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Krag-Jørgensen
The Krag-Jørgensen is a series of bolt-action repeating rifles designed by Captain Ole Herman Johannes Krag and gunsmith Erik Jørgensen of Norway. It features a distinctive horizontal magazine beneath the bolt, with a prominent loading door on the right side of the action.
Development
In 1884, Krag and Jørgensen decided to develop an alternative magazine design for the existing Norwegian service rifle, the tube-fed Jarmann rifle. They designed a 10-round spring-loaded magazine that sat horizontally beneath the bolt action and wrapped up around the left side of the receiver to feed cartridges into the action. A hinged gate on the right side of the magazine swung open for loading, simultaneously retracting the spring-loaded magazine follower.
Denmark
In 1886, the pair submitted a prototype to the Danish military service trials. The design was revised over the course of the test, eventually becoming an entirely new design with a single forward locking lug, elongated safety lug/bolt guide, and external claw extractor on top of the bolt. The magazine was reduced to 5-rounds, and featured a cutoff switch that prevented cartridges from feeding from the magazine; thus making the rifle into a single-shot action. The design also incorporated cock-on-opening, wherein as the bolt rotates into the unlocked position the cocking piece cams against a spiral-cut ramp in the wall of the bolt body pulling the firing pin backward and compressing the mainspring. The rifle proved successful, being selected for the Danish armed forces in 1889 chambered for the Danish 8x56mmR cartridge. Danish Krags featured a straight bolt handle, and a tubular steel barrel shroud running the full length of the barrel.
United States
In 1892 the United States Army held a competition to select a new bolt-action repeating rifle to replace the Model 1873/1884 Trapdoor Springfield Rifles . The Krag-Jørgensen was selected from 53 competing rifle designs. It was chambered in the .30USG cartridge (now known as the .30-40 Krag), which was specifically developed for the trial rifles by the US Army. The rifle featured a 30" barrel, Turned-down bolt handle, two-position safety on the rear of the bolt, and the magazine door hinge was made horizontal, so the door would open upward. The Krag design was chosen due to its ability to be reloaded without opening the bolt, and the magazine cutoff, which was seen as necessary to prevent soldiers from firing too rapidly and wasting ammunition. A carbine version with a 22" barrel was developed for the US Cavalry.
Roughly 442,000 rifles and 63,000 carbines were produced at the US Springfield Armory from 1894-1904, when the rifle was replaced by the M1903 Springfield after the Krag's poor performance against the Spanish M1893 Mauser during the Spanish-American War.
Norway
In 1891, the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway created the 6.5x55mm cartridge for use in all future military rifles. In 1893 the Norwegian Army held a competition to select a new service rifle, which was patterned after the earlier US Army trials. The Krag-Jørgensen design was selected based on the same criteria that won it favor with the US Army, but primarily because it was a domestic design. It was formally adopted in 1894. The Norwegian Krag featured a 30.07 barrel, half-length handguard, and a pistol-grip for more comfortable shooting. Roughly 215,000 long rifles and carbines were manufactured at Kongsberg Vapenfabrikk, the state weapons arsenal, and 33,500 were produced by Waffenfabrik Steyr, Austria.
Several hundred Steyr-manufactured M1894 long rifles were supplied via an unknown source to the Boers of South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Many lack the Norwegian acceptance stamps, but some with acceptance marks may have been supplied by a small Scandinavian volunteer force that fought for the Boers.
This rifle can be seen in the following movies:
Film
Film
- Sailors from the Venture in King Kong (1933) - Rifle versions of 1898 U.S. Krags.
- Brian Keith as President Roosevelt in The Wind and the Lion (1975)
- United States Marines in The Wind and the Lion (1975)
- U.S. Army soldiers in Ironweed (1987)
- Used by the Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and U.S. Infantry Units in the made for television mini-series Rough Riders (1997)
- William Katt as Edward Marshall in Rough Riders (1997)
- Lee Marvin as R.C.M.P. Sgt. Millen in Death Hunt (1981)
- Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). It appears to be a "Sporterized" Danish Model 1889.
- Local police in Public Enemies (2009), both rifle and carbine versions.
- Hunters in Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
Television
- Curly Howard in "Spook Louder" The Three Stooges
- Hogan's Heroes - Oberfeldwebel Schultz and various other German guards are equipped with Krag-Jorgensens in lieu of Mauser rifles.
- Used by Theodore Roosevelt in Deadliest Warrior
Video Games
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Kong | S.S. Venture Sailors | US 1898 long rifle | 1933 | |
| The Real Glory | US Army Troops | US M1898 long rifle, M1899 Philippine Constabulary rifle | 1939 | |
| Tarzan's Secret Treasure | Tom Conway | Medford | US M1898 Carbine | 1941 |
| To Kill A Mockingbird | Gregory Peck | Atticus Finch | Sporterized US M1898 long rifle | 1962 |
| The Wind and the Lion |