Weeeelll it is a lever...1911 safety

[fordwannabe]

Hello gentlemen, a friend brought me a US PROPERTY marked Ithaca 1911 today for a failing safety when you put pressure on the trigger. I am fairly well aquainted with the internals on a 1911 and see fixing it as no problem, HOWEVER I am not aquainted with the Ithaca model or parkerized 1911 in general. The gun in question has a blued safety, and slide release while the rest of the gun is parkerized, is this correct? He said to make it work with whatever internal parts are needed but would like the outside to appear stock. This board has a wide range of knowledge and I am sure somebody is a whiz on the things so here goes.
Is this the correct item or should it have a parked safety and release?
Any ideas where to get the correct parts, if needed?
It is a pretty nice example, and again Ithaca, US marked, anybody have a general idea of the value(ball park guys, I know condition condition, condition, say fair condition but really think it is a real strong fair, also has two-tone mag).
Thanks for any and all help. Tom

[Griff]

IIRC, a gov't property Ithaca should have parkerized slide release and safety, (both hammer block and grip). Also, Ithaca WWII guns were the 3rd least produced, after Rem-UMC & Singer.

Ithaca (M1911-A1): (Return to top)
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.

[cas]

More than likely it's just a worn/poorly fit safety. The proper fix would be to build up weld, then reshape and fit. Keeping it as is. While the parts may not be "correct", they've probably been with the gun a long time. (unless they're shiny new.)

For an every day modern shooter, you'd just buy a new safety and fit it. Old original parts can no doubt be tracked down, but you could very well be faced with the same problem with the replacement.

[MrMurphy]

The Two-Tone mag is usually indicative of a WW1 issue (early) magazine. They hardened the feed lips with cyanide by dipping it in I believe, which is why the magazines will never all look the same (hand dip I guess). If the mag has a lanyard ring on it, DEFINITELY an early WW1 magazine (for cavalry use, so as not to lose the mag).

[Palmtreee]

IIRC, a gov't property Ithaca should have parkerized slide release and safety, (both hammer block and grip). Also, Ithaca WWII guns were the 3rd least produced, after Rem-UMC & Singer.

Ithaca (M1911-A1): (Return to top)
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.

Don't forget about North American Arms and Union Switch and Signal.