Ithaca 45

Question
Upon the recent passing of my grandfather I was givin his WWII service sidearm.  Made by Ithaca Gun Co.  Stapmed on the frame reads the following. "United States Property, No.2120700, M 1911 A1 U S ARMY"  How can I find out when the gun was made?  I would also like to know how many Ithaca 45's were issued to the Army.  I was under the impression that Colt was the sole supplier.  

Answer
Hi Randy,

Actually there were several manufacture of the model 1911 during WW-2 due to the need to keep manufacturing numbers up to demand. These manufactures made models that were issued to all of the services.

Almost two million 1911's were produced during the war. They were produced by Remington Rand, Singer, Union Switch and Signal Co., Rock Island Arsenal, Colt, and Ithaca. Ithaca supplied approximately 400,000 model 1911's during the war.

According to the serial number provided, your Grandfather's 1911 was made in 1945. During that year, Ithaca produced 1911's from serial number/s  2075104 -
2134403. I cannot however advise you of exactly how many were issued to the Army exclusively.

Thank you for the question and Happy New Year !
Sid Lark