thumb|300px|"Three-band" Swedish Jarmann. Apart from the number of bands around the forestock it was identical to the two-band model adopted by Norway as the M1884.thumb|250px|Cross section of action The Jarmann M1884 is a Norwegian bolt-action repeating rifle designed in 1878 adopted in 1884. The Jarmann's adoption, and subsequent modifications, turned the Norwegian Army from a fighting force armed with single-shot black-powder weapons into a force armed with modern repeating weapons firing smokeless ammunition. Several thousand were manufactured to equip the Norwegian Armed Forces in the 1880s, and it also saw some, though very limited, use in Sweden. The design is unique, and was the brainchild of Norwegian engineer Jacob Smith Jarmann. After the design had been phased out of the Norwegian Army, a number of the weapons were rebuilt as harpoon guns.

Description

The Jarmann M1884 fired a 10.15 mm black powder cartridge in an 8-round, tubular magazine in which the rounds were lined up in a tube below the barrel. It has a non-rotating bolt (the part of the action that seals the rear end of the barrel) locked by a rotating bolt handle, and reputedly a smooth action. However, this action is not considered strong enough to fire modern ammunition, since the only locking is provided by the rotating bolt handle.

Jacob Smith Jarmann designed his first breech-loading rifle—firing cardboard cartridges—in 1838, but this was turned down by the armed forces at the time. The logic was that a rifle capable of firing 13 shots a minute would be impossible to resupply with enough ammunition. In the 1870s, he stepped down from the daily running of his workshop to work on his newly invented bolt-action rifle. According to the patent, three particulars were considered new and unique with the action he had developed: tubular magazine and may have been inspired by it, although it is just as possible that the magazine is inspired by the Krag–Petersson magazine.

left|thumb|Closeup of the bolt and receiver of the Jarmann pictured aboveDespite being a trailblazer with its then-pioneering design, the Jarmann M1884 cannot be considered successful. The combination of tubular magazine and centerfire ammunition has been referred to as "too excitable", especially when used with pointed bullets. || 430 m/s (1,411 ft/s)|| 455 m/s (1,493 ft/s)|| 416 m/s (1,365 ft/s)

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| Barrel length || 850 mm (33.5 in) || 951 mm (37.4 in) || Unknown || Unknown || 840 mm (33.1 in)

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| Total length || Unknown || 1355 mm (53.3 in) || Unknown || Unknown || 1245 mm (49 in)

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| Loaded weight || 4.5 kg (10 lb) || 4.32 kg (9.52 lb) || Unknown || Unknown || 3.83 kg (8.5 lb)

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See also

Other Norwegian rifles:

  • Kammerlader
  • Remington M1867
  • Krag–Petersson
  • Krag–Jørgensen

Comparable weapons from the same era:

  • The German Mauser Gewehr 71/84 and Gewehr 88
  • The French Lebel Model 1886 rifle and its forerunner the Gras rifle
  • The British Martini–Henry and Lee–Metford
  • The Austrian Kropatschek rifle
  • The Japanese 11×60mmR Murata rifle

Sources and references

  • Doyon, Keith M1879 & M1881 Jarmann / M1884, M1887 & M1887/90 Jarmann Last retrieved 16 August 2005
  • The Jarmann rifle - Background history
  • The Jarmann rifle - Shooting and reloading
  • Trond Wikborg's (Norwegian gun collector) page on the Jarman M1884
  • Page with some pictures and information on the Jarmann
  • More pictures of the Jarmann
  • Closeups of the Jarmann bolt assembly
  • Photo of the M28 from the left side, right side with harpoon and closeup of harpoon and line.
  • A photograph of two rather corroded rounds for the M28 .
  • The M28 in use