Show and Tell-Your WWII Military Contract 1911A1

[VaTom]

There have been recent posts about the CMP 1911A1s coming up for sale or auction. Don't need one but I thought it would be interesting to show yours and tell story of how / when it was acquired, price, etc. so those folks seeking a CMP will have something to compare.

I bought my Ithaca 1943 11 years ago. Purchased from a collector of Winchester rifles who had bought an entire gun collection of Winchester lever actions and two 1911a1s came with the deal. All original and correct and not an arsenal rebuild. I would like to think it was a WWII bring back but don't know for sure. It shows honest holster wear on slide and grips. Tight as a drum. Did replace the recoil and firing pin spring. Shoot it about once a year. Paid $1,150 for it in 2007. Probably the best handgun buy I have made. Assume it would be in $1800 - $2000 price range now.

Holster is reproduction from Hill Country leather in Texas and box is reproduction.

 

[KEN L]

I too have a 43' vintage Ithaca. I bought it back around 1971 for the princely sum of $100. It included a beautiful 1944 dated holster, a black (MP) double mag pouch with (2) loaded magazines in it. I was very young at the time and shot it a lot, however it is much the same condition as yours, original finish of course. I retired it years ago and have since bought a repro box for it like yours. I think you're light on the value though, as I have mine listed at $2900 in my inventory list. I may be a little high, but would never take any less than that for it. Sorry for the crappy pics, they're the only ones I could find on short notice!

 

[29aholic]

Long gone now, but I had a 1941 vintage Colt.

Was a funny deal. I bought a 2-7 Leupold at the Bass Pro outlet store for like $125.00 in the box. Took it to Tulsa as trade fodder. Met a guy in the aisle that had the Colt and a holster. He was looking for a scope...I was looking. We talked for a bit and went our own way. Next aisle I happened upon him again. Just as I was walking up behind him I heard him tell his wife that he needed my scope. Well the Leupold and $150.00 later I had the gun and he had the scope. I took by the table of a buddy of mine who was a 1911 expert. He tore it all down and lo and behold it was an all matching Colt gun!! He offered me a decent 2nd gen. Colt SAA for it. I declined.
Took that gun out the next weekend and with military ball it was by far one of the best shooting stock 1911's, commercial or otherwise, I have ever shot. It would hold its own against my Gold Cups. Loaned it to a buddy of mine who died with it in his possession and never got it back.

My first 1911 was an all matching 1916 Colt. The gun is gone but I still have the original grips off it. There are on my current 1911 that I built.

 

[Watchdog]

My 1918 Colt. Shipped February 6, 1918. A hundred years old and still does what it was made to do. Does it quite well, too.

Thanks, as always, to Lee Barner for the shipping data.

Click on the photos to view larger.

 

[Grayfox]

I have this one that is a bit of a mystery. Its a 1914 Springfield Armory frame (the original SA, not the current commercial company) with a Colt slide and barrel with a mix of original 1911 and 1911A1 U.S.G.I. parts. Its a mixmaster and appears to have been through an armory rebuild at least once. However, there's no armory stamp anywhere on it. It is an all military pistol, but who and where it was built is unknown. While most of it is parkerized, the thumb safety, grip safety, slide stop and trigger are black. You might also notice it has the original 1911 long trigger.
I posted this over on the 1911 forum. Their consensus is that it is an all G.I. gun. It may have been arsenal rebuilt and just somehow missed getting stamped OR some military unit or perhaps an individual assembled it out of a bunch of G.I. parts.
The truth may never be known.
But I like it and its a good shooter!

Here are pics showing all the markings on it. If someone here could shed some light on the mystery, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Texas Star]

I've owned several Colt .45 autos, inc. a Gold Cup. But you asked about GI guns...

I had a British surplus one, an early Colt. Had the checkered, not serrated, surfaces, wide spur hammer. Sights were higher than usual, fixed, and it had the usual British proof and property marks. No Lend-Lease markings. I think it was bought by the UK about 1940-41, before Lend-Lease began.

THe Colt .45 auto was std. issue to Commando units and many were used also by SOE and other covert ops people. Mine was one of several seen at either Dave Cook or Gart Bros. in Denver in 1963 or '64. I paid about $39.95, and it was in about NRA VG Plus condition. Had been used, but not abused and wear was just modest.

Shot quite well with my handloads and Unique powder and the H&G No. 68 200 grain SWC lead bullet, which it fed well, and it fed Winchester's 210 grain SWC factory load, and of course, fed all normal 230 grain ball ammo.

It got away from me eventually while I was in college and selling and trading guns, often to make ends meet when a GI Education Bill check was late.

The only problem I had with it was that the firing pin stop cracked. I was still in the USAF then and a buddy knew someone in the marksmanship shop, who provided a replacement stop at no cost.

Accuracy was typical of GI .45's, not as good as the commercial ones I later owned.

I did occasionally carry a .45 auto on duty in the Air Force, but we mainly had .38 revolvers.

 

[Watchdog]

I have this one that is a bit of a mystery. If someone here could shed some light on the mystery, I'd appreciate it.

I can't shed any light on it, but it's a great looking pistol for sure. The finish actually looks almost too good to have been done at one of the arsenals. And the black (blued?) parts wouldn't have been done like that at an arsenal, I don't think, but the original Springfields did have a matte black finish, so maybe those parts are original. But who knows? I can see the heat treatment line on it. Those look like Keyes grips on it. And that Springfield flaming bomb stamp looks as fresh as it must have when it came off the line. Are any of the parts marked with the Springfield "S"? There weren't that many Springfields made...somewhere around 35,000.

I'm curious as to what kind of magazine came with it. Any markings on the tab? How is the Colt barrel marked?

I'd love to have that pistol, myself.

 

[italiansport]

Well: Here's my example that I purchased from the vets family many years ago. The story I got was he told them he never carried it much and rarely fired it and it remains in near new condition. It exhibits only the slightest amount of wear on high spots. I was suspicious and thought it might be an arsenal rebuild but there is no indication that this was the case. The serial numbers all match. The rig is one I assembled my self with all period component s and it was made the year I was born(1942) and it's one of the last pistols I'd ever sell off! The holster was made by Boyt and is also dated 42.
Jim

 

[4barrel]

Someone made a bullseye gun out of this one in the 60s made in 1942. The value is gone but it shoots good. I bought it in the 80s for $650.

 

[29aholic]

Another story.

A professor I had in college learned that I was a gun guy and told me about the 1911 his dad brought back from the war.

He was somewhere in Salerno (?) when a machinegun nest opened up on them. His dad was hit twice, one in the shoulder and once in the leg. The one he got in the leg never made it through the 1911!! The bullet went through the holster and into the frame just below the slide towards the back. It blew the hammer out of the gun and half the grip panel and the 8mm bullet lodged in the frame. I told him I would like to take pictures of it some day. Well two days later he brought it to school!!! I got pics but they have been lost in one of several moves.

 

[29aholic]

And yet another story.

I got a call one day at the shop from an obviously older lady. She asked if we bought guns to which I replied sure, bring it in.

About an hour later this definitely older lady came in toting a 1911 with original holster. I dont remember the maker, but it was in decent shape. I looked it over and asked what she wanted for it. Now my memory has faded as to what is was but for sake of conversation she replied "I want $47.82 for it". Well I kind of chuckled and asked her how she had come up with that figure. "That's what it cost to replace my toilet". Ok, now I need the whole story.

Her husband brought it back from the war. For however many years the gun stayed in the nightstand drawer loaded for protection. He passed away a couple of years before this, but she told me he had taught her a little about using the gun so she kind of new how it worked. She was worried that one day one of the grandkids might find it and have an accident so she decided to unload it. She knew how to get the magazine out, but lacked the strength to work the slide. So, she did the next best thing (she thought). She took the gun in the bathroom and pointed it into the toilet bowl and pulled the trigger, blowing the **** out of the toilet (so to speak). Well by this time I was laughing so hard I was crying and my ribs hurt. She really didnt want any more than what she had asked, but I finally convinced her to take more so she could spend it in the grandkids.

True story.

 

[CLASSIC12]

Those pieces of history are quite scarce and hard to find here in Switzerland.

Bought my 1943 Colt 1911 A1 at an auction back in 2013, paid 1560.- including buyer's fee for it. Thereafter I made some research with the help of forum members. Seems it's all original down to the magazine.

I originally shot abt. 50 rounds, then decided it should be preserved for another 70 years, so I semi retired it.

Pictured here with a S&W Victory (bought from the same auction house for 120.-). Both are GHD stamped/inspected.

I bought an Auto Ordnance and pimped it up with some USGI parts in order to have a very similar shooter.

And I did put 5 rounds through it the other day, that old thing can still shoot (25 meters off hand).

Mind you the replica works too

 

[BigBoy99]

Here are my WWII M1911A1:

 

[Grayfox]

Watchdog: I honestly don't remember if any of the other parts are marked. Frankly, right now I don't feel like detail stripping it to check.
As for the magazine, I believe its a Vietnam era G.I. issue with the floor plate covered in numbers.
19200
ASSY 5508694
MFR 30745

When I first bought this gun many years ago, it was in such good shape that I thought it was an arsenal rebuild that never got re-issued. Now, I'm of the opinion that it was cobbled together by some unit armorer somewhere out of spare parts and he took it home with him. Truth is I'll probably never know.

 

[AJ]

Have owned about a dozen or so M1911's and M1911A1's over the years. From WWI's to WW II's, Had what appeared to be a Ithaca Lend Lease that was unissued. A Rem-UMC, Remington Rands, Colts and a Springfield. The best was a Colt Black Army from 1918 that came into the local gunshop. A couple of Canadians had bought a roll top desk at a resale shop. They want to take it back to Canada in their van, but had to take it apart to get it to fit. In a hidden drawer they found a M1911 with the holster and some paperwork. Since they could not take the pistol across the border into Canada, they brought it to a gun shop to sell. It had some rust on it when found and the Canadians tried to take it off using sandpaper. Scratched it up pretty good. The shop bought it and eventually I bought it from the shop (I had been in the shop when it came in, so heard the story first hand). By the time I got it from the shop they had lost the paperwork, it was still in the holster. I did commit a sacrilege and had it parkerized since the scratches were to bad. The up side was it was a Colt that was all original. Ended up giving it to a friend who has done a lot of favors for me.

 

[Mexican Kerry]

I don't have the photography skills of some but here are mine:

Later Remington Rand, arsenal MR stamped. I don't believe it was refinished, and everything I've looked at checks out as correct for its original build as far as I can tell. Paid 8-900 for it a few years ago.

Colt, paid 1200 a few years ago.

Late war Ithaca, this was a disaster when I got it. Painted green, dust cover shortened, holes drilled in the frame and slide cut/drilled for Millet sights. I had it restored just because. I believe I paid around 300 for it, got about 1200 into it.

Mid war Colt with Rand slide. Paid 400 for it after previous owner had it restored. Nothing special, it has some severe pitting under the re-park on almost all the components. I shoot this one at the range occasionally, and it usually draws interest from other shooters so its the one I let people try when they want to shoot an old GI pistol. And everyone wants to!

1918 Colt. It had an Ithaca top end on it when I bought it, found a similar(ish) condition Colt slide and correct barrel for it. I think I paid about 600 for it by the time I got the barrel. It has had the USP and inspector mark scrubbed, and has about 2% finish left on it, but I like it.

 

[Watchdog]

My 1944 Ithaca.

You may click on the photos to see them larger.

 

[Watchdog]

Later Remington Rand, arsenal MR stamped. I don't believe it was refinished, and everything I've looked at checks out as correct for its original build as far as I can tell. Paid 8-900 for it a few years ago.

Don't see too many Mount Rainier stamped pistols. I believe yours is the first one I've ever seen.

You have some nice pistols.

 

[bushmaster1313]

 

[VaTom]

Bushmaster1313

Where did you obtain the shipping document on the Ithaca 1911A1? Have tried to locate shipping information on mine but apparently those documents have been lost over the years. Mine is serial # 12670XX. Definitely a late 1943 manufacture.

Nice one you have.