This Kongsberg Vapenfabrikk Model 1914 is chambered in 11.25mm, the Norwegian designation for .45 ACP, and carries serial 268xx. It was made in 1942, during the German occupation of Norway, and retains the Norwegian configuration without the WaA84 German acceptance marking, which was applied only to the 1945 production. The pistol is extensively numbered in the usual Kongsberg manner and is reported matching throughout, on the major components and on numbered small parts including the frame, slide and trigger. It retains its checkered wood grips and comes with one magazine. The bore is mirror bright and the pistol is mechanically excellent. The slide is marked 11.25 m/m AUT. PISTOL M/1914 with the serial number, and the pistol carries its 1942 date. Finish is strong overall, the frame showing the plum and brown toning often found on original wartime Kongsberg pistols while the slide holds a considerably darker finish. The pistol shows honest age and handling consistent with an original military arm rather than a restored one.
The pistol is accompanied by its original Kongsberg archival Fabrikkbrev, dated 31 October 2001, issued for this serial number and signed by curator Kjell Jonassen beneath a red wax seal which remains intact. Drawn from the records of the Control Office of the Kongsberg Arms Factory, a works established in 1814, the letter documents the pistol’s production in unusual detail: it was proof fired and given its initial inspection on 4 February 1942, sighted in and fired on 5 February 1942, and given its final inspection the same day, at which the calibre was measured to 11.27mm. The letter further records that the pistol was shipped in February 1942 to the factory’s own store, and that the Control Office rolls show no recipient for the serial number. The letter has accompanied the pistol for decades. Research letters can still be obtained through Norwegian historical organizations, but this earlier signed and sealed form of Kongsberg documentation is no longer the standard format.
Norway adopted the Colt M1911 design in August 1914 to replace the 7.5mm Nagant revolver, contracting with Fabrique Nationale in September of that year for manufacture at Kongsberg Vapenfabrikk. The most recognizable Norwegian change was to the slide stop, which was extended down and back to make it easier to operate, a modification requiring a cut out in the left stock; suggested in 1916, it was fitted from 1918. The pistol fires .45 ACP from a seven round magazine. Kongsberg built about 22,311 before 1940 and roughly 8,200 more under the German occupation, during which the Germans designated it the Pistole 657(n). The Waffenamt acceptance mark WaA84 was introduced only in 1945, and only the 920 pistols built that year ever carried it.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Kongsberg Vapenfabrikk, Norway
Model: Model 1914, M/1914
Serial: 268xx
Year: 1942
Caliber: 11.25mm (.45 ACP)
Capacity: 7 rounds
Grips: Checkered wood
Matching: Reported matching throughout, major components and numbered small parts
Markings: 11.25 m/m AUT. PISTOL M/1914, 1942 date, no WaA84 acceptance marking
Bore: Mirror
Mechanical condition: Excellent
Included: One magazine, original Kongsberg archival Fabrikkbrev dated 31 October 2001, signed with intact wax seal
