[ Pedersen Device ]
Gentlemen, thank you for joining me today.
We're very excited about the upcoming Spring Offensive of 1919.
I believe this truly can put an end to this war to end all wars.
Now, I'm sure you are very familiar with your standard issue rifle,
the Model of 1903 Springfield.
Well, we have a new secret weapon, gentlemen.
We are going to be issuing for this spring offensive
the Model of 1918 .30 calibre automatic pistol.
You may be thinking, "Why would we get rid of our rifles for a pistol?"
Well, that's where the genius of this comes in.
This is a pistol-calibre cartridge that we have retrofitted
into your Springfield rifle as a semi-automatic rifle.
Instead of having 5 rounds slow-fire bolt-action long range,
now you're going to have 40 rounds semi-automatic rapid fire for close-range fire dominance.
This will be a devastating weapon in the trenches.
We should be able to put the Hun on the run completely with it.
Now, today we're going to take a look at how to set up your rifle,
and how to use this new equipment.
So, you will be equipped with several pieces of new web gear.
First off, you will have the carrying case for what we are calling
the "Pedersen Device" conversion for this rifle.
You will have a separate pouch to put the bolt of your rifle in.
And you will be equipped with a magazine pouch containing 5 magazines for this new weapon.
Now, in order to convert your Springfield rifle into a Pedersen Device semi-automatic,
what you are going to do is first remove the bolt.
With the bolt removed, you will now
put the bolt into its carrying case.
That will keep it clean, and keep it on your person
should you need to change back to .30-06 ammunition.
You will now retrieve the conversion piece from its metal carrying case.
You will install this into the rifle.
You will see here that the Pedersen Device includes
a .30-06 shaped chamber insert at the front.
Inside this is a smaller chamber for the .30 calibre Model of 1918 ammunition.
Now, with the bolt removed from your Springfield rifle,
you will take this conversion piece,
you will insert it from the back of the receiver as if it were the bolt of your rifle.
Make sure to push the ... magazine follower down
so that it does not interrupt the path of the conversion device.
There we are.
Now with the device in this far, make sure to depress the trigger
so that the sear is dropped down and out of the way of the conversion device.
This will be a tight fit. It may require some jiggling
(that's an official Army term: jiggling), there we are.
Now, simply engage the magazine cut off to lock the conversion device in place.
And you have successfully converted your rifle into a .30 calibre semi-automatic.
Now gentlemen, I know many of you are combat veterans from the offensives of 1918,
and you may have handled some of the German MP18 submachine guns.
This may lead you to believe that you're familiar with how these magazines
load into the Springfield rifle conversion.
However, you would be wrong, these magazines load differently.
Now, in order to load a magazine into your Springfield, remove the magazine,
ensure that the slotted holes for counting cartridges are facing you.
This magazine is easy to put in backwards.
You then hold the back of the magazine against the Pedersen Device,
pull backwards against spring pressure,
and then slowly rotate the nose of the magazine in place.
We do not have a specific magazine catch, such as the MP18 does.
Instead the whole base of the device under spring pressure holds the magazine in place. ...
The magazine is angled off to the right
so that it does not interfere with your line of sight when operating the firearm.
You also have viewing holes every 5 rounds
so that you may easily keep track of how much ammunition you have remaining.
In the pouch you have 4 additional magazines for a total of 5.
That gives you 200 rounds of ammunition on your person for easy accessibility.
This is plenty of firepower to storm the Hun's trenches,
capture them, force them out of France, and end this war once and for all.
Now the ammunition used for this conversion device may look small,
but don't be fooled, it packs a punch.
This cartridge is a straight-wall .30 calibre cartridge,
It propels an 80 grain jacketed pointed projectile at approximately 1,300 feet per second.
This will give you gentlemen an effective range of 300 yards,
which is more than enough, with the iron sights provided, to sweep the trenches clear of the Hun.
Now we have manufactured hundreds of thousands of these devices.
We have converted your rifles to use them, along with hundreds of thousands of other men.
All of you will be equipped with these rifles.
With 40 rounds each and semi-automatic fire,
this will be a massive deluge of firepower
that we can drop on the unsuspecting German military, they won't know what hit them.
This will be the equivalent of every man armed with a light machine gun.
With this kind of firepower, nothing is going to stop us from ending this war this spring.
Thank you gentlemen for serving and helping to liberate Europe,
I look forward to meeting you on the field in France. Good luck.
Now, lastly, I'm sure none of you will lose your equipment in the field.
However, accidents do happen.
Should you find yourself in need of a replacement Pedersen Device, or magazines,
or any of the web gear necessary for use of this device,
make sure to check out the Rock Island Auction Company.
Where a great number of these devices, and accoutrements,
and accessories along with them, will be available in the coming months.
Check through their catalogue, I'm sure you'll be able to find everything you need
to properly end this war.