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 4.1 Swedish decimal lines (12.17 mm), and it fired a rimfire round with a 12.615 mm (.497 in) lead bullet. The 12.17 mm caliber was chosen because the Swedish army had approximately 30,000 new muzzle-loading M1860 and breech-loading M1864 rifles in 12.17 mm caliber in stock, rifles that were suitable for conversion to M1867 rolling-block rifles. With the exception of the first 10,000 rifles and 20,000 actions (for conversions of older rifles), which were made by Remington in the US, all Remington M1867 rifles and carbines were made under license in Norway and Sweden, by
Kongsberg Vaapenfabrik in Norway, and by
Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag
Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag or simply ''HVA''; {{IPA-sv, ˈhʉ̂ːsˌkvɑːɳa, pron, sv-Husqvarna.ogg) was a Swedish firearms manufacturing company in the town of Huskvarna by lake Vättern.
History
In 1689 the manager at the nearby stat ...
and
Carl Gustafs stads Gevärsfaktori
FFV-Carl Gustaf was a Swedish armaments firm, bought up and merged on several occasions.
History
''Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' ("Rifle Factory of Carl Gustaf's Town") was founded in 1812 as a state arsenal. The name "Carl Gustaf's To ...
in Sweden with the two Swedish manufacturers producing about 80% of the weapons.
Birth of the M1867
In the 1860s the Norwegian and Swedish armies realized that their standard
rifles, both percussion lock breech-loading rifles and muzzle loaders, were rapidly becoming obsolete in the face of the new metal
cartridge
Cartridge may refer to:
Objects
* Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition
* ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device
* Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators
Other uses
* Cartridge (surname), a ...
combining bullet, primer and propellant load. In early October 1866, a joint
Swedish-Norwegian arms commission was established in order to select a suitable cartridge and rifle for the two nations.
Several different cartridges and rifles were considered by the commission. A partial list includes:
*
Needle-guns
:*A ''
Prussian needle gun'' designed in 1866.
:*''Larsen'' and ''Steenstrup'' - two different modifications of the standard issue army rifle at the time.
:*A ''modified Swedish standard army rifle''.
*Non-repeating
rifles for metallic cartridges:
:*
''Peabody'' - American
lever-action
The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms
Lever-action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocking handle located around the trigger g ...
:*''
Remington
Remington may refer to:
Organizations
* Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer
* Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer
* Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products
* Remington College, American c ...
'' - American,
rolling-block
:*''Larsen'' - two related, but different Norwegian designs. One lever-action, one
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-actio ...
*
Repeating rifles for metallic cartridges:
:*''
Spencer'' - American design, removable magazine in the buttstock
:*''
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
'' - American design, tubular magazine under the barrel
:*''Larsen'' - Norwegian modification of the Henry
*
Repeating rifles for paper cartridges:
:*''Palmcrantz'' - Swedish design (See
Helge Palmcrantz)
*
Percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
rifles:
:*''
Burnside'' - American design with metallic cartridge
:*''
Sharps'' - American design using paper cartridges
After various tests, including repeated firings, it was clear that the needle guns were not particularly well-suited. These - along with the repeating rifles - were dropped from further testing. Further testing - which included test firing by previously untrained troops - showed that both the Peabody and the Remington was suitable for issuing to the field army. In the end, the commission based their decision on price and complexity. The Remington totalled a mere 25 parts to the Peabody's 37, and it was approved for use by both the Norwegian and the Swedish armed forces, as their standard military rifle, on 22 November 1867.
The M1867 in Norway
A grand total of 58,450 Remington M1867 were delivered to the
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...
from 1867 until 1883, when production was curtailed to make room for the
Jarmann M1884. All production rifles were meant to be manufactured at
Kongsberg Våpenfabrik in Norway, but since the factory needed to be upgraded with more modern machinery, 5000 of the first rifles delivered to the Norwegian Army were manufactured by Husqvarna Vapenfabrik in Sweden in 1871-72. The difference is minor, the Norwegian rifles have
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
buttplates and head of the cleaning rod, and steel mounting bands, while Swedish rifles have iron furniture. For the first few years the barrels of the M1867 were made of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
, but after 1871,
steel became the standardized material. The price for each barrel was slightly higher, but the better design reduced misfire damage and ultimately resulted in
cost effectiveness
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a monetar ...
. Additionally, the designers improved the lock by replacing two lockscrews with a lockplate.
From the early 1870s the Norwegian armed forces used the 12.17×44mm RF, which apart from the case length and overall length of the cartridge was identical to the original Norwegian-Swedish
12.17×42mm RF. In spite of the difference in length the two cartridges were interchangeable and could be chambered and fired in both Norwegian and Swedish rifles. The official military designation for the cartridge was '12mm Remington' from 1879.
The sight of the rifle was the last item to be standardized because no one could agree on which would be best. The early production rifles had an L-shaped sight that could be flipped over, but the final design was
unique combination of other ideas Earlier models were supposed to be changed to this final design, but it is still possible to find M1867 with the original sights intact.
Each rifle was delivered with a
sling, a long
bayonet, a three-pronged screwdriver, an oil bottle, a cleaning rod, and a muzzle plug to stop moisture from getting into the barrel. Early muzzle plugs were a short, conical dowel made of wood, but soon a brass cup with a cut out for the front sight replaced it in service.
In 1880 Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk delivered 72 conversion kits for the rifles which allowed less expensive 22LR ammunition to be fired from the M1867 for training. These kits consisted simply of tubes to be inserted into the rifle from the breech, containing a chamber for the 22LR and a short barrel. The intention was to allow for cheaper training. Later, in 1884, several M1867 were permanently modified to fire
22LR
The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smoothb ...
with an improved model of this device.
After the
Jarmann M1884 replaced the M1867 as the main rifle in the first lines of the Norwegian Army, the M1867 was delegated to rear units until at least the mid-1890s. Roughly 5,000 were modified in 1888 and 1891 into
carbine
A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.
The smaller size and lighte ...
s, firing
8 mm rimmed
centerfire ammunition. These remained in use until 1908, when they were finally replaced by
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 ...
carbines.
From 1900 onwards, 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 ...
sold the obsolete M1867 to the public for a nominal price. Many of these were converted into
hunting rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with bo ...
s and
shotguns, so that it has become difficult to find an M1867 in its original form.
The 8 mm carbine conversions were kept in reserve until
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, when most of the estimated 4,900 units were destroyed by German forces.
Today, an unmodified M1867 in decent shape might be worth 4,000 - 6,000
Norwegian kroner (roughly 600 - 900
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
), while an M1867 in perfect condition might go for as much as 10,000 kroner (roughly 1,500 USD). However, as mentioned most of the M1867 were modified after they were sold to civilians, and most
collectors seem to agree that the modified arms are worth a lot less.
The M1867 in Sweden
About 200,000-220,000 military rifles and 7,000 military carbines using the m/1867 action were manufactured as complete weapons in Sweden, 100,000-120,000 rifles and 4,000 carbines by
Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori
FFV-Carl Gustaf was a Swedish armaments firm, bought up and merged on several occasions.
History
''Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' ("Rifle Factory of Carl Gustaf's Town") was founded in 1812 as a state arsenal. The name "Carl Gustaf's To ...
(a government owned arsenal) and 100,000 rifles and 3,000 carbines by
Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag
Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag or simply ''HVA''; {{IPA-sv, ˈhʉ̂ːsˌkvɑːɳa, pron, sv-Husqvarna.ogg) was a Swedish firearms manufacturing company in the town of Huskvarna by lake Vättern.
History
In 1689 the manager at the nearby stat ...
.
In addition to that 10,000 complete rifles and 20,000 actions made in the US were bought from Remington. The standard rifle received the Swedish designation "gevär m/1867" (and a version with only minor differences the designation "gevär m/1867-68"). Approximately 30,000 Swedish muzzle-loading rifles m/1860 and breech-loading rifles m/1864 (some of which had been converted from m/1860, note that the Swedish breech-loading rifle m/1864 although being referred to as a "kammarladdare" was not the same rifle as the Norwegian
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 ...
) of the same caliber, rifles that were almost new and in most cases had never been used, were also converted to M1867s using rolling-block actions made both by Remington and in Sweden. The Swedish designations for the converted rifles were "gevär m/1860-68", "gevär m/1864-68" and "gevär m/1860-64-68" depending on how many steps of conversion they had gone through (the two latter conversions are easily recognized by having the rear sight very far back, a result of the barrels being shortened from the breech end).
[Carsten Schinke - Die leichten schwedischen Infanteriegewehre Armee und Heimwehr -Journal-Verlag Schwend GmbH - 1990] About 7,000 short carbines with the Swedish designation "karbin m/1870" were also made, and in addition to that about 9,600 "gevär m/1864-68" were shortened to carbine length in 1886-87 and given the designation "karbin m/1864-68-85".
Other varieties were "gevär m/1867-74" with a new rear stock design and "kammarskjutningsgevär m/1884" and "kammarskjutningskarbin m/1884" in
10.15x61R Jarmann (rifles and carbines primarily used for gallery shooting, that is short range training).
Both M1867's for civilian use and M1867's used by the Swedish Frivilliga Skarpskytterörelsen ("The Volunteer Sharpshooter Movement", patterned on the British
Volunteer Force
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...
and numbering 40,000 men in 1865, all of them provided with military rifles and wearing military style uniforms by the Swedish armed forces) were made for, or converted to, centerfire 12.17×44mmR cartridges since, unlike the
12.17×42mm rimfire cartridges used in the military, the centerfire cartridges could be reloaded. One model of Swedish military M1867 rifles modified to use the 12.17×44mmR centerfire cartridge was the "gevär m/1867-74".
A new Norwegian-Swedish arms commission set up in the 1880s suggested that the Norwegian
M1884 Jarmann rifle should replace the m/1867 in both Norwegian and Swedish service but the Jarmann rifle was rejected by the Swedish Army since the
10.15x61mmR cartridge used by the Jarmann rifle was seen as being too little of an improvement over the 12.17 mm cartridge used in the M1867 rifles. So as a stop-gap measure rifles and carbines with rolling-block action were converted to a for that time period very modern centerfire cartridge, the
8×58mmR Danish Krag
The 8×58mmR Danish Krag also known as the 8×58mmRD is a late 19th-century rimmed centerfire military rifle cartridge similar to other early smokeless powder designs. It was briefly adopted by Norway and Sweden and remained the standard Danish se ...
(bullet diameter .322 in/8.17mm, bullet weight 237 grains/15.29 grams, muzzle velocity 1,965 ft per second/600 m/s), with the designation "gevär m/1867-89" used for converted rifles and "gevär m/1889" used for new rifles. rolling-block rifles chambered for the 8×58mmR were shorter than the M1867 rifles, with an overall length of 1,240 mm (48.8 in) and a barrel length of 840 mm (33.1 in).
During the last years of the 19th century the M1867 in all its different guises was finally replaced in Swedish military service by Mauser bolt action repeating rifles and carbines (with a modified Mauser 1893 action), under the designations "karbin m/1894" and
"gevär m/1896", in caliber
6.5×55mm.
The M1867 rifle became very popular among civilian hunters in Sweden, particularly for moose hunting, which led to Husqvarna Vapenfabrik producing about 85,000 rifles with the M1867 rolling-block action for the civilian market, in addition to the more than 100,000 they made for the armed forces. Surplus military rifles were also sold to civilians, most them being converted to 12.17×44mmR centerfire cartridges.
Gallery
File:Gevär m-1867 Sverige (Remington - Armémuseum).jpg, Norwegian-Swedish rifle m/1867, from the initial batch of M1867 made by Remington in the US
File:Gevär m-1867 Sverige (Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori - Armémuseum).jpg, Swedish rifle m/1867, made by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori
File:Gevär m-1867-74 - modellexemplar - 12,17 mm - Armémuseum.jpg, Swedish rifle m/1867-74, introducing a new more comfortable buttstock
File:Gevär m-1867-89 Sverige (Remington rolling block) 8x58R Carl Gustafs - Armémuseum.jpg, Swedish rifle m/1867-89 in 8×58mmR Danish Krag centerfire
File:Karbin m-1870 Sverige (Husqvarna - Armémuseum).jpg, Swedish cavalry carbine m/1870
File:Karbin m-1864-68-85 (Remington rolling block) - 12,17mm - Armémuseum.jpg, Swedish carbine m/1864-68-85 for artillery, train and others
File:Gevär m-1867 Norge (Kongsberg - Armémuseum).jpg, Norwegian rifle M1867, made by Kongsberg Vaapenfabrik
File:Krag-Jørgensen, Krag-Petersson, Jarman M1884 and Remington M1867.jpg, A collection of rifles from the Fram Museum
The Fram Museum ( no, Frammuseet) is a museum telling the story of Norwegian polar exploration. It is located on the peninsula of Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway.
Fram Museum is in an area with several other museums including the Kon-Tiki Museum, th ...
, a Remington M1867 at the bottom
See also
*
Remington Rolling Block rifle
*
Springfield Model 1870, as used by the United States Navy, produced by
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...
under license.
*
Springfield Model 1871, as used by the United States Army, produced by
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...
under license.
References
Further reading
* Hanevik, Karl Egil (1998). ''Norske Militærgeværer etter 1867''. Hanevik Våpen. . Chapter 1 and appendix A
*
External links
The 12 mm Remington Rolling Block*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091027103310/http://geocities.com/trondwikborg/M1867.html A collectors page on the M1867
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Rifles of Norway
Single-shot rifles
Early rifles
Hunting rifles