Jacob Smith Jarmann - Biography

Biography

Jarmann was born in Gudbrandsdalen at Nord-Fron, in Oppland County, Norway. He developed an interest in firearms at an early age, and he designed his first rifle—a breech loading rifle firing cardboard cartridges—in 1838, but this was turned down by the armed forces at the time. The logic was that a rifle capable of firing 13 shots a minute would be impossible to supply with enough ammunition.

In the 1870s he stepped down from the daily running of his workshop to work on his newly invented bolt action rifle. This rifle, the Jarmann, was adopted by the Norwegian Army in 1884. The weapon was produced at the Kongsberg Weapon Factory (Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk). Jarmann was appointed a Knight of the Order of St. Olav and made a member of the Order of Vasa

It was, perhaps, fitting that he died in 1894, the same year his rifle was phased out of the service and replaced with the Krag-Jørgensen. After the Jarmann was phased out of military use some of the weapons were converted into whaling harpoons.