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Title:	RIFLE, MILITARY -  U.S. RIFLE T28 .30 (T65E1) SN# 11
Maker/Manufacturer:	MOORE, CYRIL
Date of Manufacture:	1950
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 3944
Measurements:	OL:118.1CM 46 1/2" BL: 55.8CM 22"

Object Description:

U.S. RIFLE T28 .30 (T65E1) SN# 11
Manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Ma. - Springfield Armory adaptation of the experimental Sturmgewehr. Gas piston, over barrel, impingement type of operating system. Muzzle velocity 2750 fps. Cyclic rate of fire 625 rpm. Complete with 20-round detachable box magazine. A total of 11 T28 rifles were fabricated at the Armory under the direction of Cyril Moore. No magazine. Trigger, trigger housing, select switch, handguard, bolt assembly missing.

Markings:
Receiver: SPRINGFIELD ARMORY/MODEL T-28/NO.11.
Select switch: AUTO SAFE REPEAT.

Weapon transferred to the Museum on 19 January 1952.

Notes: In developing the T28 Rifle, Cyril A. Moore sought to design a weapon that could be simple and inexpensive to manufacture. Moore's T28 was made of sheet metal stampings, simplified forgings and brazed assemblies. He was following the philosophy that had dominated German arms development during WWII. The German designers assumed that a weapon could be lost or destroyed before it wore out. Therefore, to cut down the cost of replacement they decided to develop small arms which could be turned out cheaply on punch presses and screw machines. Such weapons could also be made in most small metal shops where such equipment was in use.
The genealogy of the T28 goes back to the final wartime experiments at the Mauserwerke. Several incomplete developmental weapons were discovered by a Technical Team of the Allied Combined Intelligence Objectives Subcommittee (CIOS) when they ransacked the Mauser experimental shops at Oberndorf an Neckar. Samples of these weapons were forwarded to Moore at Springfield. He incorporated elements from two of these weapons into the T28.
A roller lock and two-piece bolt was common to the two Mauser designs. The forward section (bolt-head) contained two vertically mounted roller bearings. These roller lock the bolt when forced into the locking recesser by the tapered protrusion on the rear portion of the bolt (bolt extension). In one of the Mauser rifles, a short tappet piston gave an initial impulse to the bolt extension. As this section of the bolt moved to the rear, the extension ceased its wedging effect, allowing the rollers to be cammed back into the bolt-head. The whole bolt assembly then travelled to the rear propelled partly by the residual pressures in the chamber.
The Armory proceeded with the development of the T28 on a limited scale for nearly four years. A total of 11 T28 rifles were fabricated. These rifles were favorably received by the Aberdeen testing officers. Many of the weaknesses discovered in the early prototypes were corrected in later models. The Aberdeen report concluded that "the T28 has several advantages over present standard equipment but has a number of undesirable features. Further development is necessary in order to reduce malfunctions and the breakage of parts."
Nevertheless, the T28 rifle did not survive the limited budgets. Sometime in the winter of 1950-51, Colonel Rene Studler's office terminated the project so that the development funds could be used elsewhere.

See, Stevens, U.S. RIFLE M14 FROM JOHN GARAND TO THE M21, Collector Grade Publication, 1991, pp. 103-106.

References:
Stevens, Blake. U.S. RIFLE M14 FROM JOHN GARAND TO THE M21. Collector Grade Publications Inc. Toronto, Canada. 1991.