Soon it was feared that they would use the rifles in an armed rebellion. And the desparation was followed by anger. However, the government would soon regret selling a large number of military rifles to the poor fishermen, because they were getting desperate. Over the next few months 1,600 rolling block rifles and 250,000 cartridges were shipped north. The government had no centrefire ammunition to sell and buying it from private companies would prove too expensive. The Kongsberg Armoury could convert the rifles from rimfire to centrefire, but since the government had large amounts of military rimfire ammunition, the fishermen were advised not to convert the rifles. The rifles were then handed out to fishermen. The municipalities had to purchase at least 100 rifles with 100 cartridges. The rifles were sold for 5 crowns, while 100 military rimfire cartridges were sold for 2 crowns. Thus the term “kobbegeværer” or “seal rifles” was coined. In March 1903 the government decided to aid the communities of the north by supplying them with cheap Remington rolling block-rifles. The fishermen blamed the disappearance on the harp seal – sometimes called saddleback seal – that had invaded the coast of Northern Norway in great numbers. At the same time the fish disappeared from the sea in Northern Norway.
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