Ithaca M1911A1 - rescued from an attic
 

Hi,
Inspired by Padredan's topic about his uncle US&S 1911A1, decided to show this old battle horse. It is not beautiful but the story about how I got it and somewhat save it may worths some lines.

Last year I managed to get a big batch of guns that stayed forgotten in an attic for more than 10 years. The previous owner of this collection was a former Military Officer who started hi career during WWII and retired in the 1970s. I guess tis gun was a truly WWII veteran that probably was issued to the Brazilian Expeditionary Force fighting in Italy during the last months of the war in 1945.

This Ithaca M1911A1 was found with the other guns covered in a thick and dried layer of grease. However, the degree of protection of each gun was different and this one didn't make quite well, suffering with some pitting. The action and magazine were completely frozen.

After I got it (for the right price tag), I removed the incorrect and now completely rotten wooden grips and left the gun in a can with querosene for a week or so. During this period I scrubbed and hit with a small piece of soft wood until the mecanism start to move again. Finally I could disassemble it.

Next step was find a correct mainspring housing and grip safety (both on e-bay) and some new brown plastic grips (not from WWII, yet). The final result is what you see here, and it seems that it is pretty decent. I bought a WWII holster and magazine pouches from the estate of a Brazilian WWII veteran to go with it and now it stands in my collection.

As first I had thought to restored, but I had changed my mind and I will leave it as it is. Oh, and I am still working on the dried grease that is still there.

Let me know how I made it.

Douglas

"BEFORE" PICTURES
These pictures were taken using a cell phone and under bad light.
But it can gives you an idea how messed it was.

"AFTER" PICTURES
And this is how it is now.

Nice!!! Bill

Good job! The transformation is amazing.

Lovely warhorse!

You did good Douglas.:thumbup:

Now that is a good looking old warhorse. You did a very nice job of cleaning it up. :cheers:

A FANTASTIC 'ol veteran and wonderful job on restoration. I shore wish I could find one like this.

My dad brought one back after 35 missions over occupied Europe flying B-17s with the 95th BG(H) and more with the 25th BG(SP) in Mossquitos. Even after he was warned that it was prohibited. But he was hurting for cash and trade it off for an Ivers Johnson 22 pistol, as the ammo was cheaper. So I have his 22 instead of his 45. But I can hardly complain - he certainly earned the right to do as he wished.

Nice

Douglas,
I restored myself several 1911A1 many years back..Not easy to find out original USGI parts, and they are so expensive.
You really did a great job, congratulations !
BTW: Are the grips Keyes ones ?

Thanks for your words, folks!
No, the grips are not Keyes but from a latter date.
I didn't have time to go after them.
Douglas.

Congratulations! A very nice ITHACA made in 1945, I think you did a very good job on it!
What's the barrel like?

Thank you Sergio!
Well, the rifling shows some slight pitting but still shootable.

good find ,good job of cleaning it

I mean has it got its original "HS" marked barrel by High Standard?

At least in the States you've got Bill Ricca (http://www.billricca.com/45_auto.htm) where you can often find original parts.