quote:

Two small markings on right side by trigger area – Crown emblem with BNP below it and a Crossing Swords with 148 under it.

quote:

5) British M1911A1 WW II Lend-Lease: From all S/N’s of U.S. M1911A1 models = March 11, 1941 through the rest of WW II ( The U.S. furnished 39,592 pistols to Britain through the Lend-Lease Act.)

http://www.sightm1911.com/1911Production.htm



1944 Ithaca M1911A1

The serial number allocation indicates it is a 1945 Ithaca 1911A1, but upon further review of Ithaca shipping records the gun is actually a 1944 production. The gun shipped on December 9th, 1944 to the Transportation officer at the Benicia Ordnance Depot, Army Point, California along with 2600 other pistols. The barrel (stamps are not shown) is a High Standard and stamped HS on one lug and P on the other.

Ithaca started production in December of 1942 and was the only established firearms company to produce 1911A1s other than Colt. The total number of pistols produced by Ithaca was 335,466. In early 1942 & 1943 Ithaca did not have all the equipment necessary to manufacture the components so they received parts from other contractors that included 6,200 WWI receivers that Springfield had in storage. These early Colt receivers (frames) can be quickly identified by the cut-outs under the stocks. Colt also supplied many of the small parts. Harry Howland of Ithaca designed a stamped trigger assembly that was approved by the Ordnance Department. This stamped trigger was fabricated by the Yawman Metal Products Co. of Rochester N.Y. and became known as the Yawman Trigger. The new trigger was adopted by all other pistol manufacturers by early 1943, except Colts who changed in April of 1944. Changing to the stamped trigger alone reduced the cost of the 1911A1 by about 5%.

Later in the war Ithaca also designed a serrated Grooved hammer as a cost reduction but none of the other manufacturers adopted it. Ithaca pistols were probably the coarsest finished pistols of any 1911A1. This seems puzzling since they were previously a manufacturer of sporting shotguns and as such they must have appreciated the importance of cosmetic appearance.

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http://coolgunsite.com/pistols/1911/1944ithaca.htm


-Collectors Guide-
Index of M1911 and M1911A1 Manufactures
(and links to examples of their work)

This page has summary overviews of the manufacturing companies whom produced Model 1911 and Model 1911 A1s. In each manufacturers summary you will find links to examples of their product produced by year. Also found below are references to the top books written on the subject of collecting M1911 and M1911A1 pistols.

As a added bonus Karl Karash has made his two writings entitled "Beginners Guide to Collecting the 1911/1911A1 Parts 1 & 2" available to site visitors to down load. A donation of $1 sent to this website for each download of the pair and for each printed copy of the pair made, is requested by the author, to help defray operating costs of this website. This page is updated often!
Regards,

http://www.coolgunsite.com/col...ors_guide.htm#Ithaca

http://www.coolgunsite.com/col...ors_guide.htm#Ithaca


1944 Colt M1911A1
British Lend Lease

This Colts made M1911A1 pistol serial #1635678 was shipped in August of 1944 to the Transportation Officer, Springfield Armory. This pistol has all of the characteristics and features of a Colts made mid war 1911A1 including: Serrated ramp front sight, wide spur hammer, checkered slide stop, thumb safety and hammer, wide square notch rear sight, stamped trigger, Plastic stocks with large rings around the screw holes, and an un-serialed slide. The mainspring housing has serrations instead of the earlier checkering. This pistol ended the war in England yet probably never was issued going by its “New” condition. If this pistol could talk, it would probably not be able to tell any interesting stories as it probably spent its entire life in a warehouse. The British proof marks, including a “Released British Government 1952” and “Not English Make” marking, were applied prior to its export from England. Most collectors consider British proofmarks on a 1911A1 to be an undesirable characteristic and the marks will often decrease a pistols value somewhat. Whereas others consider that the particular brand of defacement the British used with these pistols is an acceptable penalty, to get these pistols out of their hands before they have the chance to turn them into scrap metal, in their single minded drive to make England safe for “Tea and Crumpets.” Should the prices of these British proofed pistols rise to where a premium is required for purchase, perhaps it should be considered as a “Ransom payment” rather than a premium. (British marks are usually found on Lend-Lease Act guns).

1911A1s made at Colts Manufacturing Co. from about serial #848000 to about serial #2360400 generally have applied the final Ordnance acceptance mark of “G.H.D.” that was applied by civilian inspectors at Colts under the authority of Colonel Guy H. Drewry. Mr. Drewry was promoted to Brigadier General on September 10 1942 and he was therefore a General Officer at the time this pistol was accepted.

This 1911A1 was once part of the Julius T. Kosan collection. There are numerous photographs of Mr. Kosan’s in such books as: “COLT .45 SERVICE PISTOLS” by Charles Clawson” and “U.S. MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 1894 – 1920” by E.S. Meadows. As such, these pistols are usually the among best examples to be found anywhere and are often used as reference examples for the various models. Reference Charles Clawsons “Colt .45 Service pistols”.

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http://coolgunsite.com/pistols...20Colt%20M1911A1.htm