Gun Collectors Dream Auction 63 Day One
Lot 270:
Up Here We Have a Rare Norwegian Kongsberg Colt Model 1914 Semi Auto Pistol CHambered in 11.25MM (.45 ACP) This is One Stunning Example That Comes as a Complete Package With Leather Holster, Triple Leather Mag Pouch Loaded With Three Factory Magazines, and The Pistol Comes With an Additional Magazine. This Pistol Has all Matching Numbers, Serial # 19303, and Dated 1928. Production of the Model 1914 pistol began at Kongsberg in the summer of 1917, and the first pistols were assembled and tested in December of that year. Made in .45 ACP calibre, the designation was in millimeters as 11.25mm. The original nomenclature of ?COLT AUT. PISTOL M/1912,? was stamped on the left side of the slide. Between July, 1917 and June, 1919, a total of 500 pistols were fabricated at the Kongsberg factory. Beginning at #1, the serial numbers ran to 500, and the year of manufacture was also included. These pistols were identical to the Colt Model of 1911, except in minor detail of the hammer checkering. During the two year period required to produce the first 500 pistols, a complete mass production tooling took place. By 1919, the Kongsberg Arsenal was ready to begin high speed quantity production of the pistol. The final production pistol saw certain design changes from the original 500 pistols. In this version, the slide stop is extended down and back to make it easier to operate. This change required a cut-out in the left side of the hard wood grip panel. Although this was the only significant change to the pistol throughout its production, the new version also had a new designation. The left side of the slide was now stamped ?11.25 m/m AUT. PISTOL M/1914.? . The first model Norwegian M/1914 pistol numbered from 501 on. Initially finished in blue, the M/1914 was equipped with hardwood grips checkered in the large diamond pattern found on the original Colt Model of 1911. The grips were made out of hardwood and light in color, they were blackened using a dark stain that was brushed on. Manufacture of the M/1914 continued periodically through 1941. During the German occupation of Norway, manufacture of the pistol was continued and produced under German control. These were marked with the Nazi Waffenamt acceptance stamps. In the period of German occupation only approximately 8,000 pistols are thought to have been produced. The pistols are usually to be found in a much rougher and poorer quality finish. By 1946 a total of some 33,000 Norwegian 1914 pistols had been made by Kongsberg Arsenal. After a series of pistol trials, Norway adopted a copy of the Colt 1911 in .45 ACP as its standard service pistol in 1914. A license was purchased from FN (while under German occupation, interestingly) to produce the guns locally at Kongsberg, and production ran slowly and sporadically until German occupation in WWII. At that point, the German military decided to continue production for German use (still in .45 ACP, the only pistol in that caliber formally used by the German military)
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