CBA member, Tom Davis, wrote this article which appeared in the Jan/Feb 2005, #185 issue of the Fouling Shot.
In 1889, Denmark became the first country to officially adopt the Krag design, followed by the United States in 1892 and Norway in 1894. My particular Model 1889 Danish Krag long rifle is a much-used early example with an excellent bore, made at the Danish government’s Copenhagen arms works in 1891 and bearing a four-digit serial number. Early rifles, such as this one, had bores with six-groove polygonal “Rasmussen” rifling. The Danish Krag was one of only three officially-accepted military rifles which substituted thin steel jackets for wooden handguards (the other two being the German GEW 88 “Commission” rifle and the M1889 Belgian Mauser). A steel nosecap incorporates a bayonet lug on the bottom and front sight base on the top; there is no provision for a cleaning rod.
Like the later U. S. Krag, the Danes chambered theirs for a rimmed case - commonly designated the “8x58R Danish Krag,” and originally designed to propel a 237-grain, round-nosed bullet at a muzzle velocity of about 1965 fps. The loading gate on the right-hand side of the receiver helps to quickly identify this rifle as a Krag. Unlike the U. S. Krags, however, the loading gates on the Danish rifles are hinged to the front, requiring that the rifle be turned onto its left side in order to add cartridges to the five-round magazine. (The spring-loaded magazine cover has been propped open with a thin wooden dowel in the photo, so that the magazine follower can be seen.)
In 1889, Denmark became the first country to officially adopt the Krag design, followed by the United States in 1892 and Norway in 1894. My particular Model 1889 Danish Krag long rifle is a much-used early example with an excellent bore, made at the Danish government’s Copenhagen arms works in 1891 and bearing a four-digit serial number. Early rifles, such as this one, had bores with six-groove polygonal “Rasmussen” rifling. The Danish Krag was one of only three officially-accepted military rifles which substituted thin steel jackets for wooden handguards (the other two being the German GEW 88 “Commission” rifle and the M1889 Belgian Mauser). A steel nosecap incorporates a bayonet lug on the bottom and front sight base on the top; there is no provision for a cleaning rod.
Like the later U. S. Krag, the Danes chambered theirs for a rimmed case - commonly designated the “8x58R Danish Krag,” and originally designed to propel a 237-grain, round-nosed bullet at a muzzle velocity of about 1965 fps. The loading gate on the right-hand side of the receiver helps to quickly identify this rifle as a Krag. Unlike the U. S. Krags, however, the loading gates on the Danish rifles are hinged to the front, requiring that the rifle be turned onto its left side in order to add cartridges to the five-round magazine. (The spring-loaded magazine cover has been propped open with a thin wooden dowel in the photo, so that the magazine follower can be seen.)
The receiver is marked with the model (M 89), place and year of manufacture (GEVÆRFABRIKEN KJØBEN-HAVN 1891), and serial number. As with all Krags, the Danish version sports a buttery smooth action.
Unlike their American cousins, however, these rifles feature a prominent cocking piece.
Unlike their American cousins, however, these rifles feature a prominent cocking piece.
When originally manufactured, activating the safety involved lowering the cocking piece to its half-cock notch (see rear arrow in photo). Sometime after 1910 most rifles were altered by the addition of a second safety mechanism on the right rear of the receiver (see second arrow in photo). In some references, these modified arms are referred to as Model 1889-10 rifles.
The Danish Krags were also equipped with magazine cutoffs on the left rear of the receiver. When in the down position, the cartridges are held in the magazine and the rifle operates as a single-shot. When flipped up, the cartridges are allowed to feed from the magazine. After much experimenting, I have settled on a mild target load using WLR (Winchester Large Rifle) primers and 21.5 grains of Accurate Arms XMP-5744 powder under 160-grain gas check bullets cast in a 1:16 (tin-to-lead) alloy from a Lyman 323470 mould, sized to .325” and lubed with an Alox lube. These loads utilize some nice Buffalo Arms 8x58R Danish Krag brass made up from .45-70 cases (Australia’s Bertram Brass also offers cases in this caliber). Bullets were seated just over the second band, without a crimp, for an overall cartridge length of about 2.92”. Although I have not yet chronographed this load, it shoots to point-of-aim at 100 yards using the rifle’s point-blank rear sight setting (rear sight leaf folded down), and these cartridges function fine through the magazine in my rifle.
Not motivated to acquire a proper set of reloading dies for this caliber (which list for upwards of $70), I approached the challenge by assembling an ersatz set of dies from the wide assortment of widows and orphans littering my basement reloading hideaway. I neck size my fired cases and seat my bullets using inexpensive Lee 8MM Lebel dies, and neck expand using a C-H/4D .321” die (nominally too small, but it seems to work just fine). Oh, and a standard .45-70 shell holder works with the Buffalo Arms cases, too.
I was happy to score a 403 out of a possible 500 at a recent 100-yard Antique Military Rifle Match held at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club south of Pittsburgh (20 rounds slow fire prone, 10 rounds offhand, 10 rounds rapid fire sitting, 10 rounds rapid fire prone - all fired on SR-1 targets). In ten years, this was only the second time I have been able to break 400 at these semi-annual matches (I know - I should practice more…). I also chose this classic old war horse to shoot in this year’s Antique Military Rifle CBA Postal Match No. 20, and managed one 5-shot group measuring 1-3/16” using the load described above. This rifle looks to be a keeper!