|
The Model 1903 Mark 1 was the Springfield rifle as made for the Pedersen device, which was officially named the U.S. Pistol, Caliber .30, Model of 1918 as a cover. The changes to the rifle involved adding an ejection port with a slightly modified stock, as well as changes to the sear and the magazine cutoff.
One result was an outcry from Congress and the public when the cover name "leaked" and it was thought that the Army was abandoning the Model 1911 pistol and .45 caliber in favor of a smaller handgun.
The Pedersen-device equipped Model 1903 was one of the first of the "semi-automatic assault rifles", its only competition in history being the Fedorov, which was produced in fewer numbers but which was actually used in combat. The Russian rifle was not only more powerful, but in the later and most common version, was selective fire.
Jim
|