Field strip WWII M1911A1 after each trip to range ???

Bushmaster, I'm going to speak to the value of your 1911. If it's truly a WWII era 1911 you have a firearm with a real Historical Value as well as a rather high Monetary Value. My concern would be in preserving this as a record of History. This means limiting how often you shoot it and maintaining it in a condition equal to the condition when you acquired this handgun. My advice would be that you limit your shooting with this pistol to just one handful per year and clean it after every range outing and perhaps every 6 months apply a coat of pure wax.

If you want a 1911 that you can "shoot the snot out of" then I can HIGHLY recommend the Ruger SR1911. I have 3 of this model, two government and one commander and they all get shot a lot. As for why I have 3, put the GVT model on pre-order at two different local gunshops when they were introduced and like the first so much that when the second showed up I said to myself "why not a spare". Then when the Commander came out I had to have that and it's actually my favorite. Now that they have the lightweight Commander in 9mm I'm considering picking up one of those. To be direct, IMO the Ruger SR1911 is a terrific bargain and folks who don't have one of these pistols really need to do something about that. Yeah, they do have a bit of rattle but they are capable of 2 inches at 25 yards and mine have been VERY reliable. Actually the only failures were with my CMD and adding 4/10 grain of SR7625 to my 45 ACP range loads solved that problem 100%.
 
I own and shoot a Mike Curtis built pre Series 70 target 1911. It sounds and feels like a sewing machine when it cycles. I've owned and shot the gun tens of thousands of rounds since I bought it in 1995. I clean it only when it malfunctions. With my really filthy hand loads it usually takes 500 to 1000 rounds to get to the point where it won't chamber a round and that's cleaning time. I run the gun wet with oil. The gun has been shot so much that the barrel link is loose as a goose (Mike said don't worry about it) and it still shoots better than 1.5x1.5" groups at 50 yards with high quality match ammo. YMMV.

Stu
 
Given the propensity to swap 1911 parts and the non-High Standard barrel when I opened this gun up, I could never represent this as an all original.

Nevertheless it is an Ithaca slide on a frame from the 1943 Ithaca serial number block and it feels to me like a WWII gun.

If something breaks when shooting normal factory loads I'll replace the busted part and then go and shoot some more!
 
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originated back in the days of corrosive primers when bores could rust overnight if not cleaned promptly after shooting.
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Today its not a problem I have a 1941 Colt USGI Was my carry pistol for a time . Till I could afford a newer pistol. I sure Your pistol has saw worst that 20 odd rounds fired and not cleaned. They are near impossible to ruin . They were made for war . Not a target pistol Did you buy it to look at or did you buy it to shoot . I don't collect pistols .I shoot pistols .
 
One thing that I have noticed in almost 40 yrs of checking used guns at the gun shops.Pretty easy to tell at first glance which guns were shot and babied,and which were not.Not really going to hurt anything if you clean them occasionally ,but I prefer to baby them.I like to clean my tools before putting away as well.
 
bushmaster1313 said:
Given the propensity to swap 1911 parts and the non-High Standard barrel when I opened this gun up, I could never represent this as an all original.

Nevertheless it is an Ithaca slide on a frame from the 1943 Ithaca serial number block and it feels to me like a WWII gun.

If something breaks when shooting normal factory loads I'll replace the busted part and then go and shoot some more!
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If the grips are original WWII issue bakelite (star on inside of grip) and correct for an Ithaca, you might want to purchase a set of post war, surplus military grips for shooting and take off (and store) the original grips. That is what I did.
 
500 rounds or when it stops functioning reliably, whichever comes first.
I just check to make sure there is enough lube. I use XF-7 which lasts pretty much forever.
 
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Rastoff said:
Who is the manufacturer of this gun?
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DSC_2122ab_zpsiqdfsv9x.jpg
 
Thanks for that pic.

Personally, I would not use this particular gun as a regular shooter. Sure, I'd shoot it, but only a little here and there. Ithaca was one of the manufacturers that made a lot of them so, it's not particularly valuable to collectors, but it's still a really nice piece.

I notice it already has the idiot scratch. No surprise there. ;)
 
You have good taste in 1911A1's. I also have a 1943 Ithaca. Was involved in a horse trading deal with another supervisor at work. And it was his 45 that he carried in WW2. When I first started shooting steel plate matches that old 45 did work and all I ever shot in it was 230 grain round nose hard cast bullets. Had a lot of fun, learned the 1911A1 platform and still have it. Steel plate matches went through 300 rounds nary a problem. Have fun with yours. I pulled the HE barrel to save wear and tear and have a Colt marked barrel in it now, I use 18.5 pound recoil springs. Also use shok buffers to cushion the impact when fired. Frank
 
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When I only had 3 firearms, they were cleaned after every session. With a lot of my new firearms, they get cleaned and lubed and then shot. Sometimes I shoot maybe 50 to 75. Then I clean em and check for inappropriate wear. If good, then I shoot maybe 100 rnds thru them in a session. Sometimes they sit for awhile. But that's ok.
And xf7 is the cat's meow for sliding parts. FP10 for rolling stuff or springs.
I used CLP for pins and springs for years, but got tired of having to shake it up to mix it before applying.
But I would treat your old 1911 like a baby. Clean it good, refer to Kuenhausen's book, check it over, and enjoy that little beast.
 
History shmistory. It's a 1911 for crying out loud. It's not fragile. Shoot it often and clean it rarely, unless you just want something to do.
 
Whether I shoot 1 round or 250, I clean my guns. Always have and always will. Obviously, a 5 round session (happened last week. Some guys showed up that weren't very safe and I left) means the cleaning takes
2 minutes. Wet patch, wet brush, dry patch till white, a quick wipe and lube, and I'm done. Can't and won't put a dirty gun away, and while the gun isn't filthy and will surely still function, a few rounds makes a clean gun no longer clean.
 
scooter123 said:
Bushmaster, I'm going to speak to the value of your 1911. If it's truly a WWII era 1911 you have a firearm with a real Historical Value as well as a rather high Monetary Value. My concern would be in preserving this as a record of History. This means limiting how often you shoot it and maintaining it in a condition equal to the condition when you acquired this handgun. My advice would be that you limit your shooting with this pistol to just one handful per year and clean it after every range outing and perhaps every 6 months apply a coat of pure wax.

If you want a 1911 that you can "shoot the snot out of" then I can HIGHLY recommend the Ruger SR1911.
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This is what I was thinking, you should have another 1911 to blast with, save the ww2 one for special days. I have two Rugers, I prefer my Remington R1, it has more of the military flavor.
 
My 1911 has a historical feel but I hope to shoot it often with low round count per range outing.

Regular post range cleaning will be without disassembly.

All comments above appreciated
 
Rastoff said:
Thanks for that pic.

Personally, I would not use this particular gun as a regular shooter. Sure, I'd shoot it, but only a little here and there. Ithaca was one of the manufacturers that made a lot of them so, it's not particularly valuable to collectors, but it's still a really nice piece.

I notice it already has the idiot scratch. No surprise there. ;)
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I agree that I would not use as a regular shooter. The Ithacas are as rare as the WWII Colt 1911a1s when comparing numbers made. Colts just bring a high $ on the current market. Remington Rand made the most military contract pistols. Since a requirement of the contracts was total interchangeability of parts, you often find 1911a1s with mismatched parts that might have been due to US Army ordnance units repairing small arms in the field behind the front lines. Ordnance rebuilt 1911a1 (stateside) with have markings as such.

War Production (estimates) of the three major war time producers.

Remington Rand 1,000,000+
Colt 300,000
Ithaca 300,000
 
DWalt said:
You really do not need to clean it every time you fire it. But it won't hurt anything if you want to. The old "Never let the sun go down on an uncleaned gun" saying originated back in the days of corrosive primers when bores could rust overnight if not cleaned promptly after shooting. Not really necessary today. But there is still corrosive-primed ammunition to be found, especially in foreign military calibers. The residue from such primers is best cleaned with water, as it is a soluble salt.
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This right here! Guns stored in humidity controlled conditions do not need to be cleaned frequently at all, and cleaning every 500 rounds of so is plenty even if that is every 6 months
To emphasize many old timers ( like my dad god rest, who was trained in the 1940's army when corrosive prime was still standard) were anal about cleaning because of corrosive priming or military indoctrination. Simply not the case today. The same 1911 I shoot every month and does night stand duty for my home and family gets cleaned 3-4 times a year.
Sure when I was in Iraq in frequent dust storms I cleaned my pistol about every other day , but using that as a standard for routine use in America is a rather apples to oranges comparison
 
cadmike said:
Shoot it often and clean it rarely,...
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I've seen people say this before, but it makes no sense to me. They tell me you'll do more damage cleaning the gun than shooting it. That doesn't make any sense either.

I admit, I don't clean the bore every time I shoot. There's just no need. I do clean the rest of the gun every time though. It's just too easy not to. I clean my 1911s in about 5 minutes. Why not do it?
 
Range gun - When I take one of my 1911s out it's usually to put at least a couple hundred rounds though it. If I'm going to use it again in a few days it won't get any kind of cleaning. However, if I put only 25rds though one but don't expect to shoot it again for months it gets a throughly cleaning just as if I had put 500rds though it.

That said, I live just a minute away from the club. If I had to drive an hour or more to shoot I'd probably show up with sparkling clean and inspected guns each time.

There is no universal right/wrong answer except for this one --
Carry gun gets cleaned and inspected after every range visit.
 
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