Identification

[RED]

Could someone provide me the shipping date of an ITHACA M 1911A1 S.N 1236045 made in 1943 ? The pistol has been abused, the barrel evidences use of corrosive ammo, it rattles like a snake, but it shoots like a chief and has a wonderful trigger pull , better than many commercial .45s I had in hand, including tuned ones ! This gun is a vet of the liberation of France, it deserves respect.

[Johnny Peppers]

The short answer is that your Ithaca was shipped between December 24, 1943 and April 18, 1944, due to the pistols not being shipped in consecutive order. It could take several hours of digging to see if the actual shipping date could be found in the records. Many of the pistols in this serial number range went to some interesting places like the Naval Supply Depot, Oakland, California, and also to Topeka, Kearney, and Hamilton air bases. Sorry I couldn't pin down the exact date.

[exitwounds]

That is a great find and interesting piece of history. Can you post any pictures? Allways interested in seeing those old warhorses.

[RED]

Thanks to all who replied. Well, there will be some times for the picts, I haven't gone to numeric as a matter of camera.
By the way, S.N 1236045 has a brother : ITHACA S.N 1466207. It is in better shape (doesn't rattle at all, it is even tighter than some present production, go figure), but the barrel is pitted too. It is a pity non corrosive ammo were used only for M1 carbine ctgs at this time. I got the shipping date for this one : 28 June 44 to Ordnance Property Officer, Army Air Force Base, Topeka KS.
Does it mean it is an A.A.F gun, or was this simply an administrative reception of harware ?

Best

[exitwounds]

If you are ever replace the barrel, keep the original one. But in most cases pitting or frosting of the bore doesn't effect the accuracy. It is more of a "curb appeal" thing to most people. Most likely the weapon would have been used by AAF personnel.

[RED]

It's never been my intention to replace the barrel of a vintage gun !