Notes: The Krag-Jorgensen series of rifles began development in 1887, when the Danes realized that their old Remington Rolling Block-type rifles were woefully inadequate compared to the rifles of their neighbors (most of whom were already well into issuing bolt-action magazine-fed rifles to their troops. They tried several foreign-built rifles (and indeed the Danish troops had already decided they wanted the Lee-type rifles), but in 1889, the Danes instead started to issue a new Krag-Jorgensen-designed rifle, with full production beginning in early 1890.

The original Gevaer m/89 rifle was essentially a bolt-action rifle with a mechanism based on the Mauser action. Feed was from an internal "tray;" rounds were loaded via a loading gate which hinged forward. The action was designed for use with blunt-nosed bullets and early low-power smokeless powder, which meant that Krag and Jorgensen could get away with what would today be considered a rather weak one-lug bolt and action. The m/89 has a peculiar lack of safety features, except for a dangerous half-cock notch. The barrel jacket is inspired by the German Gewehr 88, and the stock is a straight-gripped stock with no sort of pistol grip wrist. The bolt is cycled by a hooked cocking lever. The sights consisted of a rear non-folding leaf sight, partially protected by a mounting block with short ears. The front sight is a simple blade. The barrel was a rather long 37.4 inches, a new bayonet was designed for the rifle, which attached underneath the muzzle. Though the m/89 was given a series of improvements starting in 1908, examples of original m/89s could still be found in the hands of the Danish Home Guard as late as 1950.

In September of 1908, the m/89 was redesigned to allow the use of a new round with more modern propellant and a spitzer bullet. This new round necessitated numerous changes to the m/89, including a much-strengthened action and sights matching the capabilities of the new round. This improved version was called the m/89-08. In addition, first examples of the m/89-08 also had folding sights on the left side of the regular sights, allowing the shooter to properly sights in when using the older cartridge. These were quickly discarded, since the Danish military stopped issuing the older round almost immediately. The m/89-08 was quickly followed by the m/89-10; this version added a true safety which stopped the bolt from moving in either direction. Starting in 1910, most m/89s and m/89-08s were upgraded to the m/89-10 standard as they were turned into armorers for repair or overhauling. Rifles overhauled after 1915 were also given new barrels with more-modern 4-groove concentric rifling, a strengthened chamber, and new bayonet lugs designed to use the m/15 sword bayonet. The few that came out of this process especially well were also topped with m/16 telescopic sights and used as ersatz sniper rifles. (For game purposes, the m/89-08 and the m/89-10 are identical.)

The Rytterkarabin m/89 (Cavalry Carbine) is basically a shorter version of the Gevaer m/89-08, first issued in 1912 (and called the "Ryttergevaer" at first), after testing that lasted nearly a year. The action was the same as that of the m/89-08; however, barrel jacket was replaced by a wooden handguard, the buttplate was removed, and new sights were mounted to reflect the shorter barrel length (23.6 inches). Sling swivels were mounted, and as the new handguard extended to the muzzle, the Rytterkarabin m/89 had no provisions for a bayonet. In 1922, some m/89-10s had their barrels chopped to the same length for use by Danish border guards and the Danish customs service, and this led quickly to the Rytterkarabin m/89-23. This version also had its handguard cut back enough to allow it to use the m/15 sword bayonet. 4600 were built, but less than 200 are believed to have new production. Oddly enough, even the ones built specifically as m/89-23 used the old-style 6-groove Rasmussen polygonal rifling, which the Danes otherwise stopped using in 1925. For game purposes, all of these carbines are otherwise identical.

The Rytterkarabins inspired the development of the Fodfolkskarabin m/89-24 (as did the general realization around the world that most military rifles didn’t need such a ridiculously long barrel or the range they provided). The m/89-24 started out as little more than various versions of the Gevaer m/89 with their barrels chopped to 24 inches and their sights suitably re-tooled. They used bayonet lugs designed for the m/15 sword bayonet. These early-model m/89-24s were produced until 1929, though in 1928 they were rebarreled to use the more modern 4-groove concentric rifling and the chamber strengthened. In 1929 production was moved to a Copenhagen factory, and purpose-built m/89-24s were made for the first time. Trigger pull was lightened in 1930. The m/89-24 was at first issued only to actual infantry units, but in 1928 the Dutch issued them to machinegun crews, then to mortar crews, and then to antitank gun crews.

Shortly after the introduction of the Fodfolkskarabin m/89-24, a short rifle was also introduced to arm artillery crews. Like the Infantry Carbine, the Artillerkarabin m/89-24 was, in fact, quite similar to the Fodfolkskarabin m/89-24 (even to the point of originally being mere conversions of the Gevaer m/89s); however there were numerous small differences. The Artillerkarabin m/89-24 had no bayonet lug, a standard rear leaf sight instead of a tangent-leaf rear sight, a triangular front sling swivel instead of a square one, a turned-down bolt handle, a grooved fore-end, and a slightly longer barrel at 24 inches. For game purposes, however, the Artillerkarabin m/89-24 is identical to the Fodfolkskarabin m/89-24. The Ingeniørkarabin m/89 (Engineer’s Carbine) was another (relatively-minor) carbine version of the m/89; built for less than a year, the Ingeniørkarabin m/89 was almost a copy of the Rytterkarabin m/89, except for a different arrangement of the barrel bands and a cut-back handguard to allow a lug for the m/15 sword bayonet. For game purposes, the Ingeniørkarabin m/89 and the Rytterkarabin m/89 are otherwise identical.

The Finskydningsgevaer m/28 was the rarest variant of the m/89 series, with only about 300 being made from 1928 to 1931. They were designed primarily for military marksmanship competitions, with a secondary role as ad hoc sniper rifles (though in today’s terms they would be considered designated marksman’s rifles rather than true sniper rifles). The Finskydningsgevaer m/28 used a 23-inch heavy, free-floating barrel, and had a full-length handguard with no provision for bayonet attachment. The front sight was either a hooded blade or globe-type, and a rear micrometer-adjustable aperture sight was mounted on the left side of the receiver instead of on top to allow for the mounting of a telescopic sight. Trigger pull weight was lightened, and in 1929 the m/28 was further modified with a lightweight, spurless cocking piece that allowed the bolt to be cycled more quickly. In 1930, the bolt handle was also modified by turning it down; many older m/28s were also retrofitted with the new bolt handle. The Swedes did not buy or issue the Finskydningsgevaer m/28 in any large numbers, but a very small lot was sold to Sweden in 1932. These rifles, designated Finskydningsgevaer m/28-31s, were chambered for the 6.5mm Swedish round and appear to have been used exclusively for military shooting competitions. (The prices and weights listed below for these rifles include a scope.) Today, you’d be lucky to find either model anywhere but Scandinavian museums or private owners, and if you actually get someone to sell you one (especially the m/28-31), you’d pay a pretty steep (real-life) premium for it.

A large amount of these assorted rifles and carbines were captured by the Nazis after occupying Denmark; they were then issued to some of the Nazi’s own Home Guard and to troops in conquered countries (including Denmark herself) who were loyal to the Nazis. The Nazis also tried to restart the production line, but constant sabotage by Danish resistance fighters meant that the Nazis got only about 3500 m/89-24s built. The quality of these "Nazi" m/89-24s was generally poor, again due to sabotage by the Danish resistance. Thousands were also either destroyed or "repossessed" by the Dutch resistance, and thousands more were essentially just lost in the chaos of World War 2. After the war, a few of the remaining examples of the m/89 series were issued to the Danish Home Guard, and continued to be issued to the Home Guard as late as 1950. Today, they are considered highly-prized weapons on the civilian war surplus market (there are a lot of gunsmiths through the years who have even rechambered the m/89s for newer ammunition); they were so well-constructed that most Krags still function quite well after all this time.