Buck/ Camillus 317

C

cruiser-bw

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Aug 9, 2017
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New member here! I purchased a Buck 317 off Ebay. It has the low nail nick and Buck Made in USA. The Made in USA Caught my eye for obvious reasons. Researching this I found it was made by Camillus. Had to have one of these beautiful well made knives. My question is, does that low nail nick and made in USA put it at 1972. I read in a post that the low nick was stopped in 73. Any help appreciated.
 
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no pictures. try editing your post and put [/IMG] after the last picture.
If that does not work, you'll need to use a hosting service other than photo bucket.
 
Cruiser, welcome to the forum. The tang stamp of "Made in USA" is the key character for dating your knife. It was made from about 1972-1974 by Camillus, as were all of the 317s. After that version, the tang stamp changed to "BUCK/317/USA", and that second version continued until 1989 when Buck discontinued the 317. I have looked at a lot of 317s, and although I can't prove it, I think the second version knives with what I call a "forward" position for the nick were the earliest, about 1974-1975. After that the nick was moved farther back on the blade.

Bert
 
Your knife could be as early as 1972 and as late as 1974. The key for dating your knife is the "Made in USA" stamp, not the nick position. These photos show the two nick positions I mentioned. Some early knives with the "BUCK/317/USA" stamp had the forward knick.

Bert

2 Buck-Made in USA 1972-1974.jpg 4 Buck-317-USA 1974-1989.jpg
 
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I appreciate your knowledge very much, hopefully I can learn how to get pics posted here. Never had a pic problem before.
Thanks again!
 
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