M/1894 Carbine
The m/1894 carbine was adopted in 1894 with the first 12,000 carbines being manufactured by Waffenfabrik Mauser in Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany. This series of carbines were all manufactured in 1895, and a very few spare receivers dated 1895 were received from Mauser Oberndorf's manufacturers Ludwig Loewe and DWM. Some of these spare receivers have been found built as complete m/1896 rifles with serial numbers falling into the regular m/1896 rifle ranges. It is speculated that these were replacement receivers that were later given the same serial number as the replaced receivers, though this is not yet confirmed due to the extremely small number discovered so far.
Production in Sweden under license commenced in 1898. (The preparatory production development at Carl Gustafs stads Gevärsfaktori found a place in history by being the event that caused Carl Edvard Johansson to invent gauge blocks.) Swedish production continued sporadically until 1918. Very limited numbers were later produced with receiver dates of 1929 and more so 1932. The highest 1918 serial number noted is 111,002. The m/94 carbines have a unique serial number sequence beginning with 1. The highest number so far noted is 113,150 dated 1932. There have been no carbines noted with receiver dates of 1902, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913. It may be surmised that carbines produced from the end of regular production in 1918 until 1932 numbered about 2,150.
Mauser produced 12,000 m/1894 carbines between 1894 and 1896 and Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori 115,000 m/1894 carbines between 1895 and 1933, giving a total of 127,000 m/1894 carbines.
Some carbines were lost from regular use by conversion to sub-caliber targeting & practice devices for artillery pieces. Many other carbines have been lost due to conversion to m/63 target rifles.
Sub variants
m/1894-14 carbines have a steel nose piece, not dissimilar to the No.1 Mk3 Lee-Enfield, with a protruding stud under the muzzle for the bayonet ring. There were two bayonets intended for the 94-14 carbine. The most prevalent was the m/1914 long bayonet. The second minor bayonet was the very long bladed m/1915 navy bayonet with the edge facing upwards.
m/1894-67: This was an 1894 carbine modified to accept the m/1867 Yataghan blade saber bayonet. The modification involved a slot machined on the nose cap and a stud sleeve attached to the barrel. Numbers modified are unknown. Possibly only 100 or less. Several have shown up in the United States and one is known in the Netherlands.
skolskjutningskarbin: So-called "school carbine". This carbine was manufactured for Swedish civilian schools for student training. All of these school carbines carry the receiver date of 1901. This model deviates from the standard m/1894 carbine in several ways. The serial number is prefixed with S and runs S.1 to S.1161 and possibly a few more. The serial number appears as S.500 on the left side-rail of the receiver. The bolt handle is the same straight handle of the m/1896 rifle. The sling swivels are on the bottom of the stock just as on the m/1896 rifle. There is no bayonet attachment. Many of these carbines have been found rebuilt as standard m/1894-14 carbines and in one case as a Carl Gustaf m/63 target rifle (CG63).
Kammarkarbin: also known as "gallery carbine". Unique serial numbers prefixed by K. Total number produced is unknown, with the highest reported serial number being K.193 currently in a private collection in the United States. One has been reported in Switzerland. Carbine K.91 is in the Carl Gustaf factory museum in Sweden. Other differences from the standard m/1894 carbine include the stock being dyed black. The rifling rate of twist is about 4 times faster than the m/1894 carbine due to the unique bullet and much slower velocity of the special cartridge intended for this carbine. The only two receiver dates noted so far are 1898 and 1901.
1894/96 Fortress Carbine: Another variant produced in unknown numbers and unknown years of production. This carbine is very similar to the standard m/1894 except in the manner of sling attachment. This carbine uses a sling attachment identical to the skolskjutningskarbin as the sling swivels are on the bottom of the stock instead of the side. The lower sling swivel is placed much further up the buttstock nearer the triggerguard than the m/1896 rifle.
Weapons Officers Carbines: These standard m/1894 carbines were hand-built by weapons officers as part of their training. Instead of having serial numbers, the name of the weapons officer is the identifying "serial" mark. Most of the parts are marked with the two letters of the officer's name and in some cases with a + sign. These carbines are among the most valuable of collectible m/1894 carbines.
The m/1894 carbine is still used today by the Royal Guards at Stockholm Palace.
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