December 14th, 2021
9minute read
What was the first true intermediate cartridge?
Most responses will point to7.92x33mmor7.62x39mm.
bullet in .284 caliber.
The radical T1E3 Pedersen rifle did not use a gas system and presented a sleek, yet angular appearance. Image: Institute of Military Technology
By February 1924, his rifle was ready for the world.
This iteration of the cartridge used a heavier 174-gr.
boattail bullet, an improved powder and a re-designed primer.
A soldier poses with the T3E1 Garand rifle at Springfield Armory in early 1930. Image: SANHS
Undeterred, Garand abandoned the primer-actuated operating system and immediately went to work designing a gas-operated semi-automatic rifle.
Not Enough?
Another board in 1930 used anesthetized goats.
A box of non-lubricated .276 ammunition. The Pedersen rifle required lubricated .276 cartridges, while none of the other rifles chambered for this round did.
One of the six was John Garands first .276 rifle the T3.
Apples to Apples?
First, the T3E2 was made up of 60 parts, while the Pedersen consisted of 99.
John Garand’s first rifle in .276 — the T3. It incorporated a novel shot-counting device on the left side of the receiver. Image: SANHS
In addition to that, the T3E2 did not require lubricated ammunition.
In each case, the .276 Garand was declared the clear winner.
But a surprise plot twist was waiting in the wings.
The now-familiar anatomy of the Garand was beginning to take shape and can be seen in this view of the T3E1 rifle. Image: SANHS
In addition to ordering 20 T3 rifles in .276, it also ordered an improved .30-caliber Garand designated T1E1.
A lot had changed since the quest to adopt a semi-automatic service rifle began 10 years earlier.
30 M1 on August 3, 1933.
The rear sight assembly of the T3E1 Garand rifle. Image: SANHS
Today nobody loads it, nobody shoots it, and only a few collectors own examples of it.
But John Garand was right all along.
The author took this photo of the T3E1 action during a visit to Springfield Armory National Historic Site in May 2012.
Loading dummy .276 cartridges into a10-round Garand en bloc clipat Springfield Armory National Historic Site in September 2019.
An en bloc Garand clip loaded with 10 .276 Pedersen cartridges at Springfield Armory National Historic Site in September 2019.
The stock of the T3E2 Garand, serial number 2, was scorched during an endurance trial in 1931 in which 2,160 rounds were fired through it in just 55 minutes.
John C. Garand is seen with an early production .30-caliber“gas trap” M1semi-automatic rifle. Image: NARA
