Norwegian M1914:
In 1917, the Norwegian government obtained from Colt the license to manufacture 1911 pistols and began producing them at Kongsberg Vapenfabrik, Kongsberg, Norway.
This pistol is dated 1922, serial number 2562 and since they were numbered sequentially starting at serial number 501, it is number 2061 out of 22,311 made before 1940. During the German occupation another 8,223 were produced making the total 30534 up to the end of the war in Europe. A further 2,319 pistols were assembled from existing parts after the war until production was halted at serial number 32854 in 1948.
Overall, I would rate this pistol at about 97+% of it's original blued finish. All numbers match on it including the barrel, barrel bushing, recoil spring plug, guide rod, grip safety, thumb safety, trigger spring housing and magazine release. The grips retain a significant amount of the original black paint.
There is a small area where some sort of stamp has been defaced, but you can still see them if you look closely. The one on the right is a "K" in a circle and the other looks very much like it could be either the initials of the inspector or a Finnish government property stamp. So far I haven't been able to find any evidence that any of these were sent to Finland, so I am currently leaning towards it just being the initials of the factory inspector.
In 1917, the Norwegian government obtained from Colt the license to manufacture 1911 pistols and began producing them at Kongsberg Vapenfabrik, Kongsberg, Norway.
This pistol is dated 1922, serial number 2562 and since they were numbered sequentially starting at serial number 501, it is number 2061 out of 22,311 made before 1940. During the German occupation another 8,223 were produced making the total 30534 up to the end of the war in Europe. A further 2,319 pistols were assembled from existing parts after the war until production was halted at serial number 32854 in 1948.
Overall, I would rate this pistol at about 97+% of it's original blued finish. All numbers match on it including the barrel, barrel bushing, recoil spring plug, guide rod, grip safety, thumb safety, trigger spring housing and magazine release. The grips retain a significant amount of the original black paint.
There is a small area where some sort of stamp has been defaced, but you can still see them if you look closely. The one on the right is a "K" in a circle and the other looks very much like it could be either the initials of the inspector or a Finnish government property stamp. So far I haven't been able to find any evidence that any of these were sent to Finland, so I am currently leaning towards it just being the initials of the factory inspector.