Originally conceived by American arms designer John D. Pedersen in 1924 and developed into the 1930s, the Pedersen self-loader was the strongest competitor to John Garand's rifle for adoption by the U.S. Army as their first self-loading infantry rifle. Both were originally developed around the Pedersen-designed .276 Pedersen cartridge to have a more compact, lightweight and easy-shooting operation than a .30-06 gas or recoil driven rifle, with the Pedersen using a novel delayed blowback toggle lock system (often compared to the Luger Parabellum system). While a novel weapon, and somewhat prescient in light of later efforts to introduce small bore high velocity infantry arms, Pedersen's cartridge was met with mixed response by the Army, which had concerns about lethality and the use of waxed cartridges to aid feeding and extraction, as well as the logistics burden of fielding infantry units with .276 caliber rifles and .30-06 caliber machine guns. The .276 failed to displace the .30-06 as the main infantry cartridge, and Garand scaled up his rifle to handle the larger round, in turn making history with what was officially adopted as the M1 Garand rifle in U.S. military service. While not closing the deal with the U.S. Army, the level of interest shown to Pedersen's design intrigued other nations eyeballing a semi-auto upgrade, leading to talks with the Imperial Japanese Army and the United Kingdom, the latter leading to a partnership with Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd., though in the end the British opted to stick with the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield bolt action rifle, shelving the semi-automatic question until after World War II. Pedersen rifles and carbines were made in limited quantities and earmarked for (often deliberately harsh or destructive) government testing, making surviving examples rare in any condition. Blade front sight, absent adjustable peep rear sight, with the deeply cut half-fluted barrel protected by a ventilated steel handguard. Bayonet lug located on bottom of the front barrel band. The top of the chamber is stamped with a circled "C/2", with "PEDERSEN SELFLOADER PA/VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS LTD." on the left side of the receiver and the serial number on the right. A set of small "Lion" proofs are present on the receiver and the bolt, the latter fitted with a "SAFE" and "REDY" marked crossbar safety. The smooth pistol grip stock is ventilated along the bottom and fitted with an enlarged magazine floorplate to accommodate an en-bloc clip, with a pair of sling swivels and a checkered steel buttplate.

Very fine, retains 85% original blue finish with some areas fading to a smooth brown patina on the balance and sharp markings and edges in the metal overall. Stock is fine with rich oil finish, scattered light scratches and dents, numerous bullet tip dings on the right below the receiver, and defined edges. Mechanically excellent. This excellent Pedersen semi-automatic rifle would be a significant addition in any advanced military arms collection!