If a Model 1911A1 made in 1945, by Ithaca, and marked "NOT ENGLISH MADE", is it BLL, still in 1945, and is it valuable? Thankyou, Andy
Printable View
If a Model 1911A1 made in 1945, by Ithaca, and marked "NOT ENGLISH MADE", is it BLL, still in 1945, and is it valuable? Thankyou, Andy
An Ithaca marked "Not English Made" is a lend lease gun. Britian needed pistols for the second world war, so we sent 1911A1's over to them. Hence it's called a lend lease. So that pistol instead of being used in the US, was instead used by Britian during the war.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garandrew
Value, some people say it helps the value, some people say it hurts. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.
In my opinion, it distracts from the piece as not many people collect lend lease guns as just standard .45's. They always seem a lot harder to sell if you resell it, in my opinion.
There should be British proofs on the receiver, slide, and barrel in addition to the NOT ENGLISH MAKE .
The proofs are there, Im familiar with lendlease, but thought it ended when we joined the war. andy
The Lend-Lease Act was enacted in March of 1941 and was terminated in September of 1945.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garandrew
Just for the record, those British proofs do not necessarily mean the pistol was sent to England under Lend Lease. Any firearm to be sold to or acquired by a member of the public (including an exporter) in the UK is subject to proof testing as required by law. In many cases, that applied to Lend Lease weapons sold out of British government stores, but it would also apply to a firearm imported into England by a commercial company for sale in England, or to a firearm brought back as a souvenir by a British soldier.
Today, the private ownership of handguns in the UK is effectively banned, but that was not the case in the years following WWII, and many guns were imported and sold to English collectors. I have a WWII Luger pistol with British proof marks, and I doubt it was sent by the Germans as Lend Lease.
Jim
Any,Quote:
Originally Posted by Garandrew
Do you have the .45 or is it just one you're looking at?
~ Harlan