Ithaca .45 question

[Punisher]

hey - a friend of mine wants to sell her .45 1911 - it's stamped "ithaca .45" on the slide and "essex arms" on the receiver - i searched everywhere and couldn't find a place to look up this serial number as it's way to low to be on any ithaca guns i can find - it only has five digits - any advice on how i could find out when it was made and what it's worth? thanks,
D

[jdlv4_0]

If it's an Essex frame, it's not original. Ithaca made 1911A1s during WWII, I don't recall if they conrinued afterwards, your friend probably have a WWII upper with a different lower. You can tell if it's a GI upper from the proof marks. There should be a "P" forward of the rear sight.

If it's a complete GI upper, your friend may be better off parting the upper from the lower and selling just the upper on a 1911 forum. Pending on the shape of the upper she can get $230 or higher just for the slide and parts, for marking info go to http://coolgunsite.com/ and go to "ID pages" to check the markings on the barrel.

As for the Essex frame, members Brian, Average Bear, or Lycnathrope can probably be of more assistance.

[jdlv4_0]

For some Essex info :

http://forum.m1911.org/showpost.php?p=6994&postcount=8

[PA Rifleman]

... it's stamped "ithaca .45" on the slide and "essex arms" on the receiver -...any advice on how i could find out when it was made and what it's worth? thanks,
D

Essex was an aftermarket handgun receiver manufacturer, (link) that to the best of my knowledge was limited to the civil market. Since they set up shop around 1970, this eliminates it as an original W.W.II collectible.

Since the receiver's marked Essex and the slide has "Ithaca", you have a mismatched parts gun. Review: http://www.handgunreview.com/make.asp?make=Essex%20Arms

If the gun was all original, it would have more collector value. In this case, you could look up the serial number at http://model1911a1.com/Serialno.htm to find the beginning of it's provenance.

I hope someone posts something contrary, but it's likely that the value of your gun, based on your description, is mostly that of a functioning .45 ACP 1911 type handgun. We'd need more details concerning condition, features & accessories to give a close estimate. It could range anywhere as low as $300 to as high as $1000.

[brian]

500 would be a fair ball park.

depends how many usgi parts it retains, is it just an ithaca slide? or does it have other usgi parts in the slide and frame?

it's really only a shooter now or parts to somebody with an ithaca frame.