1944 Ithaca 1911A1

After careful consideration over three Ithaca 1911A1's I've decided on this one, should have it in a day or two. This one was part of a shipment made on Jul. 30, 1944 Serial# range 1856039-1858038 for a total of 2,000 units shipped to Port Transportation Officer N.Y. Port of Embarkation Brooklyn, N.Y. heading straight to Europe G-2 Army Intelligence. This was the only shipment of Ithaca's to be shipped to this destination.

Now if I can find and add a nice Union Switch and Signal, and Singer I'll be done :)


Picasa Web Albums - David West - 1944 Ithaca 1...

Where is the documentation found that the Ithaca shipment was destined for G-2 ?

Hi Johnny, that may have been some huff from the salesman:

US WW2 ITHACA 1911A1 JULY, 1944 MINT CRISP EXAMPLE
IN 98% MINT CRISP CONDITION, WE HAVE AN VERY NICE MID 1944 PRODUCTION ITHACA, 100% CORRECT AS IT LEFT THE FACTORY. THIS IS A REALLY CRISP LOOKING GUN WITH VERY LITTLE MORE THAN STORAGE WEAR. THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS PISTOL IS THAT IT IS ONE OF 2,000 PISTOLS THAT WERE SHIPPED OUT OF NEW YORK DIRECTLY FOR EUROPE. I HAVE SEEN SHIPMENTS LIKE THIS ON COLT PISTOLS AND THEY WERE ULTIMATELY HEADED TO G-2 ARMY INTELLIGENCE. THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN ITHACA SHIPMENT OF THIS TYPE DURING THE WAR, MOST OF THE ITHACA PISTOLS WERE SHIPPED TO THE NAVY, OR TO ARMY OR AIR CORPS ORDANCE DEPOTS. EXCLUDING OF COURSE THE MANY LEND LEASE PISTOLS. ITHACA'S ARE NOT EASY GUNS TO FIND, THEY ARE THE THIRD RAREST CONTRACTOR AFTER UNION SWITCH AND SINGER. THIS IS A REALLY NICE FAIRLY EARLY EXAMPLE WITH THE LARGE P PROOFS AND IT DEFIANTLY HAS THE ITHACA LOOK TO IT.

I was with a group of blokes who were searching for a crashed bomber(?) from wartime USAF Membury in the late 70's early 80's. To cut a long story short, we/they (Not me really as they just used a deep search mine detector that I'd borrowed) eventually found was a wrecked troop carrying glider that'd crashed on take off. LOADS of stuff/wreckage still there including radio sets and bits of weaponry including an Ithica pistol that except where the grip was outside the holster where it'd started to rust the remainder was almost mint. Not loaded so I assume that it was a traning flight.

Peter interesting story, thanks for sharing!

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Originally Posted by lkgmadmax

Hi Johnny, that may have been some huff from the salesman:

US WW2 ITHACA 1911A1 JULY, 1944 MINT CRISP EXAMPLE
IN 98% MINT CRISP CONDITION, WE HAVE AN VERY NICE MID 1944 PRODUCTION ITHACA, 100% CORRECT AS IT LEFT THE FACTORY. THIS IS A REALLY CRISP LOOKING GUN WITH VERY LITTLE MORE THAN STORAGE WEAR. THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS PISTOL IS THAT IT IS ONE OF 2,000 PISTOLS THAT WERE SHIPPED OUT OF NEW YORK DIRECTLY FOR EUROPE. I HAVE SEEN SHIPMENTS LIKE THIS ON COLT PISTOLS AND THEY WERE ULTIMATELY HEADED TO G-2 ARMY INTELLIGENCE. THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN ITHACA SHIPMENT OF THIS TYPE DURING THE WAR, MOST OF THE ITHACA PISTOLS WERE SHIPPED TO THE NAVY, OR TO ARMY OR AIR CORPS ORDANCE DEPOTS. EXCLUDING OF COURSE THE MANY LEND LEASE PISTOLS. ITHACA'S ARE NOT EASY GUNS TO FIND, THEY ARE THE THIRD RAREST CONTRACTOR AFTER UNION SWITCH AND SINGER. THIS IS A REALLY NICE FAIRLY EARLY EXAMPLE WITH THE LARGE P PROOFS AND IT DEFIANTLY HAS THE ITHACA LOOK TO IT.

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I would be extremely cautious trusting the descriptions written by pre98.

They like to write a lot of hype and like any other dealer tend to sell a fair amount of non-original firearms for original prices.

The Ithaca does appear to look pretty good though. I'm always annoyed that they don't provide any photos or details of what barrels are in the guns.

Regards,
-Steve

Steve I've purchased quite a bit from the dealer, have always been pleased with my purchases. I had nothing but positive experiences.

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Originally Posted by lkgmadmax

Steve I've purchased quite a bit from the dealer, have always been pleased with my purchases. I had nothing but positive experiences.

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I agree they are overall a decent dealer.

I just disagree with some descriptions. For example the 'early Inland M1A1' they have listed right now is not even from the correct serial range nor does it have the proper stock.

I still don't understand why they don't show barrels in any of the 1911's though? Did they tell you what kind of barrel it had prior to purchase?

-Steve

Steve I have always been able call the directly with any questions I might have, and I have called with a question regar d if a barrel on an M1 Grand, they pulled and inspected it while I was on the phone. They are probably the largest military dealers in the game today and they handle large volumes of guns. I have no doubt if I were to ever make a purchase and was not satisfied they would make it right. I've purchased at least 8 pieces this year from them, all great quality and were exactly as described. Two of the 8 pieces had traces of history which I was able to research deeper and document adding value. Nothing but good experiences on my end.

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Originally Posted by Steve1987

I agree they are overall a decent dealer.

I just disagree with some descriptions. For example the 'early Inland M1A1' they have listed right now is not even from the correct serial range nor does it have the proper stock.

I still don't understand why they don't show barrels in any of the 1911's though? Did they tell you what kind of barrel it had prior to purchase?

-Steve

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Short on description, long on fairy tale.