Place of origin Denmark Used by Denmark
Norway
Sweden Designed 1888 | In service 1889–1945 Wars World War II | |
Type Military rifle cartridge | ||
The Danish 8×58mmR 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 service rifle cartridge from 1889 until 1945.
Contents
Military history
The cartridge was developed in Denmark in 1888 using round-nosed bullets with 4 grams (62 gr) of gunpowder, and adopted the following year by Denmark in the Krag–Jørgensen rifle. Sweden implemented a major arsenal rebuilding of Remington Rolling Block rifles for the 8×58mmR, and Norway experimentally compared 8×58mmR Remington Rolling Block conversions to the Jarmann M1884. Its service in Sweden was very brief, though, since the 6.5×55mm was developed by Sweden and Norway in 1891, formally approved in 1893, and entered service in the Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen rifle in 1894, and in the Swedish Mauser carbine in 1894 and rifle in 1896. Denmark modernized military loading of the 8×58mmR in 1908 using smokeless powder with spitzer bullets; and Danish troops were still armed with the 8×58mmR when Germany invaded in 1940.
Sporting use
Surplus military rifles have been used for hunting; and ammunition was manufactured in Otterup and by Norma Precision after World War II. Documentation is scarce for the design pressure specifications of these surplus firearms. Although modern weapons may have been designed for smokeless powder loadings, their similarity to arms designed for gunpowder loadings causes uncertainty about the safety of firing modern cartridges in weapons lacking proof test documentation.