Hi All,
I felt like a short show and tell about my Krag Jørgensen hunting rifle. This rifle is produced in 1918 as an M1912 carbine used in the Norwegian army. At some point some civilian bought it, and put a scope on it, together with a new stock. The cartridge used was the Norwegian/Swede 6,5x55, until I bought it and replaced the barrel with an 8mm and it is now chambered for the 8x54 Krag Jørgensen. This cartridge is based on a 6,5x55 brass and just expanded to 8mm. No big metalwork has to be done on the action. The 8x54KJ can be used for most European game, but it is not a long range hunting cartridge, due to it`s limited power. I bought this rifle about two years ago, and I had my local gunsmith to do the work I wanted. The gunsmith is very popular, so it takes some time before he returns the finished products due to a lot of work. Other then the new Lothar Walther barrel, he installed a "ghost ring" on the bolt, and a new trigger. When I lift the rifle to shoot, the ghost ring is perfectly located for my eyes. If I want to use the scope, I have to lift the head a bit. I intend to use this while hunting moose. When closing in on the moose, while the dog is keeping him busy, the distance will be short, so the ghost ring should work fine. I am for the moment testing ammo, so I can get the front sight adjusted to the ammo I ends up using. The scope can easily be adjusted later on. The scope is as you can see an old West German Zeiss. I have found that 41,5grs of Whitavory N140 gives very stable 715m. pr sec and with a 170grs RN from Hornady it should do the trick on moderate ranges. I have to admit that I like the feeling of using a rifle not everybody else use. This is no expensive rifle, but it is a small customized Krag that I don`t think there are many equals of around. It has been illegal to use this action for hunting since the seventies. But, because of changes in the gun laws here in Norway back in 2007, the Krag Jørgensen action is now legal for hunting again, and as a Norwegian, I like that a lot!
The last pick shows the 8x54KJ next to a 30-06 round.