Krag-Jørgensen

Original Danish Krag-Jørgensen Model 1889/10 Rifle - 8x58R

Danish Krag-Jørgensen Model 1889/24 Infantry Carbine - 8x58R

Danish Krag-Jørgensen Model 1889/24 Artillery Carbine - 8x58R

Norwegian Krag Model 1894 - 6.5×55mm SE

US Property Marked Krag-Jørgensen Model 1896 Rifle - .30-40 Krag

1896 U.S.Krag-Jorgensen Carbine - .30-40 Krag

File:Sporterized Krag-Jørgensen.JPG

"Sporterized" US M1898 Krag-Jørgensen long rifle - .30-40 Krag

Krag-Jørgensen US Model 1899 Constabulary Carbine - .30-40 Krag

The Krag-Jørgensen is a series of bolt-action repeating rifles designed by Captain Ole Herman Johannes Krag and gunsmith Erik Jørgensen of Norway. Instead of being loaded through the action, the Krag's distinctive horizontal magazine is located beneath the bolt on the side of the rifle, with a prominent loading door on the right side of the action, so each round can simply be placed into the magazine, which leads to quick reloading. Unfortunately, a lack of a clip loading aid proved cumbersome in combat, and the Krag was largely removed from military use and replaced by clip-fed Mauser designs. However, the Krag's novel magazine and smooth action keeps it popular among gun enthusiasts today.

Background

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" 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.

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The Krag-Jørgensen and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Shoulder Arms	Charlie Chaplin	Charlie	US M1898 long rifle	1918
Shoulder Arms		US Army soldiers	US M1898 long rifle	1918
King Kong		S.S. Venture Sailors	US 1898 long rifle	1933
The Real Glory	Tetsu Komai	Alipang	M1899 Philippine Constabulary rifle	1939
The Real Glory		US Army Troops, Philippine rebels	US M1898 long rifle, M1899 Philippine Constabulary rifle	1939
Gunga Din		Victor McLaglen	M1899 Constabulary rifle	1939
Gunga Din		Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	M1899 Constabulary rifle	1939
Gunga Din		Cary Grant	M1899 Constabulary rifle	1939
Gunga Din		Sam Jaffe	M1899 Constabulary rifle	1939
Gunga Din		cultists	M1899 Constabulary rifle	1939
Gunga Din		Colonial troops	M1892 rifle	1939
Tarzan's Secret Treasure	Tom Conway	Medford	US M1898 Carbine	1941
Saboteur		US soldiers	US 1898 long rifle	1942
The Fighting Seabees		Japanese soldiers	US Model 1896 Rifle	1944
The Fighting Seabees	John Wayne	Lt. Cmdr. Wedge Donovan	US Model 1896 Rifle	1944
To Kill a Mockingbird	Gregory Peck	Atticus Finch	Sporterized US M1898 long rifle	1962
100 Rifles	Raquel Welch	Sarita	US Model 1896 Rifle	1969
100 Rifles	Aldo Sambrell	Sgt. Paletes	US Model 1896 Rifle	1969
100 Rifles		Indians	US Model 1896 Rifle	1969
The Wind and the Lion	Brian Keith	Theodore Roosevelt	Sporterized US M1898 long rifle	1975
The Wind and the Lion		United States' Marines	M1898 long rifle	1975
Death Hunt	Lee Marvin	RCMP Sgt. Millen	Sporterized Norwegian M1894 long rifle	1981
Ironweed	Jared Swartout	US Army Officer	M1898 long rifle	1987
Ironweed		US Army Soldiers	M1898 long rifle	1987
Rough Riders	Freddie Joe Farnsworth	Sgt. Farnsworth	M1896 carbine	1997
Rough Riders	Brad Johnson	Nash	M1896 carbine	1997
Rough Riders	Francesco Quinn	Lt. Castillo	M1896 carbine	1997
Rough Riders	Titus Welliver	Goodrich	M1896 carbine	1997
Rough Riders	Chris Noth	Craig Wadsworth	M1896 Carbine	1997
Rough Riders	Holt McCallany	Hamilton Fish	M1896 Carbine	1997
Public Enemies		East Liverpool Police officers	M1898 long rifle	2009
Public Enemies		Sioux Falls vigilante	M1898 long rifle	2009
Into the White		Norwegian soldiers	Norwegian Krag Model 1894	2012

Television

Show Title	Actor	Character	Note / Episode	Air Date
The Three Stooges	Curly Howard	Curly	Spook Louder	1943
Hogan's Heroes	John Banner	Oberfeldwebel Schultz	Used in place of Kar98k	1965-1971
Hogan's Heroes	Werner Klemperer	Colonel Klink	Used in place of Kar98k; Season 2 Episode 3	1967
Hogan's Heroes	Cliff Osmond	Marko	Used in place of Kar98k; Season 3 Episode 1	1968
Hogan's Heroes	Bob Crane	Hogan	Used in place of Kar98k; Season 3 Episode 8	1968
Deadliest Warrior		Theodore Roosevelt

Video Game

Game Title	Appears as	Note	Release Date
Red Dead Redemption			2010