Constance McLaughlin Greene– History of the Springfield Armory,
Vol. II, Book I, pg. 48:
The Report Upon Semi-Automatics
The report of the Board of Officers for the selection of a Semi-Automatic Rifle
as reviewed in the fall of 1929 included descriptions and comment upon the performance
of each of the eight models submitted for trial. Only five guns completed the
exacting tests and of these, the .276 caliber Garand and the .276 Pedersen, were
pronounced most suitable for service use. Each gun submitted was examined with
reference to the ease or difficulty of manufacture. The problem of manufacturing
the T3 (Garand) and the T1 (Pedersen) was especially considered and a production
engineer from Springfield Armory was brought before the Board to advise the members
on these points. His statement indicated that the Garand gun would be very little
harder to manufacture than the Springfield rifle [M1903], while the T1 Pedersen
would be very much more difficult, especially in regard to interchangeability
of components.
The report went on to summarize the advantages of adopting the Garand as over
against the Pedersen:
a) It does
not require lubricated ammunition
b) It is lighter
c) It has
fewer parts
d) It is simpler
e) It will
be easier to manufacture.
f) It has
a greater range of power to operate the mechanism.
g) It uses
a reversible clip
h) The War Department will not be required to pay royalty to manufacture it.
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