Converting a bolt action to a semi-auto???

[<<Genesis93>>]

Right.... so can you do it??

Well..... due to the history of firearms being apparently so controlled and restricted... perhaps?!!?
You would logically say - NO, dont be silly, a bolt action rifle is a bolt action, like the sun rises in the east, a bolt is a bolt... Right?

Well, NO.

Although this clearly falls into the inconvenient reality part of our firearm history....YOU CAN convert a bolt action rifle into a semi automatic rifle.... and it WAS DONE. Some of you fellas will be nodding your heads about now... while many will be saying G93 has lost his mind. No surprise.

OK, backtracking a century... the 'great war' was underway and a kind of switched on fella by the name of Pederson (Remington employee no less) thought out a way to convert the Springfield rifle to semi-auto, to give their guys an advantage in the trenches and beyond... the system was based on an 'unlocked' blowback system relying on the mass of the bolt and the tension of a spring to work the action.....

So he designed a device, that would be inserted into the breech of the on issue bolt action rifle, replacing the bolt, that provides for a chamber for a smaller, pistol chambering WITHIN the 30-06 chamber as below;



This pistol round was the '7.65 Long' which was close enough the the projectile size and barrel spec of the 30 cal springfield....

this is the kit;

With the middle part being the case that holds the device, and the mag being the 40 round capacity mag, as standard.You will note at the bottom right the tip resembles a 30-06 chamber, per design.

Today, these device are quite rare, due to the bulk of the inventory being destroyed after the war......

[MalleeFarmer]

Cool. But a rifle length subby? Definately a trench gun appears like it would be useless outside of 100yds is their much info on their effectiveness or how widespread these were during the war?

[<<Genesis93>>]

Not an SMG, but a semi auto rifle, belting out a 30cal pistol round.....a lot quicker than the 30 cal rifle round
I dont thing it was actually issued in WW1, missed it by that much.....then after the war, there were full on semi auto and full autos that took the lime-light...

This was a pistol round so a lot less than 100yds..... case size is a bit less than the luger.

[Wm.Traynor]

I recall reading a couple of articles about how the Lee Enfield was converted.

[No1Mk3]

No1MkIII converted to LMG in garden shed in NZ early WW2. Manufactured in NSW briefly, believe an example still exists in Bandiana, look up Charlton Automatic Rifle.

[<<Genesis93>>]

An Auto 303 would be quite.... 'exciting', like the M14, great idea but, most operators would probably close their eyes and pull the trigger...

There were a few externally modified bolts, there was another Springfield I recall, that had external mods that represented as much danger to the operator......


Although the Pederson device converted to a pistol round, and semi, I like how clean it is, inserts into the place of the bolt, add the mag and you're off.....

[MalleeFarmer]

I did see a video of that Springfield looks like a very dangerous piece of equipment for the shooter had a fence to keep your head away from the bolt and flip out sights because you could no longer look down the top sights on the barrel/ receiver or you'd cop a 500fps smack in the face with a Springfield Bolt. Still a semi auto 30-06 in WW1 would have been a game changer.

[<<Genesis93>>]

There was a well known auto 30-06 introduced in WW1, the Browning model of 1918, M1918, it was fully automatic, firing the big 30-06, it was not on general issue and was somewhere between a rifle and a conventional 'machine gun'.... This original BAR looks kind of similar to the still produced (though taken from many Aussie deer hunters back post PAM) Browning Auto Rifle - BAR, though its different mechanically and semi auto only...

[Rocker]

Although this clearly falls into the inconvenient reality part of our firearm history....YOU CAN convert a bolt action rifle into a semi automatic rifle.... and it WAS DONE.

Haven't you seen movies? It's easy! You just file down the "latch" and everything becomes a machine gun

[<<Genesis93>>]

or if you ask VICPOL assistant commissioner, STEVE 'Hanna' FONTANA; you install a bolt action rifle into a black stock with pic rails....and it becomes "some kind of Automatic"

[lole]

I just want to feel the recoil of a 300wm auto in a shoulder mounted rifle.

You'd be on the floor after a quick burst

[<<Genesis93>>]

Someone (can't recall) have released a 300winmag chambered AR15/10 based rifle.....would be to say the least... interesting

[heron]

I would be interested in watching someone else fire it