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Looking into the history of the Garand, there were several efforts to make it select fire and potentially even replace the BAR with it among other weapons. This ultimately found it's service form in the M14, but it seems that with the Pedersen cartridge it creates a special need to replace the existing weapons with something new to accommodate the need cartridge. The BAR is way too heavy for such a cartridge, but the cartridge itself is substantially lighter, less thermal load producing, and less recoil inducing than the .30-06, which leads to me think that instead of having a special separate automatic weapon like the Johnson LMG or BAR (at least a non-belt fed version), would be somewhat pointless given that the Garand itself could be made select fire and potentially fill all roles envisioned for squad weapons.

Basically I see there being three primary roles a US infantry/rifle squad would need: SAW, battle rifle, and carbine for the leader. Historically that was filled by a mix of the BAR, Garand, M1 Carbine, and Thompson and later M3 SMGs.

The .276 Pedersen Garand if select fire with a box magazine, an easier conversion than the .30-06 version, could have been made into the shorter carbine version without a major drop in performance, though it would be heavier than the M1 Carbine of OTL due to the heavier cartridge, but then prevents the need for a separate weapon system and cartridge, simplifying logistics and production. The historical 'Mini-G' would be viable with the much less powerful cartridge, as the OTL conversion to a shorter carbine model produced brutal flash/report, worse recoil, premature wear on the parts due to shorter action, and worse accuracy/muzzle velocity. While the Pedersen cartridge would be impacted by having a shorter barrel, the much reduced powder charge wouldn't have a problem with a 16-18 inch barrel like the .30-06. With a select fire option, even though it would be tougher to manage, it could theoretically replace the SMG at closer ranges for a rifle squad, though there would still be a need for the M3 for tank crews or behind the lines units.

As to the SAW role IOTL the Garand was made into a select fire, box magazine fed, heavy barreled version, same with the M14, so given the much lower thermal load of the Pedersen cartridge (40% of the .30-06, can provide a source upon request on that) unlike the 7.62 NATO version or .30-06 a closed bolt HBAR Garand could IMHO replace the BAR and get similar results in automatic, while thanks to the smaller base diameter they could use a larger capacity magazine for the same magazine length.

So does the community think it would be viable to replace the mix of weapons the US military had for rifle squads with a variety of .276 Pedesen variants, especially the BAR, if developed into a select fire, box magazine fed weapon pre-WW2? It would seem to be a viable option and a major cost savings to have 1 weapon system covering all roles, while the time frame of 1932-41 provides plenty of time to identify the need and to develop the variants of the original design and get them in production before the war starts.
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