[ithacaartist]

They were apparently branded to several different distributors in succession, as well as By Aimco itself. I have only owned one, but my impression from comparing stuff presented online is that different brands may have been specified as to fit and finish differently. What you want to avoid are the ones that were over-buffed to have wavy surfaces that should be flat, and a lot of rounded corners that should be sharp.

Mine had an issue with extraction that deformed the brass. Each empty was slammed against an edge on the inside left of the upper. I was able to take the bias out of the process by dressing the claws of the extractor with a diamond needle file to be symmetrical.

Its frame ears where the toggle strikes it were spalled a bit by previous use. This was not unexpected, per their reputation. Trued with a file, they looked good again, and the raw stainless is easy as pie to blend back in--as opposed to one with an actual finish. Stainless steel's application to firearms construction improved throughout, and the later-made ones may have fewer problems like this.

The ejector had been sanded too thin when it was made and was bent. Nor was it as hard as it should have been. An original Luger ejector filled in OK, but generally parts interchangeability is a crap-shoot. Parts are easier to obtain for originals.

I bought mine for its quaintness and didn't expect much in the way of art-level metal work or even performance. It was fun to mess with for a while, then I passed it on to another collector, who would go on to solve another issue or two with it. Some may run fine and might continue to do so, but unless you want to sign up for something that might turn out to be more a project than anything else, then buy anything else.