The Pedersen Device is an attachment developed during World War I for the M1903 Springfield rifle that allowed it to fire a short .30 Caliber (7.62 mm) intermediate cartridge in semi-automatic mode. This wonder weapon was developed to allow infantry to dramatically increase their rate of fire while on the move, while also allowing the rifle to be used in conventional bolt action mode for long-range fire from the trenches.
Production had just ramped up when the war ended and the Pedersen Device ended up in storage after the war. Most were later destroyed as surplus and the few surviving examples are extremely rare collectors' items. In March 2008, a 1918 Mark I Pedersen device and a few boxes of ammunition that were owned by the estate of Connecticut attorney Bruce Stern were sold at auction for US $55,000 (US $60,250 with buyer's premium).
Read more about Pedersen Device: History, Production, Post-war
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