Krag–Jørgensen

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 Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 were delivered to Boer forces of the South African Republic.

A distinctive feature of the Krag–Jørgensen action is its magazine. While many other rifles of its era use an integral box magazine loaded by a charger or stripper clip, the magazine of the Krag–Jørgensen is 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. Instead of a charger, single cartridges are inserted through the side opening, and are pushed up, around, and into the action by a spring follower. Later, similar to a charger, a claw type clip would be made for the Krag that allowed the magazine to be loaded all at once, also known as the Krag "speedloader magazine".

The design presents both advantages and disadvantages compared with a top-loading "box" magazine. Normal loading was one cartridge at a time, and this could be done more easily with a Krag than a rifle with a "box" magazine. In fact, several cartridges can be dumped into the opened magazine of a Krag at once with no need for careful placement, and when shutting the magazine-door the cartridges are forced to line up correctly inside the magazine. The design was also 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 Krag–Jørgensen is a popular rifle among collectors, and is valued by shooters for its smooth action.

Early development

thumb|200px|left|[[Technical drawing of an early Krag–Jørgensen]]

thumb|300px|Closeup of the Krag–Jørgensen receiver and magazine door on a Norwegian M1912 carbine|alt=Close-up view of the metal action on a Norwegian M1912 Krag–Jørgensen carbine, showing the hinged side magazine door.

The 1880s were the decade where smokeless powder came into general use, and the calibre of various service rifles diminished as new small-bore, high-velocity cartridges using smokeless propellant were developed. Many nations adopted repeating bolt-action rifles using such cartridges 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.

thumb|left|300px|Close-up of an open American 1898 Springfield Krag magazine loading gate

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. Danish Krags were given the German identification code Scharfschützen-Gewehr 312(d).

Subtypes of the Danish Krag–Jørgensen

While information on the various subtypes of the Krag–Jørgensen used in Denmark has proven difficult to find, at least the following subtypes were manufactured:

Rifle M/89 (Gevær M/89), 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 right side of the receiver just behind the closed bolt handle.
Cavalry carbine M/89 (Rytterkarabin M/89) and engineer carbine M/89 (Ingeniørkarabin M/89), wooden hand guard, shorter than the other carbines. The two designs differed only in placement of the barrel bands and the cavalry carbine's lack of a bayonet lug. The cavalry carbine M/89-23 (Rytterkarabin M/89-23) design added a bayonet lug.
Artillery carbine M/89-24 (Artillerikarabin M/89) and infantry carbine M/89-24 (Fodfolkskarabin M/89-24), differed only in placement of the sling-swivel, and look like short versions of the rifle M/89.
Sniper rifle M/89-28 (Finskydningsgevær M/89-28), an alteration of the rifle M/89 with a heavier barrel and a wooden hand guard, micrometer rear sight and hooded front sight.

== American Krag–Jørgensen rifles ==

thumb|200px|Two rifles side by side: an American Springfield M1898 Krag–Jørgensen on the left and a Springfield Model 1888 on the right.|alt=Two rifles shown side by side.

Just 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 53 rifle designs including Lee, Krag, Mannlicher, Mauser, and Schmidt–Rubin. The trials were held at Governors Island, New York, and the finalists were all foreign manufacturers—the Krag, the Lee, and the Mauser. The contract was awarded to the Krag design in August 1892, with initial production deferred as the result of protests from domestic inventors and arms manufacturers. Two rifle designers, Russell and Livermore, even sued the US government over the initial selection of the Krag, forcing a review of the testing results in April and May 1893. In spite of this, an improved form of the Krag–Jørgensen was again selected, and was awarded the contract.

Around 500,000 "Krags" in .30 Army (.30-40) calibre were produced at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts from 1894 to 1904. The Krag–Jørgensen rifle in .30 Army found use in the Boxer Rebellion, the Spanish–American War, and the Philippine–American War. A few carbines were used by United States cavalry units fighting Apaches in New Mexico Territory and preventing poaching in Yellowstone National Park. Two-thousand rifles were taken to France by the United States Army 10th–19th engineers (railway) during World War I; but there is no evidence of use by front-line combat units during that conflict.

Subtypes of the Krag–Jørgensen used in the United States

There were at least nine different models of the American Krag–Jørgensen:

M1892 rifle, is in overall length weighing 9.3 pounds with a 30-inch (760 mm) barrel and a magazine cut off that operates in the up position. It can be identified by the cleaning rod under the barrel. Because it took two years to retool for production, Model 1892 Krags have receivers dated "1894." Most of the M1892 rifles were arsenal reconditioned to the Model 1896 configuration. A 1919 letter to the Marine Commandant from the First Provisional Brigade in Port-au-Prince noted: "...[A]bout 2,000 bandits infest the hills... I don't believe that in all Haiti there are more than 400 to 500 rifles, if that many. They are very short of ammunition.. They use our ammunition and the Krag by tying a piece of goatskin on string around the base of the cartridge."

The 1916-1924 American occupation of the Dominican Republic resulted in a small flow of Krags to that country. The Guardia Nacional Dominicana issued the received Krag rifles, though the rifles broke down quickly when issued to unfamiliar Dominican troops, and spare parts were hard to obtain. The discovery of Krag bullets in victims' bodies in the 1937 Parsley massacre was taken by US observers as evidence of the government's involvement in the killings. At the start of World War II, the Dominican government had 1,860 Krags on-hand, supplementing their over 2,000 Spanish Mausers.

In Nicaragua, to support the government of Adolfo Díaz, the American government provided Krags to the newly formed Guardia Nacional in 1925. Selling them an additional 3,000 rifles in 1927. In 1961, Cuban militias were still fielding some Krag-Jørgensons during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

In Africa

In 1919, the United States provided discounted arms sales to the Liberians, giving them a number of Springfield Krag rifles, in addition to Peabody and Mauser rifles.

Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen rifles

thumb|200px|Norwegian soldiers in position at [[Kongsvinger Municipality|Kongsvinger in 1905, armed with Krag–Jørgensen rifles|alt=Norwegian soldiers lying prone, armed with 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. After extensive ballistic tests where different calibres were tested (8 mm, 7.5 mm, 7 mm, 6.5 mm etc.), the optimal caliber was determined to be 6.5 mm (0.256 in). Following this decision, a joint Norwegian-Swedish commission was established in December 1893.

Despite the fact that both the Mannlicher and Mauser submissions were significantly faster to reload than the Krag, the latter, having been designed in Norway, was selected. As in the United States, rapidity of fire was deemed to be of lesser importance in an era when current military philosophy still emphasized precise aimed fire and conservation of ammunition. Instead, the magazine was looked upon as a reserve, to be used only when authorized by a commanding officer. The Krag–Jørgensen was formally adopted as the new rifle for the Norwegian Army on April 21, 1894.

A total of more than 215,000 Krag–Jørgensen rifles and carbines were built at the Kongsberg Arms Factory in Norway. 33,500 additional M/1894 rifles were produced at Steyr (Österreichische Waffenfabrik Gesellschaft) in 1896–1897 under contracts for the Norwegian Army (29,000 rifles) and the Civilian Marksmanship Organisation (4,500 rifles). 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 rimfire rifles and carbines.

Norwegian-style Krag rifles in Boer service

A number of 1896 and 1897 Steyr-manufactured Krag rifles resembling the M1894 Norwegian and chambered in 6.5×55, but lacking some Norwegian inspection markings and having serial numbers outside the sequences of those produced for Norway, were in Boer hands during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), most have serial numbers below 900. Markings show these rifles were manufactured by Steyr concurrently with a large order of M1894 rifles made for Norway. Some parts of rejected Norwegian rifles may have been used in these weapons—many small parts have serial numbers that do not match receiver numbers, these mismatched small parts sometimes have numbers in ranges of rifles made for Norway, yet appear original to the rifle. Photographs of high-ranking Boer officers holding M1894-like rifles exist. "long Krag", was the most common Krag in Norway. A total of about 122,817 were produced for the Norwegian Army at Kongsberg until 1922 when production ended. An additional 29,000 were bought from Steyr weapons factory in Austria 1896–1897. In 1910, after some initial tests, 1,000 of the M1894s (serials 89602 to 90601) 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. 3396 M/1894 rifles were produced in a special serial range for the Norwegian Navy. For the civilian market in Norway (competition shooters and hunters), afbout 33,600 M/1894 rifles in a special serial range were made from 1895 to 1940. An additional 4500 M/1894 rifles were procured from Steyr in a special series for the civilian marksmanship organization in 1897 (serials 3001–7500). All in all, the M/1894 is by far the most common model of the Norwegian Krag models.

The M1895 cavalry carbine and M1897 mountain artillery and engineer carbine differed only in how the sling swivel was fitted to the stock, and were issued in one series. A total of 9,309 were made between 1898 and 1906.
The M1904 engineer carbine and 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 sling, and again they were issued as one series. A total of 2,750 M/1904 and 750 M/1907 were produced between 1906 and 1908.
The M1912 carbine / M1912/16 carbine / M1912/18 carbine, "short rifle", was made after it became clear that the long barreled 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. The M1912 carbine also featured an improved (strengthened) action which differed from the M/94 action on several points. 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 in the military serial number range between 1913 and 1926. It was also decided that any further production would be of this model. About 1592 M1912 were produced in a special serial number range for sale to civilians.
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, about half of which were sold to civilian sharpshooters. Most were later converted to M1930 or hunting rifles.
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 April 9, 1940. A further 250 were built for the Germans during the war, and the last 124 were put together in 1950.
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. In 1950 and 1951, an additional 404 M/30 rifles were produced, then with laminated stocks, improved rear (diopter) sights and M/12 actions as the basis. The pre-war M/30 rifles used the M/94 action as the basis.

In addition, most models were produced for the civilian market as well. After World War II 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 mentions that they have experimented with knife 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. 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 were identical to the M1894, but with German proof marks and substandard 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), and adding a front sight hood similar to that of the Kar98K. These shortened Krag–Jørgensen's were known in Norway as the Stomperud-Krag, nicknamed after the main character from Norwegian comedy comic strip . A number of the Krag–Jørgensens manufactured for the Germans have been described as "bastards", created from mismatched parts left over from previous production.

Experiments with using the German standard issue 7.92×57mm ammunition, a cartridge as powerful as the .30-06 and the modern 7.62 mm NATO, among them 1600 of the so-called Stomperud Krag. 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 7.62mm 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. The last Krag–Jørgensen rifles in production were the M/1948 Elgrifle (moose rifle), of which 500 were made in 1948–49 and the M/1951 Elgrifle (moose rifle), of which 1000 were made in 1950–51.

As a civilian target rifle

Before the Sauer 200 STR 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, and very fast loading with a spring speedloader, 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 were designed and manufactured. 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.

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.

Comparison of service rifles

What follows is a comparison between the Danish, Used by Norwegian mercenaries

Philippine American War
Second Boer War
Boxer Rebellion
Mexican Revolution
Banana Wars
Battle of Blair Mountain
World War II
Bay of Pigs Invasion

Notes

References

Andersen, Bjørn (1998). "Krag–Jorgensen Rifles and the Danish & Norwegian Military" Retrieved Jan. 26 2005.
ANSI-SAAMI Z.299.4 (1992). SAAMI Retrieved Dec 20, 2010.
B. M. Berkovitch The South African Military History Society, Military History Journal – Vol 3 No 6, The Krag–Jorgensen Rifle of the Anglo-Boer War (with an incomplete list of Boer Krag serial numbers)
Cruffler.com (2001). "The Norwegian M1894 Krag–Jorgensen Rifle"' Retrieved Jan. 26 2005.
Hanevik, Karl Egil (1998). Norske Militærgeværer etter 1867. Hanevik Våpen.
The Krag Rifle (Rate of fire)

External links

An exploded view of the Krag–Jørgensen mechanism
An in depth article on the M1894 "Long Krag"
Krag-Jørgensen Model 1896 (video)
Model 1898 Krag 30–40 (video)