Krag–Jørgensen, Norway. Prototype w/1892
In 1892, the United States was far from a superpower, and arms manufacturing was even less developed. In order to equip the army with a good rifle, a huge bidding campaign was held on Governor's Island in New York. Comparing 53 rifle designs from around the world, none of the U.S.-based designs were shortlisted, despite strong protests from home-grown designers and manufacturers that resisted or even sued. The U.S. government still chose a design from a small Nordic country. This is the Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen Rifle that we are going to introduce to you today.
The Kragjorgensen rifle got its name from the norwegian Ole. Herman. Johannes. Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Eric. Erik Jørgensen.
Ole Herman Johannes Krag
Erik Jørgensen
Craig was born on April 7, 1837, and joined the army in 1954. In 1866 he was commissioned to work at the Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk - KV) in Norway. He was involved in the design of the Krag-Peterson Rifle for the Norwegian Navy, but fewer than 1,000 were produced.
Krag–Petersson Rifle
However, in 1886 Klagg and his colleague and friend of the senior firearms mechanic Eric Klagg. The Jorgensen co-designed and developed Krag-Jorgensen rifle has been adopted as an army standard rifle by Denmark, the United States and Norway, with a total production volume of nearly 750,000.
The Craig-Jorgensen rifle has many different models and variants in the three countries, with varying weight lengths, barrels, and ammunition. What distinguishes the gun from other national rifles is its magazine design. It was different from the built-in cartridge magazine commonly used at the time. The magazine of the Craig-Jorgensen rifle is part of its receiver, with a small hinged door opened on the right side of the receiver, which opens to load the bullets, and then locks the small doors, and the bullets are arranged in a semi-wrapped bolt state. The magazine was called a "capsule clip", initially designed as a 10-round feed, later changed to 5 rounds called a "half-capsule clip".
The Craig Jorgensen rifle, 1894-1904, was produced at the Springfield Arsenal in Massachusetts, USA, about 500,000.
American Springfield M1898 Krag (left) next to a Springfield Model 1888
In 1900, it was the Krag Jorgensen rifle that the U.S. army brought to China to fight the Qing army and the Boxers.
American-Spanish War of 1898
1889-1902, American-Philippine War
In New Mexico, American cavalry fought the Apache tribes of Indians with the Craig-Jorgensen carbine
Apache War
The Craig-Jorgensen rifle is used to prevent poaching in Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
Yellowstone National Park
Although the Krag Jorgensen rifle was widely used by the danish, Norwegian, and American militaries, it performed poorly in the war. In 1898, at the Battle of Monte San Juan in the Spanish-American War, 750 Spanish soldiers armed with Mauser M1893 rifles fought against 15,000 American soldiers armed with Krag Jorgensen rifles, and within minutes the Spanish army had caused 1,400 American casualties.
Battle of San Juan Hill
On the same day, another Spanish army of 540 men managed to block the attack of more than 8,000 American troops for ten hours. These two battles led directly to the U.S. Army Commission of Inquiry's recommendation to replace the useless Krag-Jorgensen rifle. This led to the emergence of the later famous Springfield M1903 Rifle.