100 year old pistol

H

highpower3006

New member
Another one in my collection that has managed to reach the century mark and is still in pretty good condition. This time it's a Kongsberg Arsenal made Norwegian M/1914. As the model designation suggests, they were adopted as the official Norwegian service pistol in 1914, but production was very slow as witnessed by the fact that eight years after adoption, they had only manufactured 2562 of them by the time this one was made in 1922, .

In addition to having the unusually configured slide release, which is unique to Kongsberg Colts, it is very easy to tell if any parts have been replaced on one as they serial numbered nearly every small part including the trigger, hammer, thumb safety, barrel, barrel bushing and magazine release. The lanyard loop magazine is also original to this pistol.

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Nice pistol highpower3006! My oldest pistol is an Argentine M1927 that is 75 years old. I shoot it at least monthly. I doubt I'll be around to see it's 100th, which would put me at 87, but you never know.
 
Wax?

At risk of sidetracking the thread, perhaps a PM would be in order, somebody enlighten me regards Ren Wax and use on vintage guns. News to me.
 
Nice pistol highpower3006! My oldest pistol is an Argentine M1927 that is 75 years old. I shoot it at least monthly. I doubt I'll be around to see it's 100th, which would put me at 87, but you never know.
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Well, you never know how long you have on this earth. I hope you make it!


Wonderful for the age. Can you still take it for a spin every now and again?
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I have found over the years that one 1911 shoots pretty much like any other. As such, I usually leave my older or more rare firearms as safe queens and shoot newer versions. My oldest 1911 was made in 1914 and I used to shoot it once or twice a year before I retired it. Right now I have three 1911's that I take to the range on a regular basis. For a vintage feel I take my 2012 Colt Government Model, accurate target practice is my '74 vintage Gold Cup and tacticool shooting sees me using my M45A1.


At risk of sidetracking the thread, perhaps a PM would be in order, somebody enlighten me regards Ren Wax and use on vintage guns. News to me.
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Since Renaissance Wax is a very stable micro crystalline wax and will lift deposits that other polishes may leave and doesn't degrade over time is is used by a lot of museums to protect antiquities including firearms.

I typically use it on blued guns on both the metal and wood but I don't use it on parkerized guns as I just tend to leave a light coat of oil on them. This sort of care has worked fine in the high desert of Nevada, but I just moved to Tennessee where it is a lot more humid and even though I use a dehumidifier in the safe, I may have to alter my preservation techniques to better suit the area where I now live.
 
I have a CZ-52, that must be about 70 years old. It is one of my most favorite tunes to shoot, so do so often,,,doesn’t seem to wear it out.
 
The decision to shoot or not is entirely up to the individual owner. For me, I decided long ago that my guns that have matching numbers and/or are getting long in the tooth are better enjoyed by me as safe queens.

There is a large difference between the value of a gun like my matching number 1916 Artillery Luger and a relatively inexpensive gun made since WWII. I know that there are a lot of folks in the gun hobby that feel that if they can't shoot a gun, they don't want it. I have no problem with that attitude, but when doing something like cracking the slide on a 95%+ Pre WWI Colt 1911 will instantly reduce the value from several thousand dollars to a parts gun, it makes little sense to shoot it. The same can be said about the early production Walther G43 I picked up a few months back, they are just too rare and have too many serialized parts for me to be comfortable risking breaking something that I could never replace.

As I mentioned, I can get the exact same experience shooting a late model 1911 as I get shooting one of mine that is a hundred years old or more.

Now, I do have a few early guns that I take out from time to time like my reworked Chinese contract Broomhandle Mauser as it is already mismatched and breaking something won't materially affect the value as much as if I was to break something on my matching number WWI C96 with matching stock and leather harness.
 
I understand not shooting the old beasties and totally understand your logic. I just enjoy taking the old ones out for a few shots every now and again.

Generally speaking, they will long out live me so at least I want to give them something to remember me by!
 
I have found over the years that one 1911 shoots pretty much like any other. As such, I usually leave my older or more rare firearms as safe queens and shoot newer versions
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This has always been my stance but I've had to defend it many times. Another common input has been that pocket .25 ACP guns are worthless, but that's based on an unnecessary premise that any and all my guns will probably be used for self defense, but I'm 72 years old and have never needed to draw any form of weapon, and I carry only a plastic .380 which I have zero affection for, it's the only gun I own that I think of as "Just a tool", and the only plastic one.

All the rest are personal treasures, some I shoot but a few are for the joy of ownership, and BTW every .25 auto I have I've enjoyed shooting, because I shoot to satisfy my own wishes and not what anyone else thinks. (grin)
 
VERY Nice, High Power...half of my family are Norwegian...some still in the old country, with stories from WWll and the resistance.

Never have seen a Norwegian 1911 up close...thanx for the pics. The double lanyard loop...one on the MSP and the other on the mag, makes me wonder...how they were used...two snap clips on the shoulder lanyard...or two lanyards...etc.? An interesting manual of arms no doubt. Best Regards, Rod
 
rodfac said:
Never have seen a Norwegian 1911 up close...thanx for the pics. The double lanyard loop...one on the MSP and the other on the mag, makes me wonder...how they were used...two snap clips on the shoulder lanyard...or two lanyards...etc.? An interesting manual of arms no doubt. Best Regards, Rod
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Remember that the 1911 was designed for Cavalry. One lanyard to retain the pistol if something happened on horseback and one on the magazine so you didn't have to be too worried about what to do with the first mag if you had to drop it in action. Of course the second empty mag may get lost but at least you still have one to load afterwards.

Probably wrong but sounds almost reasonable.:)
 
I could see the lanyard having a Y shaped end with one clip on the gun and the other on the mag. This way if you have to drop a mag to clear a jam, you could quickly find and reinsert the mag and try again without having to dig one out of a mag pouch.
 
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