.276 Pedersen Frankford Arsenal Rifle - 1937

This is a rare and highly collectible Frankford Arsenal marked model 70 chambered in .276 Pedersen. The .276 Pedersen round was developed as an experimental round for the US Military in 1923, as a possible replacement for the .30-06. The actual bore diameter was 7 mm (.284). The round was shorter and lighter than the .30-06 and the main motivator behind the Pederson was that it would be easier to build a compact autoloading rifle around the .276 Pedersen's shorter, more tapered cartridge. US Army Chief of Staff - General Douglas MacArthur rejected the Pedersen round for military use in 1932 due to the fact all existing light infantry weapons were already standardized around the .30-06. Yet for some unknown reason, in 1937 Winchester built this model 70 chambered for it to fulfill an order for Frankford Arsenal - the US research facility for testing and development of experimental ammunition. We are aware of only one other model 70 chambered in .276 Pederson. The other example we have s