Kongsberg Colt

The Kongsberg Colt is a nickname used for Colt M1911 pistols produced under license by the Norwegian factory Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk.

History

Norway adopted the 7.5 mm Nagant revolver (named M/1893) as the standard Norwegian military sidearm in 1893. Commissions to test possible new service pistols were active from 1904 till 1911. In 1911, a commission recommended adoption of the semi-automatic .38 ACP caliber Colt Military Model 1902 pistol, after field trials with 25 such pistols, all purchased from Colt's London Agency. However, as the US had just adopted the Colt .45ACP M/1911 pistol it was decided to conduct further tests. A pistol of the new M/1911 design was received in Norway in January 1913. Following extensive tests through early 1914, if was finally decided, in August 1914, to adopt the Colt M/1911 pistol in Norway. These pistols were to replace the Nagant revolvers (7,5mm M/1893) as the standard military sidearm in Norway. Fabrique Nationale in Belgium signed a contract allowing Norway to manufacture the M1911 in September 1914. The pistol would be produced at Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk in Norway.

Kongsberg

Kongsberg ( listen ) is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.

The city was founded in 1624 under the name Konings Bierg by Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV as a mining community. It was granted its royal charter of trade—amounting to official township—in 1802. The municipality of Kongsberg was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Ytre Sandsvær and Øvre Sandsvær were merged into the municipality of Kongsberg on 1 January 1964.

Today, Kongsberg is perhaps best known for being the home of Norway's major defence contractor, Kongsberg Gruppen, formerly Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. Two of its well known products were the Kongsberg Colt and the Krag–Jørgensen rifle. The latter was adopted in the late 19th century as the standard army rifle in Denmark, United States of America and Norway.

Name

The name Konings Bierg, a modern form Kongsberg, is based on the following two elements: the genitive case of konge which means "king" (referring to king Christian IV) and berg which means "mountain".