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The Penderson Device was designed as a “Top Secret” infantry weapon and was intended to play a key role in the Grand Offensive of 1919. However, the end of the war prevented the issue of the weapon and it never saw combat.

The Penderson was designed to address two problems shared by all military service rifles of the era; the bolt action mechanism was slow to operate and the rifle cartridges were overly powerful for some combat applications. In other words, it was not always necessary for an infantryman to have a full-power cartridge and a self-loading or semiautomatic rifle was extremely desirable. John Penderson came up with an imaginative and innovative way to solve these two problems.

Penderson worked on his device until the summer of 1917 when he contacted the Ordnance Department to request a secret demonstration of his device. Such was his reputation that his request was granted, even though the ordnance people had no idea at to what his invention was. On October 8, 1917, the Chief of Ordnance, General William Crozier, along with a select group of officers and a few congressmen (all sworn to secrecy) met at the Congress Heights rifle range in Washington D.C. General Crozier’s own words describe what happened next…

“Mr. Penderson started his demonstration by firing the Springfield rifle which he brought with him. After firing a few shots in the ordinary way, he suddenly jerked the bolt out of the rifle and dropped it into a pouch which he had with him, and from a long scabbard which was on his belt he produced a mysterious looking piece of mechanism which he quickly slid into the rifle in place of the bolt, locking the dive to the rifle by turning a catch provided for the purpose. Then he snapped into place a long black magazine containing forty small pistol size cartridges whose bullets were, however, of the right diameter to fit the barrel of the rifle. All this was done in an instant and in another instant Mr. Penderson was pulling the trigger of the rifle time after time as fast as he could work his finger and each time he pulled the trigger the rifle fired a shot, threw out the empty cartridge and reloaded itself.”

The assembled onlookers were amazed by Penderson’s demonstration and the device was eagerly examined at length afterwards. It is known as an “automatic bolt” (even though it is only capable of semiautomatic fire and essentially operates in the same manner as a “blow back” pistol. The barrel of the device was rifled and was the same configuration of a .30-06 cartridge case. This enabled it to fit into the ‘03’s chamber and place the bullet in close proximity to the rifling of the standard ‘03 barrel. It was locked in place by means of the ‘03’s magazine cut-off. A small projection on the rifle’s trigger moved forward with each pull to trip the device’s firing mechanism. Each time the rifle’s trigger was pulled, the device fired.

The device was fitted with a 40-round magazine that attached to the right side of the device at a 45 degree angle. It was held in place by two spring-loaded “fingers”. This position allowed the rifle to be sighted in the normal manner. Fired cartridge cases were ejected through a hole milled into the left side of the receiver.

The round itself was based on the Colt .32 ACP pistol cartridge with the bullet modified to fit a .30-caliber weapon. When fired it had a muzzle velocity of 1,300fps.

The outfit of the Penderson could be attached to the standard cartridge belt. It consisted of a canvas pouch to carry the Springfield’s bolt; a metal scabbard that held the Penderson Device when it was not in use; and two magazine pouches (each holding five magazines). The device itself weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces. A loaded magazine weighed a pound.

To say that the Penderson Device astounded the witnesses at its first demonstration is to understate the effect. It was felt by all present that the device would be an enormous asset for the US Army in both offensive and defensive warfare. The War Department was so impressed with the device, that an officer was sent to France to deliver an example of the weapon to General Pershing, and the device was quickly classified TOP SECRET.

General Pershing convened a board on December 9,1917 that consisted of four high-ranking officers who tested the device for its accuracy, penetration, rapidity of fire and its endurance. If anything, this board was even more excited about the device than the War Department. A confidential memo from General Pershing stated:

“…Board recommends adoption of the Penderson attachment for rifle and the initial purchase of 100,000 of same. Great secrecy urged in connection with this device. Initial supply of ammunition 5,000 rounds per gun with a daily supply of 100 rounds per gun. Strongly approve of device and believe it will materially increase efficiency of our infantry.”

A follow up memo from Pershing stated that:

“Desire 25,000 Pederson attachments be held in reserve. Replacements 50% per year on devices and 200% on magazines. Request 40 magazine be shipped with each device. When will shipments be made?”

In order to maintain the desired secrecy, the Penderson Device was officially adopted with a misleading name, the Automatic Pistol, Caliber .30, Model of 1918. Needless to say, the War Department was criticized for adopting a new pistol in such a small caliber, when the M1911 was performing so well!

With the large number of M1917 rifles in service the Penderson was modified. The Mark I device was intended for the M1903 and the Mark II for the M1917 rifles. Unfortunately, the end of the war meant that only a handful of Penderson Mark IIs were ever built. By the time the contract was canceled in March of 1919, 65,000 Penderson Mark Is were built along with 1,600,000 magazines and a bit over 65,000,000 cartridges.

After the war, the War Department couldn’t decide what to do with the Penderson device. All of the post war tests agreed that it would unlikely to be used in future wars, citing the low power of the cartridge, the added weight of the device and its gear and the cumbersome changing back and forth of the device and the bolt. With no future use, the government made the decision in April of 1931, to destroy all devices, magazines and ammunition in order to save the cost of further storage. Most of the devices were scrapped and only a handful were saved for museums and reference collections.

So what would have been the impact of the Penderson Device. To be sure it would have surprised the Germans and have had a real impact in the maneuver warfare that the 1919 Offensive was designed to create. Instead, the Penderson Device is a nothing more than a footnote in history…But What If…