EXHIBIT 5.1


                    [LETTERHEAD OF RITCHIE & REDIKER, L.L.C.]

   
                               September 6, 1996
    

Citation Corporation
2 Office Park Circle
Birmingham, Alabama 35223

Gentlemen:

   
     We have acted as counsel to Citation Corporation, a Delaware corporation
("Citation"), in connection with the Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the
"Registration Statement") filed by Citation pursuant to the Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "Act"), relating to those certain contingent cash payments
(the "Contingent Payment Rights") that may be payable pursuant to the terms of
the Agreement and Plan of Merger, as amended, dated May 16, 1996 (the "Merger
Agreement") by and among Citation, Citation Forging Corporation, a Wisconsin 
corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Citation ("Sub"), and Interstate 
Forging Industries, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation ("Interstate"), in connection 
with the merger of Sub with and into Interstate (the "Merger"). This opinion is 
furnished pursuant to the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K.
    

     As counsel to Citation, we have examined the corporate proceedings and such
other legal matters as we deemed relevant to the authorization and issuance of
the Contingent Payments Rights covered by the Registration Statement. Based on
that examination, it is our opinion that:

     The Contingent Payment Rights to be issued in connection with the Merger,
when issued in accordance with the Merger Agreement following the fulfillment of
all requirements thereof, are validly authorized and, when the pertinent
provisions of the Act and such "blue-sky" and other state securities laws as may
be applicable have been complied with, and the transactions contemplated by the
Merger Agreement have been closed, will be validly issued, fully paid, and non-
assessable.

     The foregoing opinion relates only to matters of the internal law of the
State of Delaware without reference to conflict of laws and to matters of
federal law, and we do not purport to express any opinion on the laws of any
other jurisdiction.

     In the preparation of this opinion we have assumed without investigation
the authenticity of any document submitted to us as an original, the conformity
to the originals of any document submitted to us as a copy, the authenticity of
the originals of such latter document, the genuineness of all signatures, and
the legal capacity of natural persons.



     We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion, or copies thereof, as
Exhibit 5 to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not
concede that we are experts within the meaning of the Act or the rules and
regulations thereunder, or that this consent is required by Section 7 of the Act
or the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission
thereunder.

                                       Very truly yours,

                                       RITCHIE & REDIKER, L.L.C.

                                       /s/ Ritchie & Rediker, L.L.C.