Springfield 1903 rifle with Pederson device

They aren't really that uncommon. As with most M1903s the challenge is to find one with a sound barrel. Saw one at the Chilliwack show a couple of weeks ago with a toasted barrel, pitted receiver and grungy stock. I'm LF one or any other M1903 or 03A3 with a good unpitted receiver which isn't D&T for scope mounts.
 
According to Hatcher's Notebook, the Pedersen Device was stored after WW1, and the stores were destroyed in the 1920's. There are a VERY few out there in private hands, but they are exceedingly rare and command premium prices.
 
Quite a write up ive seen before on this topic, ill mention what I THINK i remember lol.. Basically what ive seen outlined that almost all of the devices were destroyed by means of a demolish order from the DND. The ones that survived are damn near impossible to come by, ones have been seen at a museum or two I believe it said. Also one apparently sold at a auction for a very high price, might have been with a 1903 for it to. Seems unobtanium in this case. Would be cool to see.
 
I do remember reading that one actually sold at auction down in the US.
Came with a small box of the original reduced caliber rounds as well which are almost as rare as the Pederson Device itself.
It sold to some crazy rich Texas lawyer. I can't remember the price but I do remember being astounded by it. I think it was in the $50,000 area!!!

Here is one from 2013. No idea how much it went for:
http://rockislandauction.########.ca/2013/03/the-pedersen-device.html

Pretty cool piece of lost history.
 
How does the 03 with the cutout for the Pedersen Device sit with the laws over there, is it classed as a semi-auto or because of the rarity of the device, a bolt-action?

[video]https://www.full30.com/video/2d4d78397e6c8c9b83933a9cf01fe513[/video]
 
5THBATT said:
How does the 03 with the cutout for the Pedersen Device sit with the laws over there, is it classed as a semi-auto or because of the rarity of the device, a bolt-action?

[video]https://www.full30.com/video/2d4d78397e6c8c9b83933a9cf01fe513[/video]
Click to expand...

Legal unless prohibited. There are no laws regarding the use of semi-automatic conversion devices in a manual action firearm, mainly due to the fact that, to my knowledge, only the pedersen exists and is uber-exceptionally rare. Irrelevant anyways, provided the final product exceeds the minimum lengths set out in our laws.
 
The M1903 MkI used some different parts to function with the Pedersen Device incl a special cutoff and spindle and trigger/sear. Over the yrs I've managed to find a sear and cuttoff. Funnily enough the Pedersen mag pouches are very common and quite cheap. Most that I've seen were made by Rock Island Arsenal and dated in early 1919.
 
Mark 1 receivers are fairly common and seem to have survived in disproportionate numbers. Without the special trigger and sear and cutoff, which have almost invariably been replaced with standard parts, they have little more value than the standard '03.
 
Problem with owning one could be that our Glorious Leaders likely would have it classified as a 'short-barreled pistol' or as a .32-calibre, both Prohibs.

In the first instance, they are taking advantage of a security name for the Pederson Device. It was called the "Pistol. .30", Model of 1918" for security reasons only, just in case Fritz was listening.

In the second case, the French 7.62mm Longue was an out-and-out copy of the Pederson round and "everybody knows" that a 7.65mm is a .32, even if it isn't.

I do know that Pederson ammunition, 30 years or so ago, still cropped up occasionally and it worked in the French 1935 pistols.

As to making the stuff, I do believe that .30 Carbine casings can be persuaded to do the job. BTW, the Carbine casing also can be altered for the Austro-Hungarian 1907 Roth-Steyr cavalry pistol.

The Pederson Device itself was in essence most of a .30-cal semi-auto pistol which was shaped to fit into the boltway and chamber of the 1903 Mark 1 rifle. Cocking was by means of a "mouse" on top of the thing, which ran back and forth like the slide of a pistol. The barrel part was shaped like a .30-'06 round and filled the chamber. Its forward part was rifled finely and shallowly in order to spin the bullet on firing and THEN allow it to take the rifling of the actual rifle bore. Searing mechanism for the Device was, as already pointed out, incorporated into the trigger mechanism of the M1903 Mark 1 rifles. One estimate has it that there could be as many as half a dozen Pederson Devices in private hands. This tends to put them out of most folks' budgets (including mine!).

Hatcher gives an account of a firing test of one of the things in his famous "Notebook".

Hope this helps.
 
Prototype Pedersen devices were also made for the Mosin Nagant, SMLE and M1917.
Probably doesn't matter because of the scarcity of the things, but I cannot see why the legal status of a Pedersen device would be any different from that of a .22 conversion unit for an AR.
Oddly enough, a French M1935 service pistol in 7.65mm French Long caliber is not deemed to be a .32 caliber pistol for the purpose of 12-6 classification.
 
I have seen TWO! One in the 1950's and ONE at a gun show a few years ago. Rare is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!!!!!!!!!
Most were destroyed.
Probably a good thing as the drill was to advance at a walk, pulling the trigger each time your left foot hit the ground!
The German machine gunners would have had easy targets.
I do remember seeing a pallet of literally thousands of rounds in the basement of the local gun store around 1965 Even one box would be a neat collector's item!
Of clourse you had to carry the bolt for the 30-06 ammo as well
 
The Pedersen Device was a very innovative solution to giving the infantryman a capacity for a high volume of suppressive fire, both in the advance and in close in fighting in trench clearance operations. It was intended to be used in the big allied offensive which was planned for the spring of 1919. Fortunately the German defeat occurred prior to that.

The MkI rifles were produced before and after the armistice and even into 1919. There is a special web belt pouch for the soldier to carry the regular M1903 bolt after the device was installed. I found one of these pouches 30 yrs ago or so.

To a considerable extent the Thompson SMG had it's genesis in the Pedersen concept. It was even advertised as a "trench broom" when it was developed in the immediate aftermath of WW1.
 
Pedersen Devices are worth 5 figures USD, as I recall. Not a firearm either. It's just a bolt with a magazine. Has no barrel.
 
Fairly complicated design. There would be a market for a reproduction, but what would be the size of the market, and what would collectors pay for a repro?
 
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