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The Jarmann M1884 is a Norwegian
bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...
repeating rifle A repeating rifle is a single-barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reloads. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the gun) and then fed individually in ...
designed in 1878 adopted in 1884. The Jarmann's adoption, and subsequent modifications, turned the
Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway i ...
from a fighting force armed with
single-shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...
black-powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
weapons into a force armed with modern repeating weapons firing smokeless ammunition. Several thousand were manufactured to equip the Norwegian Armed Forces in the 1880s, and it also saw some, though very limited, use in Sweden. The design is unique, and was the brainchild of Norwegian engineer Jacob Smith Jarmann. After the design had been phased out of the Norwegian Army, a number of the weapons were rebuilt as harpoon guns.


Description

The Jarmann M1884 fired a 10.15 mm
black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
cartridge in an 8-round, tubular
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinati ...
in which the rounds were lined up in a tube below the barrel. It has a non-rotating bolt (the part of the action that seals the rear end of the barrel) locked by a rotating bolt handle, and reputedly a smooth action. However, this action is not considered strong enough to fire modern
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
, since the only locking is provided by the rotating bolt handle. Jacob Smith Jarmann designed his first
breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition ( cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle). Modern firearms are generally breec ...
rifle—firing cardboard cartridges—in 1838, but this was turned down by the
armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
at the time. The logic was that a rifle capable of firing 13 shots a minute would be impossible to resupply with enough ammunition. In the 1870s, he stepped down from the daily running of his workshop to work on his newly invented bolt-action rifle. According to the patent, three particulars were considered new and unique with the
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
he had developed: *The extractor, which not only pulled the spent round out of the breech, but also served to limit the bolt's rearward motion. *The design of the
rotating bolt Rotating bolt is a method of locking the breech (or rear barrel) of a firearm closed for firing. Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse developed the first rotating bolt firearm, the "Dreyse needle gun", in 1836. The Dreyse locked using the bolt handle r ...
handle, which served to lock the bolt to the receiver in the forward position. *The way the extractor was secured to the body of the bolt. Another interesting oddity is that the Jarmann action does not have a separate ejector, but instead relies on the fact that the extractor pushes the spent round down onto the elevator. The resulting friction was enough to safely eject the round from the receiver. The design was first tested by a joint Norwegian-Swedish rifle commission. Their first tests were favorable but highlighted the desirability of a repeating weapon, that is, a weapon with a magazine. Several magazine-fed prototype rifles were built— Ole Herman Johannes Krag, the designer of the Krag–Petersson and the
Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...
repeating rifles, designed two different magazines for the Jarmann rifle: one virtually identical to the magazine used on the Krag–Petersson, one which was the forerunner for the magazine he used on the Krag–Jørgensen. Jacob Smith Jarmann himself also made several prototypes, mainly with tubular magazines under the barrel or detachable magazines mounted sideways over the bolt. The latter was considered unusable in the field, and in the end a tubular magazine was selected for the weapon. The magazine is similar to the Kropatschek tubular magazine and may have been inspired by it, although it is just as possible that the magazine is inspired by the Krag–Petersson magazine. Despite being a trailblazer with its then-pioneering design, the Jarmann M1884 cannot be considered successful. The combination of tubular magazine and
centerfire ammunition Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rimf ...
has been referred to as "too excitable", especially when used with pointed bullets. Also, the balance of the weapon changed with every shot fired. However, both of these issues are common to all firearms that use tubular magazines. The first Jarmann design was firmly a single-shot weapon, and Jacob Smith Jarmann was reportedly at first unwilling to design a magazine for it. This may explain why the magazine and bolt do not always work well together. The sights on the Jarmann M1884, as first issued, were graduated from 200 m to 1600 m. There was an additional sidemounted volley sight, intended for indirect volley fire over long distances, from 1600 m to 2400 m. To be effective, an entire company would have to fire at the same time, which would ensure that at least some of the bullets found their targets. During production, the sights were modified, and M1884s with serial numbers higher than 4330 also had a battle sight fitted to the backside of the sight leaf, which could be revealed by folding the leaf fully forward. The battle sight was set to a fixed range of about 430 m (470 yd), close to the maximum
point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel para ...
of the weapon. During testing to determine the correct graduation of the sights the rifle commission used improved ammunition, which increased the muzzle velocity to about 485 to 500 m/s.


Ammunition

The aforementioned Norwegian-Swedish commission also designed the 10.15 x 61R cartridge that the various prototypes as well as the service weapon were chambered for. Originally a black-powder round with a paper-wrapped lead
bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
, it was later loaded with
smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to a ...
and a
full metal jacket bullet A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell ("jacket") of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket usual ...
. More than 5 million cartridges were manufactured for the M1884, in addition to several thousand specialty cartridges. The following different variations on the 10.15 x 61R cartridge have been identified: *10.15 Ball, rounded tip, lead bullet wrapped in paper, black powder (possibly testing-only round) *10.15 Ball, flat tip, lead bullet wrapped in paper, black powder *10.15 Ball, flat tip, full metal jacket, smokeless powder *10.15 Gallery, round lead bullet (for use indoors or at short ranges) *10.15 Gallery, same as above but with a ring crimped around the neck of the case *10.15 Blank, unpainted wooden 'bullet', smooth case *10.15 Blank, same as above but with six long ridges pressed into the case *10.15 Blank, same as above but with six long and six short ridges pressed into the case *10.15 Dummy, red wooden 'bullet' going all the way to the bottom of the case, six long and six short ridges pressed into the case, and two rings crimped around the neck of the case *10.15 Dummy, as above but with just the six long ridges and rings around the neck *10.15 Dummy, as above but with brown wooden 'bullet' and two rings crimped around the neck of the case (tests only). *10.15 Harpoon round, a blank round crimped shut, used only in the M28 harpoon gun *10.15 Harpoon round, as above but closed with a crimped lid


Accuracy

The Jarmann rifle was a remarkably accurate rifle for its time. In 1886, the joint Norwegian-Swedish rifle commission, which had selected the Jarmann, created a list of the ballistic properties of all the rifles tested. It is clear from the list, reproduced below, that the Jarmann M1884 was significantly better than the other rifles tested, although in part this must be due to the higher
muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
of the Jarmann. The rifle commission found that the Jarmann with its 10.15 mm bullet had a maximum
point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel para ...
of with a 1.8 m (6 ft) target. At a range of 600 metres (660 yd) it did not spread more than 61 cm (24 in) with uncoated lead bullets and 46 cm (18 in) with jacketed bullets. This compared very favorably to the
Remington M1867 The Remington M1867 was a rolling-block rifle, the first rifle using metallic cartridges to be adopted by the Norwegian and Swedish armies. Nominally it had a caliber of 4 decimal lines, but the actual caliber was 3.88 Norwegian decimal lines or ...
, then the Norwegian standard weapon, with maximum point-blank range of 300 m (330 yd) and spread at 600 m of 96 cm (38 in). In comparison, the
Gras rifle The Fusil Modèle 1874 or Gras was the French Army's primary service rifle from 1874 to 1886. Designed by Colonel Basile Gras, the Gras was a metallic cartridge adaptation of the single-shot, breech-loading, black powder Chassepot rifle. It was ...
displayed a spread of 89 cm (35 in) and the
Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arm ...
rifle (presumably a Gewehr 71) had a spread of 80 cm (31.5 in), both at 600 m (660 yd).


Service

Despite the problems with the weapon, no fewer than 30,000 were manufactured for the Norwegian armed forces in the decade between its adoption in 1884 and the later adoption of the
Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...
in 1894. A further 1500 were manufactured for the
Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...
in the same period. In Norwegian service, it replaced the
Remington M1867 The Remington M1867 was a rolling-block rifle, the first rifle using metallic cartridges to be adopted by the Norwegian and Swedish armies. Nominally it had a caliber of 4 decimal lines, but the actual caliber was 3.88 Norwegian decimal lines or ...
and the last few
kammerlader The ''Kammerlader'', or "chamber loader", was the first Norwegian breech-loading rifle, and among the first breech loaders adopted for use by an armed force anywhere in the world. A single-shot black-powder rifle, the ''kammerlader'' was operate ...
s still in use. When the weapon was chosen and first issued, the military considered it a very good weapon. It had a good rate of fire and had less than half the spread of the Remington M1867 at 600 m (46 versus 96 cm). It was later eclipsed, however by the radical development of firearms at the time. Within a decade it was phased out and replaced by the
Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...
rifle. Even though it was phased out, several second-line units were issued the weapon in 1905, when war between Norway and Sweden was considered imminent. Towards the end of their use in the armed forces, the original gunpowder cartridges were replaced by cartridges filled with smokeless powder. Despite the increase in muzzle velocity, the sights were not altered, thus radically decreasing the accuracy of the rifle.


Fate of the Jarmanns

Jarmann M1884s in their original condition are now extremely rare. During the 1920s and 1930s, a number of the surplus rifles was either sold to civilians or rebuilt into M28
harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...
guns. From the mid-1920s and until the
German invasion of Norway German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, it was possible for civilians to buy surplus Jarmann rifles for about a quarter of what a brand-new
Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...
would cost. Despite the reasonable price, it appears that very few were actually sold. Attempts were also made to sell the rifles and ammunition abroad. In 1929, about 5000 rifles were sold to a German firm, but the fate of these Jarmanns is unknown. In 1936 King
Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...
from
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...
initiated talks to buy 20,000 Jarmanns with ammunition for his police force, but the request was turned down by the
Norwegian parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...
, who claimed that the sale of such outdated weapons would reflect badly upon Norway. In 1938 a private investor — Trygve G. Hygen, a former captain in the Norwegian Army — caused a minor
international incident {{Refimprove, date=December 2011 An international incident (or diplomatic incident) is a seemingly relatively small or limited action, incident or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states. International incidents can ...
when he offered to sell Jarmann rifles to
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The British
Consulate General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
complained to the Norwegian government, pointing out that Ceylon was British and they wanted full control of all weapons sold there. The Norwegian government reprimanded Hygen, and the offer was withdrawn. Attempts were also made by Hygen to sell Jarmanns to
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, Cuba,
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
, Italy and the Netherlands, but without any takers. Some reports indicate that the Germans melted a significant number down the last remaining Jarmann rifles in military warehouses during the
Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 a ...
. The Germans still gave the rifle a designation, despite being considered too obsolete for their use, the Jarmann M1884 received the designation Gewehr 351(n).


M28 Harpoon gun

Between the wars, several Norwegian gunsmiths attempted to create harpoon guns, intended for hunting
seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
s and shooting rescue lines to
boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...
s in distress. Seeing a ready market, and having access to the several thousand Jarmanns in storage, Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk designed a harpoon gun referred to as the M28.


Comparison with contemporary rifles

The Jarmann was, at the time of its adoption, considered a good weapon. By comparing it to the Remington M1867, which was the standard issue rifle in the Norwegian Army, as well as against the standard service rifles of Germany, France and the United Kingdom at the time it is clear that the Jarmann indeed was an excellent weapon for its time, particularly in its accuracy and range.


See also

Other Norwegian rifles: *
Kammerlader The ''Kammerlader'', or "chamber loader", was the first Norwegian breech-loading rifle, and among the first breech loaders adopted for use by an armed force anywhere in the world. A single-shot black-powder rifle, the ''kammerlader'' was operate ...
*
Remington M1867 The Remington M1867 was a rolling-block rifle, the first rifle using metallic cartridges to be adopted by the Norwegian and Swedish armies. Nominally it had a caliber of 4 decimal lines, but the actual caliber was 3.88 Norwegian decimal lines or ...
* Krag–Petersson *
Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...
Comparable weapons from the same era: *The German
Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arm ...
Gewehr 71/84 and
Gewehr 88 The Gewehr 88 (commonly called the Model 1888 commission rifle) was a late 19th-century German bolt-action rifle, adopted in 1888. The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large-bore black powder ...
*The French
Lebel Model 1886 rifle The Lebel Model 1886 rifle (French: ''Fusil Modèle 1886 dit "Fusil Lebel"'') also known as the ''"Fusil Mle 1886 M93"'', after a bolt modification was added in 1893, is an 8 mm bolt-action infantry rifle that entered service in the French Ar ...
and its forerunner the
Gras rifle The Fusil Modèle 1874 or Gras was the French Army's primary service rifle from 1874 to 1886. Designed by Colonel Basile Gras, the Gras was a metallic cartridge adaptation of the single-shot, breech-loading, black powder Chassepot rifle. It was ...
*The British
Martini–Henry The Martini–Henry is a breech-loading single-shot rifle with a lever action that was used by the British Army. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader converted to the cartridge system. ...
and
Lee–Metford The Lee–Metford rifle (a.k.a. ''Magazine Lee–Metford'', abbreviated ''MLM'') was a bolt-action British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and detachable magazine with an innovative seven groove rifled b ...
*The Japanese 11x60mmR Murata rifle


Sources and references

* Doyon, Keit
M1879 & M1881 Jarmann / M1884, M1887 & M1887/90 Jarmann
Last retrieved 16 August 2005 * *


External links


The Jarmann rifle - Background historyThe Jarmann rifle - Shooting and reloading
* ttp://www.militaryrifles.com/Norway/Jarmann.htm Page with some pictures and information on the Jarmannbr>More pictures of the Jarmann
an





{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Bolt-action rifles of Norway Early rifles