Camillus USAF Knife

[ms329]

I picked one up , very used, at a local gun show and thought I could restore it. Can you remove the butt plate / nut so I can replace the hand guard. It is broken where the two holes are for lashing it to a pole to make a spear.

 

[Blue Sky]

Old models had a screw-on butt cap. In theory these could be removed, but my guess is that they would almost certainly be rusted in place and the stud would break off before it broke free. Later models have a peened over tang that retains the butt cap (it's easy to see if you look at the end). I don't think it would be possible to remove the butt cap from those w/o ruining the end of the tang.

Here's a site w/ a lot of info (including schematic drawings) of the Pilot's Knife you may find interesting. I cannot vouch for it's veracity but IMO it looks legit.

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/current_knotes.htm