Jaegars Revisited: Military Style

[Marc Adamchek]

There's been an ongoing enlightening and entertaining thread on this forum regarding The Jaeger Rifle.

Many opinions on just what a real Jaegar ought to look and feel like and what it should most definitely NOT look or feel like have been discussed.

Now for a tangential perspective as dished up by the Norwegian Elverum Company of Ski Troops.

These towheads come across as very serious when they lead off by stating unequivocally that "[Their] equipment and uniforms are accurate reconstructions based on written historical sources, original sketches, and authentic items found in museums and private collections".

If the Jaegar conversations on the other thread start to lose steam, bounce on over to www.elverumske.no and take a look at what's offered there.

Quite an interesting group, I must say.

 

[wahkahchimaol.com]

I am not sure that they are still active, since the last update seems to be 2003. But doesn't that 1791 Jaeger rifle look like a Pedersoli Jaeger rifle? Perhaps that is where they got that stock design.

 

[Rifleman1776]

At best, interesting.
The 1807 lock is different, at least to me. The cock/hammer is behind the plate.
The mould is kept in the patch box.

 

[Elnathan]

But doesn't that 1791 Jaeger rifle look like a Pedersoli Jaeger rifle? Perhaps that is where they got that stock design.

My initial impression is that it is basically a musket with a short rifled barrel and a patchbox, but the picture is so fuzzy it is difficult to tell. The buttplate and toe are very different from the Pedersoli, which looks remarkably like a generic Lancaster-type longrifle with a short barrel. I don't think they are very much alike, though with that poor photo they do at first glance.

 

[Viking78]

The question is how you define a jaeger rifle. Jaeger rifles are more than an "American jaegers" you know.

The jaeger rifles used by Danish and Norwegian light infantry in the 17 and 1800s as seen on elverumske.no originated from present day Germany, Russia and Denmark. The first jaeger rifle was made in Norway in 1821. Whether made in Russia, Denmark, Germany or Norway, the rifles are called jaeger rifles because they were used by light infantry (called "jegere" in Norwegian) ”“ not necessarily because they are similar to the jaeger rifles used in America. Danish-Norwegian jaeger rifles varied quite a lot, but as well as the jaeger rifles in America they all derived from the early German rifles.

Take a look at http://norskevaapen.no/?p=541 and http://norskevaapen.no/?p=561 for more examples of Danish-Norwegian jaeger rifles.

And by the way, the people behind elverumske.no are highly accurate in regards to historical detail.

 

[Elnathan]

The question is how you define a jaeger rifle. Jaeger rifles are more than an "American jaegers" you know.

I have never seen an original "American Jaeger." What do they look like?

There were many, many schools of rifle-building in Europe, ranging from the straight-stocked, flat-toed pieces made in Vienna and Carlsbad to the round-toed, fishbellied or step-toed peices made in Brandenburg, Cronach, and Suhl, to a few pieces I have seen that resemble fish-bellied fowlers. All the military rifles from the German States are modeled after contemporary hunting rifles, with a stepped wrist and round toe. I know little about them. The architecture of the 1711 and 1791 rifles look to me like it was modeled after contemporary muskets instead of hunting rifles. If I am correct in uderstanding that the most common hunting rifle in Scandinavia well into the 18th century was a small-caliber snaplock with a cheekstock, it makes sense that the folks who built the 1711 chose chose the contemprary musket and wild-fowler architecture as more suited to a military rifle.

I have never seen an original German piece that looked like the Pendersoli Jaeger, and don't think that the 1791 resembles it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

And we could circle back to the argument that Jaegers are "hunters". Meaning, to some, the military versions are not Jaegers. It ain't what it is because it is what it ain't. :shake: I've been here too long. :shocked2:

 

[Robby]

The military hunt the most dangerous game!
Robby

 

[Rifleman1776]

The military hunt the most dangerous game!
Robby

Amen. :surrender: