Krag-Jørgensen

Krag-Jørgensen
Closeup of the Krag-Jørgensen receiver and magazine door on a Norwegian M1912 Carbine
Type	Bolt action repeating rifle
Place of origin	Norway
Service history
In service	1886–1945
Production history
Designer	O H J Krag and E Jørgensen
Designed	1886
Number built	more than 700,000
Variants	Danish Krags: Rifle 1889 Carbine 1889 Sniper Rifle 1928 US Krags: M1892 Rifle M1892 Carbine M1896 Rifle M1896 Cadet Rifle M1896 Carbine, M1898 Rifle M1898 Carbine M1899 Carbine M1899 Constable Carbine Norwegian Krags: M1894 Rifle M1895 Carbine M1897 Carbine M1904 Carbine M1907 carbine M1906 Boy's Carbine M1912 Short Rifle M1923 Sniper Rifle M1925 Sniper Rifle M1930 Sniper Rifle
Specifications
Weight	3.375 kg / 7.5 lb to 5.157 kg / 11.46 lb depending on model
Length	986 mm / 38.8 in to 1328 mm / 52.28 in depending on model
Barrel length	520 mm / 20.5 in to 832 mm / 32.78 in depending on model
Cartridge	8x58R rimmed (Danish Krags) .30-40 Krag (US Krags) 6.5 x 55 rimless (Norwegian Krags)
Action	Bolt action
Rate of fire	N/A
Muzzle velocity	580 m/s (1900 ft/s) to 870 m/s (2854 ft/s) depending on ammunition
Effective range	900 m (3,000 ft)
Feed system	5 round magazine
Sights	V-notch and front post

The Krag-Jørgensen is a repeating bolt action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Denmark, the United States of America and Norway.

A distinctive feature of the Krag-Jørgensen action was its magazine. While many other rifles of its era used an integral box magazine, the magazine of the Krag-Jørgensen was integral with the receiver (the part of the rifle that houses the operating parts), featuring an opening on the right hand side with a hinged cover. The cartridges were inserted through the side opening, and were pushed up, around, and into the action by a spring follower.

This presented both advantages and disadvantages compared with a top-loading "box" magazine, which were often fed using a "stripper clip". While a similar claw type clip would be made that could allow the magazine to be loaded all at once, normal loading was one cartridge at a time. However, the design was easy to "top off", and unlike most top-loading magazines, the Krag-Jørgensen's magazine could be topped up without opening the rifle's bolt. The relative complexity of manufacturing this magazine has been suggested as a reason why many countries did not adopt the Krag-Jørgensen. For others, the magazine's features likely aided adoption.

Today, the Krag-Jørgensen is a popular rifle among collectors, and is valued by shooters for its smooth action.

Contents 1 Early development 2 Danish Krag-Jørgensen rifles 2.1 Subtypes of the Danish Krag-Jørgensen 3 American Krag-Jørgensen rifles 3.1 Subtypes of the Krag-Jørgensen used in the USA 4 Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen rifles 4.1 Subtypes of the Krag-Jørgensen used in Norway 4.2 Bayonets for Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen 5 Production for Nazi Germany during WWII 6 Post-war production 6.1 The Krag as a civilian target rifle 7 Special Krag-Jørgensen rifles / carbines and oddities 7.1 Model rifles 7.2 Harpoon rifles 7.3 Krag-Jørgensen rifle modified for belt feed 7.4 Lieutenant Tobiensen's 'Speed Loader' 7.5 Krag-Jørgensen rifles modified to self loaders 7.5.1 Sunngaard's automatic rifle 7.5.2 Self loading device SNABB 38 8 Ammunition 9 Comparison of service rifles 10 Comparison with contemporary rifles 11 See also 12 References and notes 13 External links

Early development

The 1880s were an interesting period in the development of modern firearms. During this decade smokeless powder came into general use, and the calibre of various service rifles diminished. Several nations adopted small calibre repeating bolt action rifles during this decade.

Even though Norway had adopted the repeating Jarmann rifle in 1884, it was soon clear that it was at best an interim weapon. Ole Krag, captain in the Norwegian Army and director of Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (the government weapons factory), therefore continued the development of small arms, as he had since at least 1866. Not satisfied with the tubular magazine of the Jarmann rifle and his earlier Krag-Petersson rifle (adopted by the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1876), he enlisted the help of master gunsmith Erik Jørgensen. Together they developed the capsule magazine. The principal feature of the capsule magazine was that instead of being a straight box protruding below the stock of the rifle, it wrapped around the bolt action. Early models contained ten rounds and were fitted to modified versions of the Jarmann — though they could be adapted to any bolt action rifle.^[1]

In 1886, Denmark was on the verge of adopting a new rifle for its armed forces. One of the early prototypes of the new rifle was sent to Denmark. The feedback given by the Danes was vital in the further development of the weapon. The test performed in Denmark revealed the need to lighten the rifle, as well as the possible benefits of a completely new action. Krag and Jørgensen therefore decided to convert the magazine into what they referred to as a 'half-capsule', containing only five rounds of ammunition instead of the previous ten.^[1] They also, over the next several months, combined what they considered the best ideas from other gunsmiths with a number of their own ideas to design a distinct bolt action for their rifle. The long extractor, situated on top of the bolt, was inspired by the Jarmann mechanism, while the use of curved surfaces for cocking and ejecting the spent round was probably inspired by the designs from Mauser. For a time after the weapon was adopted by Denmark they experimented with dual frontal locking lugs, but decided against it on grounds of cost and weight. The ammunition of the day did not need dual frontal locking lugs, and the bolt already had three lugs—one in front, one just in front of the bolt handle, and the bolt handle itself—which were considered more than strong enough.

The rifle had a feature known as a magazine cut-off. This is a switch on the left rear of the receiver. When flipped down, the cut-off does not allow cartridges in the internal magazine to be fed into the chamber by the advancing bolt. This was intended to be used when soldiers were comfortably firing at distant targets, so it could be quickly turned off in case of an incoming charge or issue to charge the enemy. This instantly gives five rounds to the shooter for quick firing. The M1903 Springfield that replaced the Krags had a magazine cutoff, as did the SMLE (Lee Enfield) until 1915.

Danish Krag-Jørgensen rifles

After strenuous tests, Denmark adopted the Krag-Jørgensen rifle on July 3, 1889. The Danish rifle differed in several key areas from the weapons later adopted by the USA and Norway, particularly in its use of a forward (as opposed to downward) hinged magazine door, the use of rimmed ammunition, and the use of an outer steel liner for the barrel.^[1]

The Danish Krag-Jørgensen was chambered for the 8x58R cartridge (0.31 in / 7.87 mm), and was at least in the early years used as a single shooter with the magazine in reserve. It stayed in service right up to the German invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940.

Subtypes of the Danish Krag-Jørgensen

While information on the various subtypes^[2] of the Krag-Jørgensen used in Denmark has proved difficult to find, at least the following subtypes were manufactured:

• Rifle 1889, stocked almost to the muzzle, no hand guard, straight bolt handle and an outer steel liner for the barrel. This weapon is typical of the period in having a long barrel and stock without pistol grip. Was originally issued without a safety catch; instead, a half-cock notch on the cocking piece/firing pin assembly served this purpose. In 1910, this weapon was modified by the addition of a manual safety, which was placed on the left side of the receiver just behind the closed bolt handle.
• Artillery Carbine 1889 and Infantry Carbine 1889, differed only in placement of the sling-swivel, and looks like short versions of the Rifle 1889.
• Engineer carbine M1889, wooden hand guard, shorter than the other carbines.
• Sniper rifle M1928, an alteration of the rifle M1889 with a heavier barrel and a wooden hand guard, micrometer rear sight and hooded front sight.

American Krag-Jørgensen rifles

See also: Springfield Model 1892-99

Like many other armed forces, the United States military was searching for a new rifle in the early 1890s. A competition was held in 1892, comparing rifle designs from Lee, Krag, Mannlicher, Mauser, Schmidt-Rubin, and about 40 other military and civilian designs. The trials were held at Governors Island, New York. Despite protests from domestic inventors and arms manufacturers—two designers, Russell and Livermore, even sued the US government over the choice—an improved form of the Krag-Jørgensen won the contract.^[1] The United States formally adopted the rifle in 1892 to replace the single shot Springfield. Around 500,000 'Krags' were produced at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts from 1894–1904. It was the U.S. military's main rifle from 1894 to 1903 (when it was replaced by the M1903 Springfield rifle with its more robust .30-03 cartridge, which was soon replaced by the .30-06 in 1906). The Krag-Jorgensen Rifle in Rimmed .30 Army round found use in the Boxer Rebellion, the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. In this later war the rifle was referred to in a song popular with U.S. troops with a verse running:

Damn, damn, damn the Filipinos!
Cut throat khakiac ladrones!
Underneath the starry flag,
Civilize them with a Krag,
And return us to our beloved home.

The US 'Krags' were chambered for the rimmed "Cartridge, Caliber 30, U.S. Army," round, also known as the .30 U.S., .30 Army, or .30 Government, and, more popularly, by its civilian name, the .30-40 Krag. The .30 Army was the first smokeless powder round adopted by the U.S. military, but its civilian name retained the "caliber-charge" designation of earlier black powder cartridges. Thus the .30-40 Krag employs a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullet propelled by 40 grains (3 g) of smokeless powder. As with the .30-30 Winchester, it is the use of black powder nomenclature that leads to the incorrect assumption that the .30-40 Krag was once a black powder cartridge.

Subtypes of the Krag-Jørgensen used in the USA

There were at least nine^[3] different models of the American Krag-Jørgensen:

• M1892 Rifle, with a 30 in (762 mm) barrel and a magazine cut off that operates in the up position. It can be identified by the cleaning rod under the barrel. Interestingly, because it took two years to retool for production, Model 1892 Krags have receivers dated "1894." Many of these were arsenal reconditioned to the Model 1896 configuration.
• M1892 Carbine, presumably a prototype, as just two are known today. Looks like the M1892 Rifle, but with a 22" barrel, including the long stock, and one-piece cleaning rod.
• M1896 Rifle, where the magazine cut-off operates in down position and the cleaning rod is moved to butt trap. An improved rear sight and tighter production tolerances gave better accuracy. Stock altered slightly (made thicker).
• M1896 Cadet Rifle, which was fitted with cleaning rod like M1892 rifle. Only about 400 were made before it was discontinued. The Cadet Rifle did not have sling swivels, and the lower band was retained by a band spring.
• M1896 Carbine, with the same modifications as the M1896 Rifle.
• M1898 Rifle, generally much like M1896, but with a wide range of minor changes.
• M1898 Carbine, same minor modifications as the M1898 Rifle. Only 5000 made, originally had the same short stock (rear sight touches band) as the Model 1896 Carbine; all were restocked as Model 1899s.
• M1899 Carbine, generally the same as the M1898 Carbine, but with a slightly longer forearm and hand guard, and without the swivel ring.
• M1899 Constabulary carbine, built for use in the Philippines. Basically a M1899 Carbine fitted with a full length stock and a bayonet lug, and the muzzle stepped down to accept bayonet.

Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen rifles

The Swedish-Norwegian Rifle Commission started its work in 1891. One of their first tasks was to find the best possible calibre for the new weapon, which was found to be 6.5 mm (0.256 in).^[1] The round of ammunition is known variously as 6.5x55 Scan, 6.5x55 Mauser, 6.5x55 Swedish and 6.5x55 Nor, but they all referred to the same round although the shell dimension on the 6.5x55 Nor was slightly longer (0.15 mm / 0.006 in). Due to different interpretations of the blueprint standard, i.e. the standards of manufacturing using maximum chamber in the Krag vs. minimum chamber in the Swedish Mauser, a small percentage of the ammunition produced in Norway required a certain push on the bolt handle to chamber in the Swedish gun. However, a rumour arose not long after the round was adopted that one could use Swedish ammunition in Norwegian rifles, but not Norwegian ammunition in Swedish rifles.^[1] Furthermore, the rumour stated that this was deliberate, to give Norway the tactical advantage of using captured ammunition in a war, while denying the same advantage to the Swedes. After the rumour first surfaced in 1900, it was examined by the Swedish military. They declared the difference to be insignificant, and that both the Swedish and Norwegian ammunition was within the specified parameters laid down. Despite this finding, the Swedish weapon-historian Josef Alm repeated the rumour in a book in the 1930s, leading many to believe that there was a significant difference between the ammunition manufactured in Norway and Sweden.

Once the question of ammunition was settled, the Norwegians started looking at a modern weapon to fire their newly designed round. The processing was modelled on the US selection process performed in the same timeframe, and considered, among other things, sharp shooting at different ranges, shooting with defective rounds, shooting for speed, rust proofing, and ease of assembly and disassembly. After the test, three rifles were shortlisted:

• Mannlicher 1892
• Mauser 1893
• Krag-Jørgensen 1892

About fifty Krag-Jørgensen rifles were produced in 1893 and issued to soldiers for field testing. The reports were good, and a few modifications were incorporated into the design. The Norwegian Storting (parliament) decided in 1894 to adopt the Krag-Jørgensen as the new rifle for the Norwegian Army, and it was formally adopted on April 21 that year. It is worth noting that Sweden instead adopted a modified Mauser in 1896. A total of more than 200,000 rifles were built in Norway, at a time when the population was less than three million people and decades before Norway was to make money off the rich oilfields in the North Sea which were discovered in 1958. The various subtypes of Krag-Jørgensen replaced all rifles and carbines previously used by the Norwegian armed forces, notably the Jarmann M1884, the Krag-Petersson and the last of the remaining Remington M1867 and modified kammerladers rim fire rifles and carbines.

Subtypes of the Krag-Jørgensen used in Norway

The Krag-Jørgensen was produced in Norway for a very long time, and in a number of different variations. The major military models are the following:

• The M1894 Rifle,^[4][5][6][7] "Long Krag", was the most common Krag in Norway. A total of 122,817 were produced at Kongsberg until 1922 when production ended, as well as approximately 30,000 bought from Steyr weapons factory in Austria. In 1910, after some initial tests, 1,000 M1894s were fitted with telescopic sights on a specially constructed bracket. Issued five to each company, they were meant to be used against enemy officers and other high value targets. Since the model was considered to be less than satisfactory, further production was stopped.
• The M1895 Cavalry carbine and M1897 Mountain artillery & Engineer carbine differed only in how the strap was fitted to the stock, and were issued in one series. A total of 9,309 were made between the years 1898 and 1906.^[8]
• The M1904 Engineer carbine & M1907 Field artillery carbine differed from the earlier carbines mainly by being stocked to the muzzle. The difference between the two models was only in the attachment of the strap, and again they were issued as one series. A total of 3,500 were produced between 1906 and 1908.^[8]
• The M1906 Guttekarabin (Boy's carbine) was a simplified M1895 carbine, with a shortened stock and no hand guard. They were issued to schools in Norway, and used to train boys aged 14 to 17 to shoot. Special "school ammunition" was developed to allow shooting in restricted areas. A total of 3,321 were made, of which 315 were later modified to fire .22 Long Rifle ammunition. Shooting was on the syllabus for Norwegian teens until World War II.^[9]
• The M1912 Carbine / M1912/16 Carbine / M1912/18 Carbine, "short rifle", was made after it became clear that the long barrelled M1894 left something to be desired. The M1912 was adopted after experiments with shorter, thicker barrels and different projectiles. It differed from the earlier models by being stocked all the way to the muzzle; the bracket for the bayonet was moved from the barrel to under the stock. It was soon clear that the nose band was too weak, which led to the /16 and /18 modifications of the basic design. A total of 30,118 were produced between 1913 and 1926. It was also decided that any further production would be of this model.^[10]
• The M1923 Sniper rifle was the first attempt to produce a sniper rifle, but it was not solid enough for use in the field. A total of 630 were built between 1923 and 1926, half of which were sold to civilian sharpshooters. Most were later converted to M1930 or hunting rifles.^[11]
• The M1925 Sniper rifle was an improved version of the M1923 built for the civilian market. A total of 1,900 were made from 1925 to the German invasion on 1940-04-09. A further 250 were built for the Germans during the war, and the last 124 were put together in 1950.^[12]
• The M1930 Sniper rifle was another improvement of the M1923 and M1925, featuring a heavier barrel, a different stock, sights, and a fine tuned trigger. It was a successful weapon, but no more than 466 were built between 1930 and 1939.^[13]

In addition, most models were produced for the civilian market as well. After WWII a limited number of Krag-Jørgensens were made in purely civilian models.

Bayonets for Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen

The Swedish-Norwegian Rifle Commission only briefly looked into bayonets, focusing on selecting the best possible rifle. However, their report^[14] mentions that they have experimented with knife shaped bayonets and spike bayonets, both in loose forms and in folding forms. Very few of the experimental bayonets are known today.

The bayonet that was finally approved, probably alongside the rifle itself, was a knife bayonet.^[14] Later on longer bayonets was approved as well, and renewed experiments with spike bayonets took place during the development of the M/1912.

• Bayonet M/1894 was a long knife bayonet, with a blade length of 21.5 cm, a blade width of 1.9 cm and a total length of 33.5 cm. The scabbard was made of steel, hanging from a leather strap, and was 22.7 cm long. A total of 101750^[14] was manufactured by Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, Husqvarna and Steyr.
• Bayonet M/1912 was constructed during the development of the 'short rifle' that became the M1912 Carbine. It was significantly longer than the M/1894, to maintain the 'reach' of the soldier. The total length of the bayonet was 48.5 cm, of which 38.5 cm was blade. The very long blade proved to be too weak for actual use, and the Bayonet M/1913 was adopted instead.^[14]
• Bayonet M/1913 was stronger, but heavier, than the M/1912 but was of identical size.^[14] However, it soon became clear that the short rifles was to weak in the stock to be used with the very long bayonets, which lead to the development of the M1912/16 and M1912/18 carbines. Production was ended after 3000 was manufactured by Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk in favour of the M/1916.^[14]
• Bayonet M/1916 was meant to be used on both the short carbines and the long rifles. Of almost identical size to the previous M/1913, it was stronger and had a sharpened edge along both sides of the blade.^[14] The scabbards to the M/1916 was initially of leather, but was later changed to steel. The production run is unknown.
• Bayonet M/1894/1943 was a variation of the Bayonet M/1894 manufactured during the war for delivery to Nazi Germany. Only 3300 were manufactured, all of them lower quality than the bayonets delivered before the German invasion.^[14]

A number of special bayonets and oddities was experimented with during the time the Krag-Jørgensen was a Norwegian service rifle, two of which deserve mentioning.

• The Officers bayonet was an attempt to replace the traditional side arm for officers in dress uniform with a high quality, decorated M/11916.^[14] The prototype was made in 1928, with two different scabbards (one in black lacquered steel, the other in brown leather), polished blade and the coat of arms inlaid in the handle. The bayonet was never issued, and the prototype is lost.
• The Bayonet 'lengthener' was a special scabbard for the M/1894 with a bayonet mount added.^[14] By mounting the bayonet to the scabard, and the scabbard to the rifle, a total length of 47 cm was achieved. It is speculated^[14] that the reason was to achieve the same reach as with the M/1916 without having to scrap the huge quantities of M/1894 in storage. The 'lengthener' was never issued.

Production for Nazi Germany during WWII

During the German occupation of Norway (1940-04-09 to 1945-05-08), the German forces demanded that Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk build weapons for the German armed forces.^[15] They placed large orders for the Krag-Jørgensen, the Colt M1914 (license-produced Colt M1911), and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. However, production was kept down by sabotage and slow work by the employees. Out of the total of 13,450 rifles ordered by the Germans, only between 3,350 and 3,800 were actually delivered. Early deliveries was identical to the M1894^[16], but with German proof marks and sub standard workmanship compared to M1894 produced earlier. During the war the model was altered to be externally more like the German Kar98K. this was achieved by shortening the barrel by 15 cm (6 inches) down to 61.3 cm (24 inches) and shortening the stock by 18 cm (7 inches).^[16] These shortened Krag-Jøgensen's were known in Norway as the Stomperud-Krag.^[16][17] A number of the Krag-Jørgensens manufactured for the Germans have been described as 'bastards', created from mismatched parts left over from previous production. ^[16]

Experiments with using the German standard issue 7,92 x 57 mm ammunition also took place, a cartridge as powerful as the .30-06 and the modern 7.62 mm NATO.^[15]

While information on the Wehrmacht's use of the Krag-Jørgensen is hard to find, it must be assumed that it was issued primarily to second line units since the Wehrmacht attempted to only issue firearms in standard calibres to front line troops. It was also issued to the Hird - the armed part of Nasjonal Samling (NS) ("National Unity"), the national-socialist party of Vidkun Quisling's puppet government. It's further likely that the experiments with 7.92 mm ammunition means that the Germans considered a wider use of the Krag-Jørgensen.

Post-war production

A few Krag-Jørgensen rifles were put together after 1945, for sale to civilian hunters and sharpshooters,^[18] among them 1600 of the so called Stomperud Krag.^[16] While there were at no point any plans for re-equipping the Norwegian Army with the Krag-Jørgensen, attempts were made to adapt it to firing more modern, high-powered ammunition like the .30-06 and 7.62 mm NATO rounds. While this was found to be possible, it required a new barrel (or relined barrels) and modification to the bolt and receiver. The resulting cost of the conversion was about the same as that of a new gun of a more modern design.^[18][19] The last Krag-Jørgensen in production was the m/1952 Elgrifle (moose rifle), of which 470 were sold during the 1950s.

The Krag as a civilian target rifle

Before the Sauer 200STR was approved as the new standard Scandinavian target rifle, rebarreled and re-stocked Krag-Jørgensen rifles were the standard Norwegian target rifle together with the Kongsberg-Mauser M59 and M67. The Krag was preferred for shooting on covered ranges and in fair weather, and dominated on the speed-shooting exercises due to its smooth action, however it was known to change its point of impact under wet conditions due to the single front locking lug. Thus, many shooters had both a Krag and a "Mauser" for varying conditions.

Special Krag-Jørgensen rifles / carbines and oddities

The Krag-Jørgensen was manufactured for almost 60 years in Norway. During this time several special models and prototypes was designed and manufactured.^[20] Some of these special weapons were meant as an aid in production or to meet a specific demand, but there were also various attempts to increase the firepower of the weapon.

Model rifles

The so called model rifles were used both when the various sub types were approved and as a guide for manufacturing. Basically, the model rifle or model carbine was a specially manufactured weapon that showed how the approved weapon should be. They were numbered and stored separately. Several model rifles and carbines were manufactured, since small things like a change in surface treatment or other seemingly minor things. There were especially many model rifles made for the M1894, since several were sent to Staur to work as controls and models.

Harpoon rifles

A small number of Krag-Jørgensen rifles were converted into harpoon guns, in the same fashion as the Jarmann M1884. It was realized that converting the Jarmann was more cost efficient than converting the Krag-Jørgensen, so further conversions was halted. It is not known how many were converted in this way.

Krag-Jørgensen rifle modified for belt feed

In the factory museum at Kongsberg Weapon Factory, there is preserved an interesting prototype of a M1894 modified for belt feed. Although no documentation has been uncovered, it's clear that the rifle has been modified at an early stage in the manufacturing process to use the same feed belts that were used on the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun in use in the Norwegian Army at the time.

The backward and forward movement of the bolt operates a mechanism that moves the belt through the receiver, presenting fresh rounds for the weapon. While this may have been advantageous while fighting from fixed fortifications, it cannot have been very practical for the user of the rifle to carry a long feed belt with him in the field. Even so, it is an interesting and early attempt to increase the firepower of the Krag-Jørgensen.

Lieutenant Tobiensen's 'Speed Loader'

In 1923 Lieutenant Tobiesen, working at Kongsberg Weapon Factory, designed what he called a 'Speed Loader for repeating rifles'. It can be seen as a new attempt to increase the firepower of the Krag-Jørgensen, just as the attempt to convert it to belt feed. Basically, the design consisted of a modified cover that let the user of the rifle attach a magazine from the Madsen light machine gun. The cover had a selectorswitch, allowing the user to select if he wanted to use the Krag-Jørgensen's internal magazine with its 5 rounds of ammunition, or if he wanted to use the external magazine with 25 rounds.

The design was considered promising enough that 8 prototypes were manufactured and tested. However, in testing it was revealed that the heavy magazine mounted on the side of the weapon not only made the rifle more cumbersome to carry and use, but also made it list sideways. It was decided that the 'Speed Loader' was not a practical design for military use and no further manufacture took place.

In 1926, a group of seal hunters approached Kongsberg Weapon Factory and asked to purchase a number of Speed Loaders for use when hunting seals from small boats. They were turned down due to the high cost of manufacturing a limited number of the device.

Krag-Jørgensen rifles modified to self loaders

At the same time that the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun was introduced to the Norwegian Army, some people started considering modifying the Krag-Jørgensen to semi-automatic fire. Doing so would have multiplied the firepower of the infantry, allowing more weight of fire to be brought at a target. Most of the designs put forward were not very well thought out and few of the designers knew enough about firearms to be able to calculate the pressures and dimensions necessary. However, two designs were investigated further, and eventually one prototype was built.

Sunngaard's automatic rifle

In 1915 Sergeant Sunngaard proposed a design for making the Krag-Jørgensen into a selfloading rifle. The design was considered over a period of time before it was declared to be 'quite without value', primarily because the requisite pressure would not be attainable without major redesign of the rifle. For this reason, no prototype was made.

Self loading device SNABB 38

In 1938 a Swedish design surfaced that seemed interesting. The SNABB was a modification that could be made to virtually any bolt action rifle allowing it to be converted into a self loading weapon, thus saving money as compared to manufacturing new weapons from scratch. The device used gas pressure to operate the bolt handle with the help of a runner. The modification seems, in hindsight, to be unnecessarily complicated. A separate pistolgrip was needed, and the receiver needed major modifications.

A prototype was manufactured in the autumn of 1938 and tested for several months. While moderately successful, the modification would cost about three times as much as originally thought, and the project was dropped due to lack of money.

Ammunition

The various Krag-Jørgensens were manufactured for a wide variety of ammunition. Apart from various civilian calibres, the rifle was manufactured for the following service ammunition:

• Danish 8x58R, a 7.87 mm (0.31 in) rimmed round. Early rounds had a 15.3 grams (236 grains) long round nosed bullet, and was loaded so that it produced a muzzle velocity of about 580 m/s (roughly 1900 ft/s), while later rounds had a 12.8 grams (198 grains) spitzer bullet and gave a muzzle velocity of 823 m/s (2740 ft/s).
• US 30-40, a 7.62 mm (0.30 in) rimmed round loaded with 40 grains (3 grams) of smokeless powder. It gave a chamber pressure of 40000 lbf/in² (276 MPa), which resulted in a muzzle velocity of 609.6 m/s (2000 ft/s) in the rifles, and 597.4 m/s (1960 ft/s) from the shorter barrel of the carbines.^[3]
• 6.5x55 a 6.5 mm (0.256 in) rimless round. Most variations are loaded for a chamber pressure of 350 MPa (roughly 51000 lbf/in²). Early rounds, with a 10.1 grams (156 grains) long round nosed bullet (B-projectile) had a muzzle velocity of around 700 m/s (roughly 2300 ft/s), while later rounds with a 9 grams (139 grains) spitzer bullet (D-projectile) offered a muzzle velocity up to 870 m/s (2854 ft/s).^[1]

Contrary to some rumors, the Krag-Jørgensen action can be modified to fire modern, high power cartridges. During World War II, and also in the early '50s, several were produced in 7.92 x 57 mm, which can hardly be considered a low power cartridge. A number of Krag-Jørgensens have also been converted to .30-06 and 7.62 mm NATO for target shooting and hunting. However, it must be stressed that these were all late-production Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen rifles, made in an era when metallurgy was vastly more advanced than when the American Krag-Jørgensen rifles were made.

Comparison of service rifles

What follows is a comparison between the Danish,^[2] American^[3] and Norwegian^{[4][5][6][8][9][7][10][11][12][13][15][18]} service weapons.

Nation	Model	Length	Barrel length	Weight
Denmark	Rifle 1889	1328 mm / 52.28 in	832 mm / 32.78 in	4.275 kg / 9.5 lb
Denmark	Carbine 1889	1100 mm / 43.3 in	610 mm / 24 in	3.96 kg / 8.8 lb
Denmark	Sniper Rifle 1928	1168 mm / 46 in	675 mm / 26.6 in	5.265 kg / 11.7 lb
USA	M1892 Rifle	1244.6 mm / 49 in	762 mm / 30 in	4.221 kg / 9.38 lb
USA	M1892 Carbine	1046.5 mm / 41.2 in	558.8 mm / 22 in	3.735 kg / 8.3 lb
USA	M1896 Rifle	1244.6 mm / 49 in	762 mm / 30 in	4.023 kg / 8.94 lb
USA	M1896 Cadet Rifle	1244.6 mm / 49 in	762 mm / 30 in	4.05 kg / 9.0 lb
USA	M1896 Carbine	1046.5 mm / 41.2 in	558.8 mm / 22 in	3.488 kg / 7.75 lb
USA	M1898 Rifle	1247.1 mm / 49.1 in	762 mm / 30 in	4.05 kg 9.0 lb
USA	M1898 Carbine	1046.5 mm / 41.2 in	558.8 mm / 22 in	3.51 kg / 7.8 lb
USA	M1899 Carbine	1046.5 mm / 41.2 in	558.8 mm / 22 in	3.542 kg / 7.87 lb
USA	M1899 Constable Carbine	1046.5 mm / 41.2 in	558.8 mm / 22 in	3.614 kh / 8.03 lb
Norway	M1894 Rifle	1267,5 mm / 49.9 in	760 mm / 29.9 in	4.221 kg / 9.38 lb
Norway	M1895 & M1897 Carbine	1016 mm / 40 in	520 mm / 20.5 in	3.375 kg / 7.5 lb
Norway	M1904 & M1907 Carbine	1016 mm / 40 in	520 mm / 20.5 in	3.78 kg / 8.4 lb
Norway	M1906 Boy's Carbine	986 mm / 38.8 in	520 mm / 20.5 in	3.375 kg / 7.5 lb
Norway	M1912 Short Rifle	1107 mm / 43.6 in	610 mm / 24 in	3.96 kg / 8.8 lb
Norway	M1923 Sniper Rifle	1117 mm / 44 in	610 mm / 24 in	4.05 kg / 9.0 lb
Norway	M1925 Sniper Rifle	1117 mm / 44 in	610 mm / 24 in	4.455 kg / 9.9 lb
Norway	M1930 Sniper Rifle	1220 mm / 48 in	750 mm / 29.5 in	5.157 kg / 11.46 lb

Comparison with contemporary rifles

At the time of adoption in Denmark, the United States and Norway, the Krag-Jørgensen was seen as the best available rifle. Here it is compared with rifles of later decades. In the U.S. trials, the Krag competed against the Mauser Model 92 (as well as many other designs), not the improved Model 98. The Japanese Type 38 was adopted starting 1905, nearly two decades after the first Krag design.

Rifle	Danish Krag-Jørgensen 1889	US Krag-Jørgensen M1892	Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen M1894	Japanese Type 38 Rifle	German Gewehr 98	British Lee-Enfield (data for late model)
Effective range	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	800 m
Magazine capacity	5	5	5	5	5	10
Calibre	8x58R (7.87 mm)	.30-40 (7.62 mm)	6.5x55 mm	6.5x50 mm	7.92x57 mm	.303 (7.7x56R mm)
Muzzle velocity	580 m/s (early rounds) / 823 m/s (late rounds)	609.6 m/s	700 m/s (early rounds) / 870 m/s (late rounds)	765 m/s	745 m/s	774 m/s
Barrel length	83.2 cm	76.2 cm	76 cm	79.7 cm	74 cm	64 cm
Total length	132.8 cm	124.5 cm	126.8 cm	128 cm	125 cm	112.8 cm
Loaded weight	4.28 kg	4.22 kg	4.22 kg	3.95 kg	4.09 kg	4.17 kg

See also

• Antique guns
• List of firearms
• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces

Other Norwegian rifles:

• Kammerlader - the first breech loading rifle in service in Norway.
• Remington M1867 - the first rifle for metallic cartridges adopted by the Norwegian Army
• Krag-Petersson - the first rifle designed by Ole H J Krag that was adopted by an armed force.
• Jarmann M1884 - the rifle the Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen replaced.
• Kongsberg Skarpskyttergevær M59 - The Norwegian sniper rifle
• Kongsberg Skarpskyttergevær M67 - The 1967 redesign of the M59
• Våpensmia NM149 - the rifle that replaced the M59F1 as a Norwegian sniper rifle

Contemporary rifles

• M1903 Springfield rifle - the rifle that replaced the Krag-Jørgensen in US service.
• M1895 Navy Lee - another rifle in US service at the time.
• Various Mauser models competed with the Krag-Jørgensen.
• Lee-Enfield - the British service rifle from 1895.
• Mosin-Nagant - the Russian service rifle from 1891.

References and notes

• Hanevik, Karl Egil (1998). Norske Militærgeværer etter 1867. Hanevik Våpen. ISBN 82-993143-1-3
• Wikborg, Trond. The Krag Jørgensen rifles & carbines Retrieved Jan. 26 2005.
• Cruffler.com (2001) The Norwegian M1894 Krag-Jorgensen Rifle Retrieved Jan. 26 2005.
• Frog, Fr (1999) The Krag Rifle As used by US Forces circa Spanish American War Retrieved Jan. 26 2005.
• Andersen, Bjørn (1998) Krag-Jorgensen Rifles and the Danish & Norwegian Military Retrieved Jan. 26 2005.

External links

• An exploded view of the Krag-Jørgensen mechanism
• Page detailing some of the different Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen rifles
• An in depth article on the M1894 "Long Krag"

Norwegian service rifles Kammerlader · Remington M1867 · Krag-Petersson · Jarmann M1884 · Krag-Jørgensen · Lee-Enfield No. 41 · Pattern 14 Rifle1 · Karabiner 98k1, 2 · Selvladegevær M1 (Garand) · M1917 Enfield rifle3 · Kongsberg M59F1 · AG-3 · Våpensmia NM149 · Heckler & Koch HK416 1 Used during World War II.  2 Spoils of war.  3 Replaced the Lee-Enfield No. 4.