POD
The US military wanted a semiautomatic rifle, but only if it could be had at less than 10.5 pounds and to this point that appeared to be an unrealistic goal in the current .30-06 caliber. Mr. Pedersen in particular was a proponent of this view and his argument was aided by the fact that the advantages of his .276 cartridge were considerable. Compared to the .30-06 a soldier could carry 30% more ammunition for the same weight and the rifle itself could hold 25% more ammunition in a similarly-sized magazine. The rifle itself could also be built more lightly, as it was subjected to less firing stress, and overheated less quickly. The lower recoil allowed significantly more rapid and accurate follow-up shots. And the round itself was just as superbly accurate as the .30-06.
It has been proposed that in OTL the evaluation of the Czech ZH-29 rifle around the time of the POD influenced the Semiautomatic Rifle Board. The ZH-29 had other problems and was not itself suitable for adoption, but under this theory it at least demonstrated that a lower weight might be within reach using the full-powered military cartridges of the day. In OTL the SRB reversed itself in July 1929 and ordered the resumption of development of the .30 caliber Garand rifle. In TTL they never evaluate the ZH-29 due to a distracted Czech clerk mis-addressing the shipment, and the rifle ends up filed in the general-purpose warehouse at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, rather than being forwarded to Fort Benning, Georgia, and it is promptly lost for half a century. Thus the Board does not evaluate the ZH-29 and does not reverse itself, leaving only .276 caliber rifles to continue in testing and development.
Some have proposed that Pedersen’s hubris is what that led to the failure of his rifle to be selected, but the truth is that his rifle had serious problems. Still, his
hubris was in that he was so confident that his rifle would be selected that he was out of the country during the final trials in an attempt to convince the British to adopt it as well, and his absence may have annoyed the board members because designers have traditionally tried to be present. (The British had shown pre-WWII interest in smaller cartridges as well, of course, and a few
Vickers-Pedersen rifles were produced for trials.) Pedersen returned to the US to find his rifle was not selected, and that although his cartridge was to be used the Ordnance Bureau was sabotaging it by trying to over-power it. So, due to the SRB’s stronger support of the smaller caliber, Pedersen is emboldened to fight even harder for his cartridge (and his royalties) in opposition to the attempts by the Ordnance Bureau to kill it.
.....
Springfield, Massachusetts
January 1932
“John, I need your assistance.” Garand looked up from his drafting table. [1]
“What is it, Douglas?” Pedersen seemed unusually conciliatory, which made Garand suspicious. The man was decent enough but he could be downright snake-oily at times. [2]
“You’ve heard of what the Ordnance Bureau is doing? With my cartridge?”
“Yes of course. After all they want to put it in my rifle,” Garand said, waving vaguely at his diagrams. “I’m working on it now,”
“Well if they make it heavier like that it renders the new cartridge pointless.”
Garand paused to sit back, not sure how to answer. “You know that I was in favor of .30-caliber from the beginning.”
“Well, be honest,” Pedersen countered, becoming more animated. “You were in favor of it because it was part of the initial official requirement, and you’ve worked on it for so long.”
“It can be done.”
“Yes, I’ve come to agree with you, but that is neither here nor there.” Pedersen now looked tired. “You’ve seen the studies- my cartridge has its advantages. Clear advantages. And yet despite all of the Board findings Ordnance has been opposed to it since its inception.”
“They do have their reasons.”
“Yes- they are ossified,” Pedersen snapped. Now he seemed genuinely angry. He must be quite upset, to be so inconstant. “Their reasons are moot. They’ve already rendered the old stocks irrelevant by adopting the new .30-caliber cartridge. And you and I both know that there is enough production capacity in the armories to produce two cartridges in adequate volume.”
“For current needs. If war comes-“
“If war comes even more production lines will be opened! Multiple shifts of workers will be hired!”
“All a hard sell with the Depression on.”
“Then why are they increasing my cartridge’s power? That will not assuage the two-cartridge problem.” Pedersen was lecturing now. He even wagged his finger at Garand. “I’ll tell you why- to nullify the practical difference between it and .30-06, so that they can argue to stay with the .30-caliber anyway!”
He could be insufferable at times, but the man had a point, Garand thought. The Ordnance Bureau was being unusually devious on the issue.
“The Board has spoken on that, Douglas. The next American service rifle will be .276-caliber.”
“Well, it turns out that there is one more hurdle before any of this is official. One more man has to sign off, and Ordnance has been whispering in his ear for some time now.” Now Pedersen looked smug. “But I want to entreat him directly, as Spender did with Lincoln. [3] The president of the Board is willing to arrange it, but you would need to be involved.”
The Board was supporting this? Garand sat back and looked at him expectantly until Pedersen elaborated.
“The Chief of Staff of the Army. A fellow named MacArthur.”
******************************************************
[1] Garand and Pedersen knew one another well; they were neighbors at the armory. Though a few accounts reveal tension between them, most indicate
at worst a “friendly rivalry” between the two designers.
[2] I have no idea by what name Pedersen went, but having them call one another “John” would get confusing. It was very common among American men of this era to go by their middle name if their first name was a common one.
[3] During the American Civil War the Ordnance Department was opposed to the adoption of repeating rifles under the argument that such weapons would stress their logistic capabilities due to higher ammunition consumption. Christopher Spencer designed a repeating rifle and when the Ordnance Department turned it down he arranged a private demonstration on the White House lawn with President Abraham Lincoln, who immediately ordered it into service. Ordnance still did everything they could to resist. Some things never change.
.........
Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland [1]
February 1932
They had been waiting for four hours when General MacArthur arrived with a small retinue, but at least the day was blustery and the frost had disappeared. This had also given the two engineers time to ensure that their weapons were sighted-in and functioning properly, and that everything was laid out on tables at the firing line with small identification plaques. Paper targets littered the range at various distances and several dozen water-filled condemned fuel tins were scattered between thirty and a hundred yards. To Garand’s annoyance Pedersen’s T1E3 rifle was included in the display in addition to the T3E2, but so was Garand’s .30-caliber T3. To
Pedersen’s annoyance one Colonel Abel was in attendance, representing the Ordnance Bureau. [2]
Those in uniform came to attention and rendered a salute as MacArthur approached, which he returned crisply.
“So, gentlemen. I understand that we are firing rifles today?”
“Yes, General,” a major acting as an observer from the Semiautomatic Rifle Board began, then entered into a brief introduction on the development of the three rifles after which the two designers familiarized MacArthur with their operation. The general hefted the T1E3 Pedersen rifle.
“This is the weapon just excluded by the Rifle Board, yes?” The others indicated agreement. “We’ll begin with it.”
MacArthur smartly loaded an en-bloc clip of ten rounds, being careful to insert the flat end first as instructed by Pedersen. [3] None of the rifles were equipped with slings so MacArthur simply shouldered it and took careful aim at a 100 yard target from a standing position. When he fired a hole appeared at 11 o’clock in the 10-ring but the toggle action of the rifle struck the visor of his hat, knocking it off behind him. MacArthur calmly lowered and safed the rifle as an aide fetched his headgear.
“Well, a man wearing a helmet might find
that distracting,” MacArthur commented, and handed the rifle to another aide to be unloaded. Most of the group chuckled as required but Pedersen, crestfallen, saw his rifle’s last chance evaporate with only a single shot. [4]
The aide returning his hat mumbled something at MacArthur.
“Colonel Abel, before proceeding to the .30-caliber rifle I understand that you have some comments to make upon it?”
“Yes, General,” Abel began. “We at the Ordnance Bureau wish to… more formally express our reservations to you regarding the adoption of a new rifle cartridge, and have asked that the .30-caliber prototype be included in today’s demonstration so that you might make a fair comparison with it.” MacArthur picked up the T3 and turned to Garand.
“Mr. Garand. Is a .30-caliber self-loading rifle that meets the Army’s requirements technically feasible?”
“Feasible? With caveats, yes, General,” Garand answered hesitantly while glancing at Pedersen, who looked betrayed. “The rifle in your hands is proof of that. But at this time it is not as well developed as the .276-caliber variant. It is also nearly a pound heavier. The more powerful cartridge is much more harsh on such mechanisms.”
Abel continued, “And yet , General, we already have a very large investment in .30-caliber stocks and tooling, so adoption of a rifle in that caliber would seem to be advantageous.”
“There may be advantages to the other cartridge as well, Colonel. In fact this has been evaluated extensively and approval of the action recommended by the Board would seem to definitely commit the American Army to caliber .276.” [5] He paused. “I do share your concerns, however.”
Pedersen had to intervene.
“General, you- your
staff may have been misled by dated information,” he interjected. [6] Every member of MacArthur’s retinue scowled. “When the M1 cartridge was developed in 1925 there were indeed two billion rounds of M1908 still in stock, so orders were issued to consume it first- in training and whatnot. However almost half of it is gone already, and at the current rate the remainder will be consumed by mid-decade.” [7]
MacArthur began to re-evaluate the slick-looking engineer. He could appreciate good staff work, no matter from whom it originated. And frankly he was getting annoyed at being drawn into this squabble between the Semiautomatic Rifle Board and the Ordnance Bureau.
“General, Ordnance has also been working on improvements to the .276-caliber cartridge,” Colonel Abel interjected. “We are concerned that in event of war the powder required by the original might suffer a shortage and we have developed a larger cartridge case that would allow the use of other powders. This also allows us to increase muzzle velocity even with the use of heavier projectiles.”
“So, then, Colonel. If Ordnance is developing a more powerful .276-caliber cartridge then you’re objection is not so much about our prior commitment to .30-caliber as it is about cartridge power.” MacArther cut off a reply from Abel with a raised hand. “But I have read the lethality reports. Do you contest them?” Abel’s open mouth snapped shut. MacArthur smelled blood and his expression hinted at it.
Fighting men had done a very thorough evaluation of these cartridges and had selected the .276-caliber, after all. [8]
“No, sir, I cannot contest the reports as such-“
“And is there a rifle capable of firing your new cartridge here today?”
“No, General.”
"And how long would it be, if we selected a rifle now, before we could re-tool and manufacture enough to arm even just, say, a battalion?"
"Three or four years, sir. Re-tooling at Springfield alone would take-"
“Very well”, MacArthur said as he loaded the T3, and stepped to the firing line.
He fired a shot from the .30-caliber rifle, again into the 10-ring at 100 yards. He paused to appreciate his work, then continued to slow-fire at that target. He seemed to be enjoying himself, despite most of the rest of his shots being in the 9- or 8-ring, until on the sixth shot the action cycled with an undignified thunk instead of the crisp snap that it had earlier. Recognizing a malfunction when he heard it, MacArthur lowered the rifle while keeping the muzzle downrange. The bolt was stuck in the rearward position and he could see the last two rounds in the magazine through the action.
“Mr. Garand?” The engineer hurried over.
“The bolt has cracked,” Garand announced after a brief inspection, and safely unloaded the rifle. [9]
MacArthur looked pensive and nodded. “You did say that it needed further development. Let’s progress to the rifle that the Board selected.” For the first time he removed his coat, handing it to an aide. Garand in turn handed him the .276-caliber T3E2. MacArthur spent rather more time examining it than he had the others before loading it and stepping to the firing line.
For the third time his first shot was into the 10-ring at 100 yards. Hmm. He then slow-fired the rest of the 10-round magazine, managing a quite respectable grouping with only a couple of fliers by the time the clip pinged from the rifle. He immediately reached for another from the table and reloaded, assumed a prone position, and began firing at further targets as an aide with binoculars called his hits. All others merely stood in attendance.
MacArthur stood, unable to quite restrain the grin on his face, and reloaded again. It was good to get out of the office and into the field where a soldier belonged! He then shouldered the weapon, tightened his grip, and fired an entire 10-shot clip into the nearest fuel tin in under eight seconds. [10] Firepower indeed! He handed off the empty rifle, reclaimed his coat, and straightened his tie.
“It is indeed a very handy rifle. Noticeably more so than the .30-caliber.” [11] Pedersen was elated. “It would seem to be a superior weapon, but at what cost? Is it worth it? Because the attraction of existing .30-caliber stocks ultimately comes down to saving cost.”
He clasped his hands behind his back and took a few paces away from the group to think while his aides stood in a huddle and wondered if they'd get to fire the rifles, too. After a moment, he spoke.
“I understand that adoption of the .30-caliber rifle may not incur as much savings as we had thought,” MacArthur commented over his shoulder. “Yet I also understand that there is an issue of royalties with the .276-caliber cartridge?”
Garand could tell what his colleague was thinking with a quick glance at his pinched face. He leaned toward him and mumbled from the corner of his mouth “Douglas, it’s either nothing, or at least
something.” Pedersen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded.
“General, in the interests of patriotism I would of course be willing to sell my patents to the government in lieu of royalties in perpetuity,” he finally spat out, though he quickly added, “Suitably negotiated, of course."
Unseen, MacArthur cracked a thin smile.
*******************************************************
[1] Ironically, just a couple of miles from the ZH-29 test rifle that is gathering dust in the general purpose warehouse.
[2] A fictional stalking-horse. I didn’t want to disparage an existing historical figure when I really can’t know that much about them.
[3] One drawback of Pedersen’s rifle was that in contrast to the Garand the en bloc clips could not be inserted either way.
[4] During OTL trials comments were in fact made that the Pedersen toggle action did strike helmet brims.
[5] That last sentence is slightly modified from a letter that MacArthur wrote to the adjutant general in 1932. Of course, in OTL he continued “It is not considered that this is wise or desirable. We have already in our war accumulations, as well as our current affairs, committed ourselves to the larger caliber .30. To make this change will introduce an element of chaos, confusion and uncertainty which, magnified under war conditions, would more than counteract the beneficial effect of any semiautomatic rifle.”
[6] Very important not to directly criticize Mac himself.
[7] This is OTL, albeit with a slight exaggeration on Pedersen’s part about “mid-decade.” The M1908 stocks were exhausted by 1936 so all of the concerns about it were smoke and mirrors. As I mentioned earlier, ITTL Pedersen is motivated to fight for his cartridge (and royalties) and he has done his research. The M1908 will still be used in training for machineguns and legacy rifles until the new rifles are produced in sufficient number, and will be exhausted in 1937 ITTL.
[8] MacArthur was a bully, and ITTL once he sensed weakness he turned on the Ordnance Bureau. Just. Like. That.
[9] In OTL the .30-caliber T1E1 cracked a bolt during the trials late in 1932. Though the SRB made its final selection in favor of the .276-caliber Garand during those trials, Garand was allowed to redesign his rifle yet again, producing an improved T1E2 rifle which underwent testing a little later and thus was available as an alternative when OTL MacArthur decided in favor of .30-caliber. But ITTL the T1E1 is never developed, since the SRB did not reverse itself on ceasing further development of a .30-caliber Garand rifle. Thus .30-caliber Garand development is even further behind ITTL, and since the T3 bolt was virtually identical to the T1E1 bolt I have had the malfunction happen here for dramatic effect and to further sway MacArthur.
[10] A bully and a narcissistic popinjay he may have been, but let it not be said that Mac wasn’t a competent marksman. In his younger years he killed two guerrillas during an ambush in the Phillipines- with a pistol- and had earned both Expert Rifleman and Expert Pistol Badges.
[11] Mac was a
very large man- he would have been able to wrestle the .276 Garand into total submission. Though the weight difference is somewhat less than a pound, those who have shot the .276-caliber T3E2 all comment on its handiness as compared to production Garand rifles, and have speculated that this has something to do with the altered center of gravity.
.........
U.S. Rifle, caliber .276, M1
Weight....................................8.75 pounds [1]
Weight w/sling and bayonet.......10.4 pounds
Length Overall.........................42.6 inches [2]
Barrel Length...........................24 inches [3]
Ammunition types.....................Ball, A.P., tracer
Cartridge, ball type...................Cal. .276, M2 [4]
Weight of Bullet........................125 grains
Weight of Powder......................31.5 grains
Total Cartridge Weight...............306 grains [5]
Muzzle Velocity.........................2700 ft. per sec
TM 9-1275, 1947 ed.
[1] 12 ounces lighter than the OTL .30-caliber rifle, modeled upon the weight difference between the T3 and T3E2 prototypes.
[2] 1 inch shorter than the OTL .30-caliber rifle, roughly half an inch each for action and chamber length.
[3] I’ve seen reports that the T3E2 barrel was a full inch shorter than the barrel in the .30-caliber T3, but 23 inches would be a rather eccentric barrel length for this era. Also, all of the ballistics data I could find for the .276 Pedersen PD-42 have been out of a 24-inch barrel. So I have kept the length 24 inches to keep a good baseline on the ballistics.
[4] The OTL problem with M1 .30-caliber ball that led to its swift replacement in rifles was that the more efficient boat-tail bullet led to a significantly greater maximum range which exceeded the safe zones around existing rifle ranges. The OTL .30-caliber M2 cartridge was developed for rifles as a sort of an intentional nerf, using a flat-based bullet. ITTL this doesn’t happen, and M2 is the designation of what was the .276 PD-42 cartridge.
[5] For comparison, OTL .30-caliber M1 ball = 432gr and .30-caliber M2 ball = 416gr.
...........
The required 80 Garand-Pedersen rifles were completed by the Model Shop by 1934 and shipped to Aberdeen for field trials. They were returned with requests for minor changes in May of 1935 before being again tested in August 1935 and found to be satisfactory. [1] The Garand-Pedersen was officially standardized as the
U.S. Rifle, caliber .276, M1 on December 4, 1935. [2] Once re-tooling was complete and serial manufacture was begun in 1937 production rates grew steadily.
Garand-Pedersen Rifle Production, Pre-WWII
1937 (854)
…August..……40
…September…87
…October…….232
…November….157
…December….338
1938 (5938)
…January……..152
…February……152
…March………..471
…April………..…404
…May……...……193
…June……...…..505
…July………....…0
…August……....626
…September….849
…October……...856
…November…..830
…December…..900
1939 (16595)
…January……..743
…February……1047
…March………..1131
…April………..…810
…May………...…808
…June………....1337
…July……….…..63
…August……...1912
…September…2187
…October……..2400
…November….1883
…December….2274
1940 (70284)
…January……..3162
…February…….3279
…March………..3782
…April………..…4244
…May………...…3645
…June………....4542
…July………...…5749
…August……...7898
…September….8186
…October……..10252
…November...11871
…December….3674 [3]
1941 (353940)
…January……..14846
…February…….14622
…March…….….19597
…April……….….24179
…May…………...27232
…June………....27709
…July…………...35066
…August……...38059
…September…37161
…October……..40816
…November….36771
…December….37882
As with all new weapons the Garand-Pedersen was far from perfect at adoption. The most well-known issue was with the muzzle gas trap mechanism. The required barrel extension would work loose, a problem compounded by the fact that the front sight was attached to this part, leading to total loss of zero. To rectify the problems with the gas-trap system an Ordnance Department committee recommended on Oct. 26, 1939, that a new gas system be developed using a barrel with a conventional drilled gas port. This was referred to as a "spline type" cylinder as opposed to the earlier screw-on or gas-trap cylinder. The recommendation was approved and the change accomplished with little difficulty. Production M1s with the new gas system came off the assembly line in the late summer or early fall of 1940.
In addition to the gas-trap problems, others soon surfaced. A vexing one was the infamous “ninth-round stoppage.” This caused the ninth round in the ten-round en bloc clip to misfeed, generally resulting in a jam. This problem did not occur with the Model Shop rifles built under Garand's supervision, which was baffling to everyone involved. Intensive troubleshooting determined that a slight manufacturing change on the early rifles resulted in the removal of a bit of metal from one of the guide ribs in the receiver that supported a partially empty clip. The tooling was changed to eliminate the problem in subsequent production. Most early receivers had the guide ribs built up by welding when overhauled and examples without this modification command a premium on the collectors' market today.
Other changes were relatively minor. Early M1s had a solid machined buttplate. When a recess in the stock for the storage of cleaning equipment was incorporated in late 1940 the familiar trapdoor buttplate was added. Other differences were the operating rod and compensating springs, which were of a keystone or “square wire” configuration. It is reported that Garand disparagingly referred to these as “screen door springs.” The separate compensating spring was eventually eliminated and by very late 1940 the keystone began to be replaced by a conventional coil spring. [4]
The Complete Guide to the Garand-Pedersen Rifle [5]
Bruce N. Canfield
Andrew Mobray Publishers, 1997
****************************************
[1] ITTL they had fewer issues with the lower-powered cartridge and the model-shop rifles were re-trialed earlier than they were in OTL, which was in October. A lot of little problems with the OTL Garand were due to the ridiculously overpowered .30-06, including the issues with operating rod breakages. None of these happened ITTL.
[2] Again, this is a little earlier than OTL, which was January 9, 1936.
[3] Before this point all manufacture was by Springfield, but starting this month figures are combined Springfield and Winchester production.
[4] Most of this text was shamelessly plagiarized from various websites about the OTL Garand.
[5] For fun, I have made Canfield into one of those pedants who insists upon calling the rifle a "Garand-Pedersen" instead of just "Garand".