This Ithaca shipped in 1943
and has the Rock Island Arsenal "RIA stamp along with inspectors initials
"FK" for Frank Krack stamp. Frank Krack was Assistant Foreman of the
Inspection Division at RIA from September 17, 1941 until he retired on
July 19th, 1946. During that period all small arms inspected under his
supervision would be stamped with his initials "FK" as well as those of
the Rock Island Arsenal "RIA".This gun retains its original components and
finish. There has also been observed several Colt 1911A1s that have the
same RIA stampings yet retain all the original parts and finish like this
early Ithaca.
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.
Ithaca received thousands of
Springfield barrels, Remington Rand hammers, and other manufacturers parts
and used them for early production while the continued to set up their own
manufacturing process. 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. This is a very unique and well documented pistol.
