Originally conceived by John Pederson in 1924 and developed from 1924 into the 1930s, the Pederson T1 Self-Loader was the strongest competitor to John Garand's T3 rifle for adoption by the U.S. Army as their first self-loading infantry rifle. Both were 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. While not closing the deal with the 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-Armstrong, though in the end the British opted to stick with the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield. Pedersen rifles and carbines were made in limited quantities and earmarked for (often deliberately harsh or destructive) government testing, making examples rare in any condition, and a high condition one even more so. The top of the chamber is stamped "C/2", "PEDERSEN SELFLOADER PA/VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS LTD." on the left side of the receiver, importer mark has been added to the underside of the barrel, and a set of small "Lion" proofs on the receiver and the bolt, the latter fitted with a "SAFE" and "REDY(sic)" marked crossbar safety.

Excellent, with 95% of the original blue finish, showing some bright edge wear and minor handling and cycling marks overall, along with a bit of rubbing on the barrel band and buttplate. The stock is very good, with scattered mild dings and scratches. Mechanically excellent. A milestone design in the canon of military armaments, rare in any condition and worthy of a place of honor in an advanced collection.