Help! need quick answer. Ithica 1911 mag value.

[PONTIACDM]

A friend of mine said he has 3 1911 mags left to him by his grandpa. He wants to know if I want to buy them. He said the wrappers say Ithica company on them. I don't want to rip him off, and I want a good deal. What are these worth in good used condition? Thanks in advance!

 

[1911Tuner]

Ithaca didn't make magazines for the WW2 contracts. The magazine contractors were:

Scovill. MS Little. Risdon. General Shaver, which was a division of Remington Rand. Colt also made magazines for delivery with their pistols.

To identify the contractor, look on the top of the toe of the magazine base for a letter.

L...MS Little

R...Risdon

S...Scovill

G...General Shaver

Unmarked...Colt manufacture

In addition, some are marked C-L or C-S ,etc. These were made by the vendor indicated for a Colt contract.

Value? Not so much. I recently bought 10 WW2 contract magazines that were in new or near-new condition for 15 bucks a copy. I got a deal for buying the whole lot. Not sure what they fetch in used condition.

 

[PONTIACDM]

Thanks 1911tuner, they don't have any letters on them. Is there a way to verify if they are made by Colt?

 

[1911Tuner]

Not without a picture showing different angles. There are a lot of counterfeit "Genuine" GI magazines around, and because the Colt production magazines were unmarked, they're the ones most often passed of a genuine.

Since they were left to him by his grandfather...depending on his grandfather's age...they could very well be the real McCoy. Because there were so many produced from the four contractors and Colt, they're not really high on the collector scale as the early pre-WW1 magazines.

 

[PONTIACDM]

Thanks for the info on the mags. For some reason it won't let me upload pics. The gentleman who passed was in his 80's so I'm hoping they are the real deal.