Eriksen M/25

Lore & Background

Johan Emil Barbat Eriksen was employed by the Norwegian armaments factory Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk and worked on several automatic weapon projects in his spare time, one of which was the Eriksen M/25. The design of the action combined functions of several different machine guns of the same era. The action consisted of a sliding breech block connected to a rotary crank, which in turn was operated by an off-set connecting rod driven by the piston rod of the weapon. The feeding system was unconventional, utilizing a box magazine mounted on the left side of the gun, holding 10 stripper clips with five rounds each. The stripper clips were fed one at a time through the gun from left to right where the empty clips were ejected, not unlike the Japanese Type 11 light machine gun which utilised a similar feature. It used the rear sight and the barrel of the Krag–Jørgensen rifle.

The prototype was built in 1925 and was probably the only unit ever manufactured. It was sent to the British Committee of Investigation of Small Arms for trials in 1927, but did not receive approval. The British showed limited interest in the weapon from the outset, decided against procuring 6.5×55mm ammunition, and thus limited their testing to examination of the prototype without test firing. Eriksen patented his inventions in the United Kingdom.

The prototype was used by the Norwegian Army fighting German forces in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940. This specific weapon was issued to Sergeant Håkon Lunde on 14 April 1940 when he was mobilized at Raufoss, and he carried it for several days before hiding it in Oslo. The gun remained hidden until the end of the Second World War in Europe in May 1945, when Lunde brought it back to his house and kept it.

Reader's Guide

The Eriksen M/25 is notable as a unique prototype that saw actual combat use, a rare fate for a one-off design. Its service in the Norwegian Campaign, carried by Sergeant Håkon Lunde, and its subsequent concealment in Oslo until the war's end, give it a distinct historical footprint. The weapon's unconventional feeding system, using stripper clips fed sideways through the gun, echoes the Japanese Type 11 light machine gun, reflecting experimental trends of the interwar period. The British rejection of the design, based partly on a reluctance to adopt the 6.5×55mm cartridge, limited its potential for wider adoption. The prototype's survival into the post-war era, donation to the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum in 1996, and subsequent refurbishment and exhibition ensure its preservation as a tangible artifact of Norwegian small arms development and the 1940 campaign. The loss of its magazine before donation adds a note of incompleteness to its legacy.

Did You Know?

• The Eriksen M/25 was designed and built by Johan Emil Barbat Eriksen in his spare time while employed at Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk.
• The prototype was issued to Sergeant Håkon Lunde on 14 April 1940 and was hidden in Oslo until May 1945.
• The weapon used the rear sight and barrel of the Krag–Jørgensen rifle.
• The magazine for the Eriksen M/25 was lost before the gun was donated to the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum in 1996.