Anyone Know About the Ithaca 1911 .45?

[Kestrel]

I saw an Ithaca 1911 today at a gun shop. (It's not one of the original military guns from WWII.)

It was matt-blued and looked like a Kimber. The shop told me it was made by Jericho (which makes the Kimber frames/slides) and was supposed to be something like 1 of 1500. They said Kimber had the production stopped and only 100 were made.

They were asking $1,000 for the gun.

It was matt-blued, had Novak (plain) sights, extended safety, beavertail, beveled magaze, etc.

It looked really good. It also said "Ithaca 50th Anniversary" on the slide.

Does anyone know anything about these? Are they as good or better than the Kimbers?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Sierra]

In the September/October 1997 issue of American Handgunner there is a comparison of the Wilson 1996A2, the Kimber Classic Custom and the Ithaca 50th Anniversary Model. The features are virtually identical but the prices (retail) varried widely. All were made by Jerico Manufacturing. The Kimber and Ithaca both share the same barrel (made by Jerico). The Wilson gun had a more highly polished blue, a different pattern of slide serrations and had Wilson's fixed sights. The Ithaca is also polished, wears Novak sights and has only a rear set of slide serations.

They all shot about the same. Price in 1997 was, Kimber $625; Ithaca $795 and Wilson $1380.

In all fairness the Wilson had different grasping grooves and rear sight cut and frame required a different cut for the beavertail. For that reason Wilson's parts require a seperate production run.

Hope this helps.