Kammerlader

Kammerlader
The breech end of two Kammerlader rifles
Type	Breech-loading rifle
Place of origin	Norway
Service history
In service	1842-1870
Production history
Designer	Unknown
Designed	1842
No. built	More than 40.000
Variants	Norwegian Army: M1842 M1846 M1846/55 M1849 M1849/55 M1859 M1860 Long M1860/67 Long M1860 Short M1860/67 Short M1862 Artillery carbine M1862/66 Artillery carbine Royal Norwegian Navy: M1845 M1849 M1852 M1852/67 M1855 M1855/67 M1857 M1857/67 M1860 M1860/67 Swedish Navy: M1851 Various civilian models
Specifications
Weight	M1849/55: 5 kg (11 lb), other models likely differed from this
Length	M1849/55: 126 cm (50 in), other models likely differed from this
Barrel length	M1849/55: 78 cm (31 in), other models likely differed from this
Cartridge	Minié ball in paper cartridge
Action	See text
Rate of fire	Depended on how quickly the shooter could reload.
Muzzle velocity	Sources vary; between 265 m/s to 350 m/s
Effective firing range	Accurate to 1,100 m, see text.
Feed system	single-shot
Sights	V-notch and front post

The Kammerlader, or "chamber loader", was the first Norwegian breech-loading rifle, and among the very first breech loaders adopted for use by an armed force anywhere in the world. A single-shot black-powder rifle, the kammerlader was operated with a crank mounted on the side of the receiver. This made it much quicker and easier to load than the weapons previously used. Kammerladers quickly gained a reputation for being fast and accurate rifles, and would have been a deadly weapon against massed ranks of infantry.

The kammerlader was introduced in 1842, and it is thought that about 40,000 were manufactured until about 1870. While the first flintlock breech-loading rifles, such as the Ferguson, were launched decades before 1842 Norway was the first European country to introduce breech loaders on a large scale throughout its army and navy, although the United States had been the first in the world with the M1819 Hall rifle. The kammerladers were manufactured in several different models, and most models were at some point modified in some way or other.

The kammerladers were phased out as more modern rifles were approved for use. They were either modified for rimfire cartridges, sold off to civilians or melted for scrap. Rifles sold to civilians were often modified for use as shotguns or hunting firearms. Today it is hard to find an unmodified kammerlader, and collectors often pay high prices for them.

In the early 19th century, the Norwegian Army decided that the nature of warfare was changing away from the massed ranks firing in volleys towards smaller units advancing and firing independently. This conclusion was reached after having observed the American Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars and the short Swedish campaign against Norway in 1814. Lessons were also learned from the Gunboat War, where small, mobile gunboats outmaneuvered larger, more heavily armed ships. It was decided that a breech loaded rifle was needed, more accurate than the old smoothbore muskets, yet quicker to load than the rifles issued to the Norwegian Jeger and Skijeger units. A special committee was created, and it started considering various firearm actions in 1837. It was soon clear that the desired weapon should: