POTD: The What Colt? The Kongsberg Colt 1914
Sam.S 02.22.24
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! The Kongsberg Colt was the Norwegian military’s adaptation of the American Colt M1911 pistol, produced under license at the Kongsberg Armory starting in 1914. At the time, Norway’s standard sidearm was the outdated M1893 Nagant revolver, so they sought a more modern semi-automatic replacement. After extensive testing of the Colt M1911 adopted by the U.S., Norway chose to license the Browning-designed .45 ACP pistol as the Model 1914. The Kongsberg version was nearly identical to the Colt M1911, except for a few unique features like the extended slide release. Production was limited during the interwar years, but continued through WWII under German occupation, who insisted some pistols be made for their forces. These 1945 German-stamped models are rare today. In total, around 30,000 Kongsberg M1914 pistols were manufactured until the model’s replacement in 1985, making Norway the only European nation to adopt the .45 ACP cartridge in the early 20th century.
“A licensed copy of the Colt Government Model manufactured at Kongsberg in 1945, during the later stages of the German occupation of Norway. This is one of only 920 such pistols that received a Waffenamt acceptance mark, all of which were manufactured in 1945. Fixed sights, with the slide marked with the “Crown/K” over the one line model marking on the left side along with Waffenamt proof “eagle/WaA84”, “1945” on the reverse, checkered grips and magazine with lanyard ring base. The hammer and magazine catch are correctly unnumbered, with the other externally numbered components bearing matching numbers, mostly “.101″. Provenance: The Dr. Robert Azar Collection”
Lot 3567: Waffenamt Proofed Norwegian Kongsberg Model 1914 Pistol. (n.d.-d). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved February 21, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/83/3567/waffenamt-proofed-norwegian-kongsberg-model-1914-pistol.
