback)
-it uses the firing pin as a ejector
-its locked in the receiver of the bolt action rifle by the bolt stop
-the big lump that sits on top of the device above the trigger of the rifle is what provides the mass for the open bolt straight blowback mechanism and is also the charging handle
but this is how it’s described in the patients , i have handled the real thing
this drawing has a nice cutaway http://www.sodcity.com/gallery2/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=US-rifles%2C-Ammunition-Accessories&id=Pedersen
i have collected some pictures and highlight some text in the patient’s
which you can download here
https://copy.com/zsWEOAFl2NnToUUl
the drawings in the patient are to scale and help a lot
https://www.google.com/patents/US1355417
https://www.google.com/patents/US1355418
https://www.google.com/patents/US1355419
https://www.google.com/patents/US1355420
https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=pts&hl=en&q=ininventor:%22Pedersen+John+D%22
Thanks for the additional information. It added to my reference library on this project. I will post a copy of the manual in a few days
where did you get a copy of the manual , i didn’t even know any existed or survived ?
Pedersen should have selected the .30 Borchardt (aka .30 Mauser) round for his device and made it full auto fire capable. Then his device would have had some combat potential.
Gary
Reminds me CMMG .22LR conversion unit for AR15s …
“Pedersen should have selected the .30 Borchardt (aka .30 Mauser) round for his device”
the bolt look too light for theses calibers ?
The French MAS-38 SMG used a long 7.65 cartridge that was a ballistic twin of the Pedersen cartridge, and it saw use in WW2 by the French and Germans and after the war by the Vietnamese and French police. So IMHO the Pedersen device did have some combat potential even if a bit underpowered.
I agree but for the time period and concept it was intended for it was good.
I just looked it up the Pedersen cartridge shot a 80 grain bullet at 1300 FPS from a springfield rifle, thats pretty close to the performance of a .30 Mauser fired from a pistol.
Yes but you are getting that velocity from a rifle in the Pedersen device. I don’t think the device as design and built can handle the pressure.
Dear Ian,
Check out my book that I sent you for review, Testing the War Weapons to see a shooting review of the Device.Not too many people get an opportunity to shoot it so you may find it useful.
I have your book in my library and I will check it out. Thanks for the reminder. Chuck
A 1918 vintage, 35mm U.S. Army training filmstrip (not a movie, but a sequence of stills) I viewed a long time ago suggested that the Pederson Device magazine articulated as the bolt actuated. Sort of like a bird wing flapping. Any idea why the Pederson Device magazine would cycle between near vertical and about 45 degrees starboard? At the time I figured that it had to be an attempt to allow the rifle sights to be used, or some kind of mechanical delay on the bolt.
I would love to see that filmstrip. Thanks for the heads up on it and I will look for it. I have a video of it shooting that will answer your questions.
Is there some way of rotating the stub barrel of the device to align the rifling with the rifle barrel? If not, I would be inclined to leave the stub barrel smoothbored and allow the rifle barrel to do its thing. It seems to me that if the stub barrel and the rifle barrel were not perfectly aligned then there could be excessive distortion of the bullet as it transits from one lot of rifling to the other, resulting in impaired accuracy.
Here is a nice video on Pedersen device (IMT with Jerry Miculek):