American Rifleman October Issue--Krag Article

[JOHN42768]

Hi All, The new issue of AR has a nice article by Bruce Canfield. A lot of basic info on the various models. Not real detailed ,but still nice to see the Krag is alive and well in current print. November is only around the corner. Make sure you get out to vote. John

[knute]

Thanks for the heads up. After reading your post I had to look for my AR October issue and realized that my wife had uncharacteristically failed to retrieve the mail today.
I thoroughly enjoyed the artical, which is quite lengthy for a magazine article. But I was wondering about the statement that "the bolt-action Danish Krag-Jorgensen had won". Why Danish and not Norwegian? Is this correct? I thought it would be considered Norwegian since that is the nationality of Krag and Jorgensen. I'd like to write to AR about it, but not sure if I'm right on this subject. I'd appreciate some thoughts on this. Maybe this seems petty, but being Norwegian myself I'd like to set the record straight if there is any to be straightened. :)

[Tom Butts]

It was the Danish Krag that won the section. The Danes had adopted the Model 1889 Krag, "the 89er" as their military rifle. So, that was the rifle and action that was tested, selected and then modified to produce the US Krag.

Best regards,
Tom Butts

[DyeF15]

It is generally accepted that Norway didn't really become an independent country until 1905. This may explain the "Danish" tag on the rifle.

[knute]

That does explain things better. Just one more curiousity, were the Danish rifles made in what is now Norway? And as a side note, not that it matters, but my ancestors came from Norway in the 1850's and I don't believe they ever considered themselves as Danish. ;)

[mussonor]

Time for some history? Norway was before the black death epidemic an independent country. But the black death (1348-1350) took over 2 year the life of 1 / 2 to 2 / 3 of the population, which in turn meant that the Authority lost 80% of its revenue (Tax). There were almost no people to rule, 2 / 3 of those who ruled before the black death was gone. This ended into that in 1380, the Danish throne ruled Norway. It made it until 1814 when Napoleon lost at Waterloo. The Danes had fought at his side, but the Swedes did not. So as a "reward" or "punishment" according to whom you can see it from, Norway went from Danish to Swedish rule in 1814, but also got its own constitution. Then in 1905, after 525 years, Norway was again completely independent, with its own king. (King Haakon was a Danish prince). Throughout this period, all the people who lived in geographically Norway, is referred to as Norwegian. Therefore, people that start to emigrate from Norway to the U.S. mid 1850's were spoke norwegian and were Norwegians. With all this about being under Danish rule, later Swedish government, and ultimately their own country while the krag was designed by someone who was born and raised in Norway, one can easily get confused.
Finally, the only krag manufactured in Norway is the norwegian krag. The danish model in Denmark, and the US-krag in USA. As the production capasity were not available but the demand was there, you know that some norwegian krags were made by Steyr in 1896-1897.

[Ned Butts]

Thank you for that information Mussonor!!

[knute]

Thank you Mussonor for the input. I just obtained the book on Krag's by Poyer at a gun show yesterday. The book also set me straight. Apparently, the gun being tested was a Danish built rifle.

[JOHN42768]

Hi All, I'm happy to see that this little posting opened the door to a lot of information sharing. It is amazing what you can learn from a piece here and a piece there from someone else. John

[knute]

Something I just came across and wanted to share. It comes from a book by John Walter titled "The Rifle Story, An Illustrated History from 1756 to the Present Day".

It reads:
The magazine of the US Krag rifle was adapted from the then-experimental Norwegian trials rifle instead of the original Danish M/89, with a side gate that swung down to serve as a loading platform instead of pivoting forward.

I hope that it doesn't look like I'm splitting hairs, but at least some of the American Krag can be attributed to a Norwegian rifle. And that flippity-do-da loading gate is the coolest thing on the rifle to me. Ain't it neat what one can find when digging a little deeper?