Krag-Jørgensen M-89

[Ovenpaa]

We were in Denmark last month and called into a gun shop, languishing in the corner was a rifle of a type I had never seen before so I asked if I could take a look, the side load magazine was unsual as was the bolt and the whole rifle was long, very long.

Written on the side was Gevaer Fabriken Kjobenhavn 1893 which is Danish for Weapons manufacture Copenhagen. Being married to a Dane and with an interest in rifles this was interesting to me however the shop could not tell me more apart from it was old (The 1893 was a bit of a give away in that respect!) They also said it was chambered in 8mm something old and Danish. I guess they are not into old rifles.

A bit of a check and it turns out the rifle is an Krag-Jørgensen M-89 chambered in 8x58RD (Rimmed Danish) so a military rifle, one of 118,000 built and the Germans took 60,000 for 'safe keeping' so a bit more unusual than my SMLE!

Back to the shop and a quick chat go them to drop the price significantly, apparently it had been sitting in the rack for 4 years and had never been looked at since it came in so we had it. I say we as my wife was the one with a spare slot on her firearms certificate so it will be licensed to her however I have a permission on my FAC to transport and shoot her rifles and ammunition as she can mine.

So now we have to go back and collect it at some point. Anyway a few pictures, the safety catch right hand side was a later addition which makes this an M89/10 The rifle is in lovely condition with and the wood has the patina you would expect from a rifle of this age. There is a magazine cut off on the left and the barrel unusually has a tube over it so it is effectively floating, supported only at the receiver and the muzzle. Brass is going to be difficult to find so I will probably try and source some 45-90 cases and neck them down. I also need to find some dies, again only available from the USA by the look of it.

No matter, we are both really pleased, a Danish military rifle for less than the price an SMLE would be in the UK!

[Longcolt44]

Wow, that is unusual. There are several American Krags here on the forum, very different. Both mine are from 1898. The loading gate is one difference and the front sight and the stock and the.........it's a cool gun. Ours are in 30-40 caliber.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Yes, this is the Danish Krag that was adopted in slightly different form as the US Springfield Krag in 1892. A very nice one by the look of things, congratulations on the find
I recently stumbled onto this- http://www.russian-mosin-nagant-forum.c ... p?f=6&t=45

[Ovenpaa]

We had recently picked up a Schultz & Larsen M97-DL Sporter (6,5-284) which is also a Danish rifle and my wife had been reading to me a very good book on the history of S&L (it is written in Danish) So we both had an interest in Danish rifles. It turns out the Danish Krag could well have been barrelled by S&L and we were lucky enough to visit the S&L factory and see the barrel rifling machinery some of which is over 90 years old and still producing very accurate cut rifled barrels.

So to then find a Danish Krag was just to good to be true even if we did not recognise it initially. Certainly it was a lot cheaper than buying one in the UK as they are incredibly scarce in the UK and highly unusual even in DK.

I know a couple of people who cast lead boolits so once the rifle is back here I will slug the barrel and get some cast and sized to suit and neck down some brass to suit. I can also put my hands on some original factory 8x58RD military ammunition dated 1915 and 1917. I am not sure I would want to shoot it given the age however it could be a good source of brass, the only problem is it might be Berdan primed which would make reloading slightly more awkward.

Interestingly I have read that you can use 7,62x54R brass in the Danish Krag even though the neck will be shorter and one thing we have a lot of is 54R brass in this house (Just no MN at the moment!)

[Rongo]

Excellent find! Congrats.

[Darryl]

That is a very interesting looking rifle. I'd go back also (if the price was right). Really, half the fun of some of these rifles is having to make the ammo. It's like a entirely different hobby in it self!



Dolk

[klibben]

Nice find, very interesting rifle!

How hard is it to transport guns across national borders over there?

[bunkysdad]

Ovenpaa, it is a real pleasure to have you here on this forum. If you look at the front of the forum, you will see a section honoring our friend Kari Prager who was a regular member here. Kari made friends everywhere he went, and I considered him "my dear friend that i had never met". I told him I was getting a US Springfield m1896 Krag rifle in 30-40 Krag, and he sent me all kinds of things for the Krag. At one time he had bought a Danish Krag rifle but due to some problem he had with it he didn't keep it. He thought he would get an American Krag but never did so he sent me his Krag things he didn't need. Several books, a box of ammo, and he had a special sight that he had bought. A rear aperture or "peep" sight that I bought for 100.00. I have never installed the aperture sight yet, and I actually do pretty good with the aperture that is on the rear sight of the rifle. Well Kari passed away unexpectedly last November, and I really appreciate you posting this Danish Krag. It brings back some great memories for one thing, but also gives us a chance to get to know good people in the UK. You have a beautiful rifle. Good luck in getting the ammo ready for it, as I imagine it will be a great shooter. Kari told me more than once about the expected accuracy of these.

[Jumperwire]

I am just in Awe Not only at such a nice and interesting looking rifle, but the fact that I can not imagine only having "x"amount of guns. I mean really. If I had to choose only 10 or so? That would kill me. I have 13 Finns? Not to mention I really like some others that I have. That has to be a great example of self control.
Thanks for sharing those nice rifles.

[polymerase2]

Interesting post and interesting rifle. It is fun to read about shooting "across the pond".