1903 Springfield Mark 1

[Calamity Jake]

Anyone have some history on this rifle, it has a cut for the pederson device
otherwise it has been re arsenaled with a 5-44 barrel.

[nicholst55]

You can find a .pdf copy of Hatcher's Notebook online for free, with a bit of research. In it, he details the Mark 1 rifle pretty thoroughly, IIRC.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Jake, there isn't much to tell that you haven't stated. The oblong/oval slot cut in the left receiver wall was the ejection port for the Pedersen Device which replaced the issue bolt, turning the rifle into a semi-auto. They made approx. 145,000 of them, and after the decision was made to destroy all the Pedersen Devices the rifles just went into general issue and no care was taken to keep them separate. They went to all the various theatres of war in WW II and underwent all of the rebuilds that other 1903s experienced. They are less common than the regular M1903, but not rare.

[bob208]

they are an interesting addition to any 03 collection. I have one with a 43 barrel on it. although not rare thy are very hard to find. I have seen about 5 unaltered in the past 45 years. I also have a magazine and a few lose rounds for one.

[rockrat]

I had an unaltered one for awhile. someone else wanted to more than I did!!!

[Calamity Jake]

Thanks guys, I picked this up today, can't wait to shoot it.

[shooter2]

I bough a very nice one at the Tulsa gun show some years ago. No device of course, but I seem to recall that a few escaped the destruction. They would be very $$$.

[Multigunner]

Main alteration to these after the Pederson device was dispensed with was returning the trigger mechanism to the original Springfield type.
The M1 trigger had some sort of disconnect to prevent fully automatic firing when the Pederson device was installed.

If your rifle has the Mk 1 type trigger with kicker intact its worth more than if restored to the standard trigger.

[.455 Webley]

I have often wondered if a reproduction Pederson device would sell. Chamber it in something like .32acp and sell it in a kit with the trigger parts and i think it took a different magazine cut off switch.

[Multigunner]

A reproduction of the Pederson device would likely require a disconnect built into the device itself to be legal otherwise it would turn a rifle into an SMG rather than a semi auto.

The various .22 LR conversion kits with chamber inserts for the AR-15 rifles are basically an updated Pederson device.

[woody290]

I found one a few years ago at a gun show. It still has a WWI barrel and shoots very well. I will have to check on the trigger....

[bob208]

by unaltered I meant bubba did not work his " magic."