8×58mmR

The Danish 8×58mmR is a late 19th-century rimmed centerfire military rifle cartridge similar to other early smokeless powder designs. It was briefly adopted by Norway and Sweden and remained the standard Danish service rifle cartridge from 1889 until 1945.

Military history
The cartridge was developed in Denmark in 1888 using round-nosed bullets with 4 g of gunpowder, and adopted the following year by Denmark in the Krag-Jørgensen rifle. Sweden implemented a major arsenal rebuilding of Remington Rolling Block rifles for the 8×58mmR, and Norway experimentally compared 8×58mmR Remington Rolling Block conversions to the Jarmann M1884. Norway adopted the 6.5×55mm Krag-Jørgensen rifle in 1894, and Sweden replaced the 8×58mmR with the 6.5×55mm Swedish Mauser rifle in 1898. Denmark modernized military loading of the 8×58mmR in 1908 using smokeless powder with spitzer bullets; and Danish troops were still armed with the 8×58mmR when Germany invaded in 1940.

Sporting use
Surplus military rifles have been used for hunting; and ammunition was manufactured in Otterup and by Norma Precision after World War II. Documentation is scarce for the design pressure specifications of these surplus firearms. Although modern weapons may have been designed for smokeless powder loadings, their similarity to arms designed for gunpowder loadings causes uncertainty about the safety of firing modern cartridges in weapons lacking proof test documentation.