Weapons

In the years 1747-1826, the ski troops used several different weapons. Here you'll find a description of most, but the list does not claim to be complete. We have concentrated on the weapons we believe were used by sønnenfjellske battalion in the years 1800-1814.

The Jaeger rifles   

During the war of 1807-1814, all ski troopers, at least in theory, were equipped with short barrelled, rifled flintlocks. During the reorganization period of the 1770's every second trooper had been equipped with a rifle. The rest were obtained in 1794. The rifles were quite expensive compared to an ordinary musket, with costs as much as eight to ten times as much as the latter. To save the rifles from wear and tear, each trooper was also equipped with a smoothbore musket, shortened to the same length as the rifle. These were used for drill and peacetime service. Some of the rifles were most likely of those bought from Zella Mehlis in Germany 1711-12, some were of the brass fitted rifles from the 1750's and the rest probably Danish-produced rifles of model 1785 or 1791. With a rifle it was possible to hit a man-sized target at a range of 300 yards; this was virtually impossible with a musket. However, the loading process was much more time consuming than with the smoothbore musket. During the campaign of 1808-09, some ski troopers were taken prisoner and lost their weapons. These may have been replaced with rifles model 1803 or 1807.

   

Muskets and drill muskets

Prior to 1775 the ski troops used muskets captured from the Swedes during the great Nordic war 1709-19. These were described in 1772  as rusty and unsuitable for all kinds of service.  In the period 1775 - 1794 each second trooper was equipped with a smooth bore musket. In addition the battalion  in 1775 received 157 muskets intended for the reserves.

In 1792 the ski troopers not equipped with rifle had received new sharpshooter muskets. The only practical difference between these and ordinary muskets were the addition of proper sights. 

For daily service and practice a drill musket was used. These were made of old muskets shortened to the same length as the Jaeger rifles.    

Edged weapons:

From the start the ski troops were equipped with Hirschfängers, a straight-bladed sword-bayonet, although the ski troops did not use it as bayonet. From 1775 however, the ski troops of Sønnenfjellske Battalion, were equipped with sabres. These were later modified to become more practical for the ski troops.