Norwegian Kammerlader
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 914 mm
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- 1842
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Norwegian Kammerlader ('chamber loader') was a single-shot, breech-loading black-powder rifle adopted in 1842, making Norway the first nation to issue a breech-loading percussion rifle as a standard service arm. A side-mounted crank tipped up a loading chamber at the rear of the barrel, into which a paper cartridge or loose powder and ball were inserted; an underhammer percussion lock fired it. The original caliber was 18 lødig (about 17.5 mm), later reduced to roughly 11.77 mm on the M1860 pattern to extend range and accuracy.
Adopted in 1842, the Kammerlader beat the rest of Europe to the breech-loader: while other armies still rammed powder down muzzles, Norwegian soldiers cranked open a chamber at the breech and reloaded from a kneeling or prone position years ahead of the rest of the continent.
More than 40,000 kammerladers were made in over 80 model variations between 1842 and 1870. The breech action was developed in 1842 by Captain Scheel and gunsmith Gregersen. Many were later converted to rimfire (e.g. the M1855/67 Landmark conversion) at Kongsberg.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- Norway
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1842 to 1870
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 914 mm
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Breech loading
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 1
- Magazine
- Internal
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Crank operated breech chamber
Underhammer percussion
Rifled barrel- Tip up loading chamber
Standing
How it compares
This record has too few measurements to compare with others yet.
Answers
Questions about the Norwegian Kammerlader
What caliber is the Norwegian Kammerlader?
The Norwegian Kammerlader is chambered in 17.5mm Kammerlader (18 lødig).
How many rounds does the Norwegian Kammerlader hold?
The Norwegian Kammerlader holds 1 rounds, fed from an internal magazine.
How long is the Norwegian Kammerlader?
The Norwegian Kammerlader has a 914 mm (36.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Norwegian Kammerlader?
The Norwegian Kammerlader is made by Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk (Norway). It was designed by Peter Andreas Scheel.
When was the Norwegian Kammerlader introduced?
The Norwegian Kammerlader was introduced in 1842 and discontinued in 1870.
How does the Norwegian Kammerlader operate?
The Norwegian Kammerlader uses a breech loading action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Norwegian Army
- 1842
- Royal Norwegian Navy
- Norway
Provenance
Confidence in this record
60%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/kammerlader' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "kammerlader", "name": "Norwegian Kammerlader", "manufacturer": { "id": "kongsberg-vaapenfabrikk", "name": "Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk", "countryCode": "NO", "foundedYear": 1814, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "updatedAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "version": "82608d925f094cc477278b4fee02a76abce31db3df38f56ecd3ebb324d0c6d62" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "NO", "year_introduced": 1842, "barrel_length_mm": 914, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "breech_loading"}