Kongsberg M/1914: Norway’s 1911 Under Occupation

How Norway came to make the 1911

Norway received a sample of the new Colt 1911 in January 1913, tested it through early 1914, and adopted it in August 1914, replacing the M1893 Nagant revolver as its standard sidearm. The licence did not come from Colt. Rights to John Browning’s pistol patents in Europe ran through FN in Belgium, so in September 1914 Norway signed its manufacturing contract with FN, and the state arms factory at Kongsberg, Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, tooled up to build the pistol at home.

Mechanically the M/1914 is a 1911. Its most distinctive Norwegian feature is the slide stop, covered below, and unlike the U.S. M1911 its major parts are numbered to the pistol. Norway kept the M/1914 in service until the Glock P80 replaced it in 1985.

Built under German occupation

During the German occupation of Norway, from 1940 to 1945, Kongsberg kept making pistols under German control, and the Germans gave the type their own designation, Pistole 657(n). Occupation output is usually put at about 8,200 pistols, in the serial range 22312 to 30534: about 50 in 1940, 4,099 in 1941, 3,154 in 1942, none in 1943 or 1944, and 920 in 1945. More pistols were assembled from parts after the war.

The 1942 run covers serials 26461 to 29614, which puts 26864 at about the four-hundredth pistol of the year. That fits the dates in its factory letter, which has it on the test range in the first week of February.

All of the occupation pistols went to the German forces, to the army in Norway except about 700 delivered to the navy. Workers also carried parts out of the plant and assembled pistols for the Norwegian resistance, the so-called lunch box Colts, matpakke-Colt. Nothing about this pistol connects it to that story.

How to read Kongsberg M/1914 markings

The left side of the slide carries the model marking, 11.25 m/m AUT. PISTOL M/1914, and the serial with a No prefix. 11.25 mm is the Norwegian designation for the .45 ACP cartridge. Above the serial sits a small crowned K, the Kongsberg factory mark. The full serial, 26864, is stamped again on the frame above the trigger, and smaller parts carry its last three digits, 864: you can see them on the slide stop and the trigger. On this pistol the numbers match.

The right side is where the year is. On serial 26864 the slide reads 1942, and beneath it is a script monogram, JB. The Kongsberg weapons history society, KVF, identifies this as the inspection stamp of Jørgen Bjørnholt, and the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum records his stamp on a 1940 Kongsberg. Not every pistol of these years carries it: KVF shows a 1942 example with the stamp of a different inspector.

What this pistol does not have matters too. The German acceptance mark, an eagle over WaA84, was applied only to the 920 pistols made under German control in 1945. A Kongsberg dated 1940, 1941 or 1942 should not carry it, and one that does is a warning sign. So a 1942 pistol made for German use looks, stamp for stamp, like a Norwegian one.

Why the Kongsberg has an extended slide stop

Set beside a U.S. Army Colt, the slide stop is the part that stands out. On the Colt it is a short lever up under the slide. On the Kongsberg it carries a long extension that reaches down and back toward the shooter’s thumb, and the left grip panel is cut away to make room for it. The change was suggested in 1916 and reached production pistols in 1918. The idea is to let the thumb of the shooting hand release the slide more easily.

The Colt in our photo is a 1945 M1911A1, a later pattern than the 1911 the Norwegians licensed, so some other differences in the picture, such as the shorter trigger and the cuts behind it, belong to the A1 and not to Norway.

What the factory letter records about serial 26864

In 2001 the Kongsberg factory answered a records request for serial 26864 with a letter, a Fabrikkbrev, dated 31 October 2001, signed by Kjell Jonassen as curator and sealed in red wax. It is drawn from the records of the factory’s Control Office:

Date (1942)	Entry
February 4	Proof fired; initial inspection
February 5	Sighting in firing; final inspection, caliber measured to 11.27 mm
February 9	Sent to the store at Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk

The letter gives the type as “11,25 mm Automat Pistol M/1914”, the nominal caliber. The 11.27 mm figure is the measurement the letter records at final inspection.

Under Remark, the letter says the record of the Control Office shows that serial number 26864 “has no receiver”. Here receiver means the recipient, not the frame of the gun: the records the letter cites do not name who took delivery. In 1942 Kongsberg’s pistols went to the German forces, so we think this one most likely did too. The letter doesn’t say.

Factory letters for Kongsberg pistols are now issued by KVF, the Kongsberg Våpenhistoriske Forening, which works from the factory protocols.

In the hand

Laoguo, who runs Old Steel Arsenal, says the grip feels almost the same as a 1911, and that the slide stop sitting where the thumb can reach it is a sensible design. We have not fired this one. It came to us through a trade partner who imported it from Finland. It has its original magazine and original grips, it is all matching, and the finish is original and unaltered.

Specifications

Item	Kongsberg M/1914, serial 26864
Maker	Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, Norway
Model	M/1914 (German designation Pistole 657(n))
Year	1942
Caliber	11.25 mm (.45 ACP)
Magazine	7 rounds, original
Grips	Checkered wood, original
Markings	1942 and JB on the right; model marking, crowned K and serial on the left; no German acceptance marks
Numbers	All matching
Finish	Original, unaltered
Documents	Kongsberg factory letter, 31 October 2001, signed and sealed

On the floor at OSA

The pistol in these photos is on the floor at Old Steel Arsenal: the 1942 Kongsberg M/1914 .45 ACP with its signed factory letter. A few other pieces in our case connect to it:

• Auto-Ordnance 1911A1 .45 ACP, a modern build of the 1911A1 pattern, the same pattern as the 1945 Colt we set beside the Kongsberg.
• Kimber 45th Anniversary 1911 .45 ACP, the same Browning design and cartridge more than a century on.
• Kimber Rapide Scorpius 1911 .45 ACP, a modern 1911 in the M/1914’s cartridge.

The grid below updates by itself as pieces come and go.

The short version is on our Instagram. Watch it on Instagram.

General information for collectors, not legal advice. Production figures and serial ranges are approximate and vary between references.

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Kongsberg Colt” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kongsberg_Colt (January 1913 sample and August 1914 adoption, September 1914 FN contract, slide stop suggested 1916 and in production 1918, occupation production figures, delivery to the German army and navy in Norway, Pistole 657(n), WaA84 on the 920 pistols of 1945 only, lunch box Colts, service until 1985)
• American Rifleman, “This Old Gun: Norwegian Model 1914 Pistol” — https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/this-old-gun-norwegian-model-1914-pistol (licence through FN, extended slide release, serial numbers on parts)
• Forgotten Weapons, “Norwegian M1914 Kongsberg Colt” — https://www.forgottenweapons.com/norwegian-m1914-kongsberg-colt-video/ (extended slide release, major parts serial numbered)
• Thinline Weapons, “Norwegian M1914” — http://www.thinlineweapons.com/MG42/m1914.htm (1942 serial range 26461–29614, Pistole 657(n))
• Kongsberg Våpenhistoriske Forening, Kongsberg Colt M/1914 — https://www.kvf.no/vaapen.php?type=Pistol&weaponid=PIST0011 (Jørgen Bjørnholt’s inspection stamp, another inspector on a 1942 pistol, crowned K above the serial on the slide)
• DigitaltMuseum, Norwegian Armed Forces Museum — https://digitaltmuseum.no/011022715136 (production stamp of Jørgen Bjørnholdt on a 1940 Kongsberg)
• Kongsberg Våpenhistoriske Forening, factory letters — https://www.kvf.no/factoryletters.php (factory letters issued by the society from the factory protocols)
• Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk factory letter for serial 26864, 31 October 2001 (dates, caliber measurement, remark)