Yea, similar story...family member calls and says "hey, my dad told me his neighbor died and his wife is loading up all his guns to take to the gun shop to sell, better get over here if you want anything" so family member goes over and checks them out and calls me and says "yea, all the rifles are already gone, but i picked up a little 22 revolver, but there wasnt anything you would like....just some old military looking handgun...".

Of course, I just knew it was a 1911..."what do you mean a military gun???"

"oh I dunno, one of those old guns, you know, just a standard miltary pistol" ....

"what caliber?"

".45 for sure, but it didnt have a clip"....

"does it work?" ..

"she doesnt know anything, all guns are as is"...

."offer her $xxxxx because if it works, great. If it doesnt, it'll still be a good price and can be fixed"...

So I get it a few days later and sure enough, it is an Ithaca 1911, 1943 build, in damn near perfect working condition other than the finish is worn off. Blew it up, looks brand new, put it back togther and took it out, shoots perfect. I love it.

I did a little reading on it and the first Ithaca's were built on Colt lowers. Apparently Colt gave Ithaca some old WW1 lowers to jumpstart production, and the way you identify them is by the cutouts in the lower behind the grip panels. Mine has the Colt heartshaped cut-outs and the correct serial range for those (some were, some werent). On top of that you can see where Ithaca ground off the old serial number(you can still read it) and engraved the new serial number. I was telling this story to a 1911 guy at a local gunshow and he called BS on me, so I went home and got it, took it to him and he said he had never seen anything like it. Bought an original 43 dated holster from him and he said if I ever wanted to sell it to let him know.

I said, "nah, I like it too much and am a horder, besides, I got a great deal on it and I think thats because the gun gods knew I would take care of it!"

I've heard a lot of stories about guys that die and their prized guns got scattered. I've got a little advice for all of you who are afraid that when you pass, your gun collection will end up at the pawn shop where your loved ones will get pennies on the dollar. I got into collecting a few years ago, and keep a running log of my guns with the descriptions, serial numbers, and accessories listed, along with the estimated value on each. As I sell or trade away a gun, I take it off the list, and add whatever new toy I got. I have two sins, and I noted on each line which son should get which. I keep it with my will.
Then I made up a simple form for each gun with a picture or two, description, and other information, printed the page in color, and put the pages in a three ring binder labeled, "Gun Collection". So it looks like a little catalog, and is a great reference.

Nice...I have a file with pics and serial numbers just in case of theft...but that's a great idea...

Good reading material here. Awesome job on the clean up.

Congrats. I have guns from both grandpas and my dad. Would t part with any of them.