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Saving the best for last
Gevær m/1894
Two nations had already adopted the Krag–Jørgensen platform as their standard infantry rifle - the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States. Its developers' fatherland, the Kingdom of Norway, would curiously be the last nation to do so
History
The Krag–Jørgensen's story in Norway starts in 1891, when a joint Swedish–Norwegian Rifle Commission was convened to define the next generation of small-bore service rifle. Before that both nations had already been using the Remington Rolling Block single shot rifles, and agreed on upgrading to the Jarmann M1884, an early black powder repeater.
One of its first decisions concerned the calibre of the new round. A series of ballistic trials followed, in which several bore diameters – including 8 mm, 7.5 mm, 7 mm and 6.5 mm – were tested against one another. On the basis of these tests, 6.5 mm was selected as the most suitable compromise between trajectory, recoil and ballistic performance.
Following this decision a joint commission was formed in December 1893 to design the cartridge case and chamber in detail.
The resulting round is now generally known as the 6.5×55mm Scandinavian cartridge.
Once the cartridge had been agreed upon, both nations set out to find a suitable, modern rifle to pair with it. Interestingly, both nations did not decide on a shared rifle again. While Sweden was already knee-deep in trials of a Mauser M1893 pattern carbine for its cavalry, and would later stick with the system for its infantry in form of the M/96, Norway started more or less from scratch.
Ole Krag (1837-1916)
Erik Jørgensen (1848-1896)
While the Danish did attempt to incorporate a quick loading system with their new equipment, the Norwegians did not. However, later civilian shooting competitions made use of the so-called "Hurtiglader", which for all intents and purposes is a magazine used to quickly throw the five rounds into the actual magazine. The military never adopted this system for the duration of its use of the Krag–Jørgensen
As was par of the course in the 1890s, the trials included designs of various makes, notably from Steyr and Mauser Oberndorf, however, despite their popularity abroad and having been adopted in various nations at that point, Norway had a third contender warring for the commission's favour against the then current Mannlicher and Mauser export patterns - Krag–Jørgensen. Having been adopted by both the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States lent the design a certain amount of merit as a military design.
It being a native one was an additional cherry on top.
The Krag–Jørgensen's iconic capsule magazine was considered slower to load than its competitors, however, the Norwegians, similar to the Danish and US-Americans before them, put a lot of emphasis on marksmanship and more importantly single fire.
Thus the rifle to be adopted was viewed as a single-loader first and foremost, with the magazine being held in reserve in case of overwhelming and rapid fire being required such as under cavalry attack.
Additionally, it was important for the magazine to be easily topped-off, meaning a less than full magazine being loaded with singular bullets. Though the Mauser designs allow for the same, in the end the Krag–Jørgensen m/1892 was considered the best out of the lot and fifty examples were given out for troop trials in 1893, leading to slight changes in the extractor to negate the chance of double feeds, as well as replacing the sear spring with a coil one.
In April of 1894 the rifle was officially adopted as the Gevær m/1894.
Compared to its Danish brother, the Norwegian adoption saw a variety of updates and alterations:
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The stock received a pistol grip
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The bolt handle was angled downwards, but kept its slight sweep backwards
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No barrel jacket was used, instead a half-length handguard was added
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The rear sight was replaced with a tangent leaf going from 100m to 2,200m
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The direction of the magazine cutoff was changed, with down being off, and up being on
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The safety was replaced with a Mauser-style flag safety on the bolt
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Total length was decreased by almost 10cm
While production at home in the Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk was gearing up, initial armament was to be supplemented through foreign manufacture. After a contract with FN in Belgium fell flat, ŒWG Steyr took over production for the Norwegian army, as well as a small contingent for the Civilian Marksmanship Organisation. In total 29,000 Steyr made rifles were bought for the former and 4,500 for the latter.
Although ŒWG Steyr had the plans for the rifles, they included some alterations to the pattern that would ease manufacture and simultaneously strengthen the system such altering the chamber to a more rounded shape and camming profile on the receiver, making it easier to produce. Furthermore, the rear sight, barrel profile, threading and barrel bands also saw changes.
These would make parts interchangeability quite problematic between the two makers, however, some of the improvements were adopted by Norway and incorporated in their 1912 pattern carbine.
Although the two nordic kingdoms stuck with the Krag–Jørgensen until after the Second World War, the United States decided to move on from the system after first hand experience with the excellent Mauser M1893 in the Spanish-American War. The relatively low locking strength and difficult reload under battle conditions gave rise to the desire to move on from their once cherished rifles
Jan Smuts (1870-1950) leaning on a Krag–Jørgensen rifle
Though destined to become the official rifle of the ZAR, the Boers made a name for themselves as infamous marksmen with Mauser M1895 pattern rifles instead of the Krag–Jørgensen
The first time the m/1894 did see action would be in an unlikely place - South Africa.
Some rifles of the pattern that fall outside the serial range of the Norwegian contract at Steyr turnt up during the Second Boer War (1899-1902).
When the ZAR, or South African Republic trialed rifles in the mid 1890s, they too quickly came around to favouring the Krag–Jørgensen of the Norwegian pattern.
The initial guns delivered likely came from rejected parts or rifles not accepted by Norwegian inspectors during the 1896-1897 contract which were bought by the Krag–Jørgensen Rifle Company.
Lamenting on the ZAR side and delivery problems meant that less than 400 of the rifles would ever arrive before the country ceased to exist in 1902.
However, the trials reports do note that it was prized for its build quality.
The Great War would spare Norway, meaning that the m/1894 did not see further action until decades later, when Nazi Germany during Operation Weserübung occupied both Denmark and Norway.
For the duration of the Second World War, the Krag–Jørgensen would see service on both sides in the hands of Norwegian partisans, as well as Norwegian fascist units.
In order to streamline supplies the Germans even introduced a variant chambered in their own 8x57mm cartridge.
Norwegian soldiers training with their Krag–Jørgensen m/1894 rifles
Mechanism
Bolt
The bolt is a typical turn-bolt system with an angled handle.
Locking is by a two asymmetrical lugs at the front of the bolt, engaging a seat in the receiver just behind the chamber. In the closed position the handle additionally rests against a shoulder on the back of the receiver, providing an emergency locking surface in case of lug failure.
Extraction is by a long, flat spring extractor with a claw, pivoted at the rear on the bolt. The extractor incorporates an additional spring arrangement intended to keep it correctly positioned. The extractor furthermore serves the purpose of a guide to the bolt as well as preventing overturn and thus removal of the bolt. To do precisely that, the extractor requires lifting.
Ejection happens via a receiver-mounted ejector. As the bolt is drawn back, the ejector is actuated by the bolt’s ejector groove and flips the case clear at the end of the stroke.
The safety is fitted in the form of an early Mauser flag safety. In the safe position it blocks the firing mechanism and prevents the bolt being opened. Unlike the Mausers M1893 and onwards, there is no middle position for takedown.
Magazine
The Norwegian m/1894 has a five-round integral magazine formed as a horizontal chamber beneath the boltway, with a hinged loading gate on the right side of the receiver.
Internally, the magazine uses a spring-driven carrier rather than a simple -follower. The carrier is a bell-crank type piece, worked by a flat curved magazine spring housed under the magazine opening.
When the side gate is opened, a tooth on the gate hinge draws the carrier back into the cover, clearing the magazine space for loading. Cartridges are then placed into the magazine through the open gate. Uniquely, this allows the Krag–Jørgensen magazine to be reloaded without an open bolt.
When the gate is closed, it releases the carrier again and the spring drives it forward, pushing the cartridges forward and upward until the top round is presented at the feed opening into the boltway.
A magazine cut-off is fitted at the left rear of the receiver. On the Norwegian rifles, with the cut-off flipped up, the magazine is held in reserve and cartridges are not fed by the bolt; the rifle is then used as a single-loader until the cut-off is returned to allow normal feeding.
Markings
Crest & Production Year
On the top of the receiver the producer and year of manufacture can be found. Note that Kongsberg used the company sigil, whereas ŒWG Steyr simply uses "Steyr".
Acceptance/Proof Marks
These will show up as little crown marks on the receiver and bolt handle close to the respective serial numbers
Serial Number
The serial number will be an numerical code found on the receiver, bolt and, magazine follower, barrel bands and stock
