OLD COLT: WE PROVIDE THE PUBLIC WITH AN ONLINE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE FOR OLD COLT GUNS.
This Ithaca M1911A1 is an early production example with the serial numbers starting at 856561. Shipping destinations on these early pistols are hard to trace as Ithaca had an out of sequence manufacturing process for the serial numbers. This is estimated to be a June or July of 1943 build.
At this point during production Ithaca was starting to utilize their own receivers and slides. These early production receivers are often crude and did not have the same smooth lines as the earlier supplied Colt frames did. The majority of the small components on these pistols were supplied by Colt during this period of time. Later in production they would be manufactured in house by Ithaca.
The inspector stamp of FJA is for Colonel Frank J. Atwood. He was the Army Inspector of Ordnance at the Rochester Ordnance District from June 15th, 1942 to March 31st, 1946. He would inspect the total production of the M1911A1 pistols manufactured by Remington Rand and Ithaca.
