John Pedersen
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John Douglas Pedersen (need years of birth and death) was a prolific arms designer who worked for Remington Arms, and later for the United States Government.
Born in Denmark, he lived for a time in Wyoming, where most of his patents list his home. He is best known for the Pedersen device that converted a standard military Springfield 1903 rifle to a semi-automatic, intermediate-caliber firearm. He designed several guns for Remington, including the novel Model 51 pistol and Models 10, 12, and 14. He collaborated with John Browning to design the model 17 shotgun. The Model 17 was a trim, 20ga shotgun that was later redesigned and made in three highly successful forms: the Remington model 31, Browning BPS, and the Ithaca 37.
Pedersen designed the two second best U.S. military firearms of the 20th century. His .45 caliber automatic pistol, based on the same design as the Model 51, was accepted by the Navy Board for production, but the First World War intervened and Remington tooled to produce the M1911 instead. He also designed the competing design to the M1 Garand rifle. His design utilized a toggle-lock and patented waxed cartridges. The Garand was selected instead. His "Pedersen rifle" was also trialed by the British in between World War I and World War II, but it was not adopted.
Pedersen was issued 69 patents listing his home as Wyoming, and others listing Colorado and New York State.
During the early days of America's involvement in World War II, John D. Pedersen formed a company with the Irwin family, who owned successful furniture manufacturing concerns in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Irwin-Pedersen Arms Company in that city was capitalized for $1,000.000.00, by the brothers Robert and Earl Irwin. Primarily through John Pedersen's contacts in the Ordnance Department, the Irwin-Pedersen Arms Company received a contract to manufacture over 100,000 M1 Carbines to be produced at the rate of 1,000 per day after the Grand Rapid's factory was tooled up and in full production.
Unfortunately, due to faulty management and a host of other difficulties, the company failed to achieve mass production and only produced slightly over 3,500 M1 Carbines. None of these carbines met Ordnance Department standards and thus none were accepted for the military. In March of 1943 the Ordnance Department cancelled the contract it had with the Irwin-Pedersen Arms Company. The company's production facilities were taken over by another, more successful, contractor for M1 Carbines. Today, Irwin-Pedersen M-1 Carbines are among the rarest versions of the M1 Carbine and as such, I-P Carbines usually command premium prices in collector's circles.
Ironically, John D. Pedersen's greatest professional achievements were stymied by fate. His most famous invention, the Pedersen Device, never had a chance to significantly affect the battles on the Western Front during World War I. The war ended before the Pedersen Device could be manufactured in quantity and sent to France to equip the American Army. During World War II, John Pedersen's attempts, thru the Irwin-Pedersen Arms Company, to mass produce M1 Carbines for the U.S. military proved to be an abject failure. So in both World War I and World War II, John D. Pedersen's greatest achievements were ill fated by destiny.
A son of John D. Pedersen, Lt. Eric Pedersen, USMC, is memorialized in the book Reckless. Lt. Pedersen lead a recoilless rifle platoon during the Korean War. At his own expense, he purchased a racehorse for use as an ammunition carrier. The horse became famous in the 1st Marine Division.
[edit] References
Most of the information about the Irwin-Pedersen Arms Company came from Larry L. Ruth's book: "War Baby! The U.S. Caliber .30 Carbine," Collector Grade Publications, Cobourg, Ontario, Canada 2001. ISBN 0-88935-117-1
Reckless by Andrew Geer, 1955, Library of Congress Card Number 55-5642
