They were primarily chambered in the Remington M1867 rolling block rifle, which became the standard firearm for both countries.The 12.17×42mm RF rimfire round was developed by a joint Swedish-Norwegian arms commission quite likely based on the American .50-70 Government which was already tested in the Remington Rolling Block rifles they were considering, and was adopted by the armed forces of both Sweden and Norway in 1867.

In Swedish service, the standard cartridge used a lead projectile (shaped like a Minié ball) weighing 24 g (370 gr).

There was also a blank round - an ordinary cartridge case loaded with 54 gr (3.50 g) of gunpowder and sealed off with a piece of cardboard or a cork disc.

[7] The centerfire cartridge could be fired from both Swedish and Norwegian M1867 military Remington rolling-block firearms with only a minor modification, converting the weapon from rimfire to centerfire and vice versa, which could be done by the shooter in the field provided he or she carried the replacement parts.

The advantage of the centerfire cartridge was that spent cases could be reloaded, making centerfire ammunition significantly cheaper to use than rimfire ammunition, so the 12.17×44mmR also saw extensive use in Swedish paramilitary service, being used by Frivilliga Skarpskytterörelsen ("The Volunteer Sharpshooter Movement"), a voluntary paramilitary organization patterned on the British Volunteer Force and training civilians in the use of arms, with the units raised intended as local defense units (the first such volunteer "sharpshooter" units were raised in Stockholm in 1860, with the total number of active members throughout Sweden reaching 40,000 in 1865;[8] volunteer "sharpshooter" units were armed with military M1867 rifles modified to use the 12.17×44mmR centerfire cartridge, and wore military-style uniforms).