Got a Buck 119 from my dad, from vietnam era?

clich

clich

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Apr 19, 2011
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My dad gave me a Buck 119 that he recieved from my moms father, and the story is he brought it back from japan on his way home from Vietnam. I have seen more modern 119's and their sheath is different so is this thing from the 60's?

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60's or 70's. I have the same one. Those sheathws are better than what you get today.
 
sweet thanks so much. Dunno what my grandfather was doing in Nam between those years, maybe he got his draft notice late? either way its good to know of a time frime for when my kid gets it.
 
That would be late 1967 up to 1972. The earliest ones have hard red bone spacers, the later ones Micarta (which came along in late 69 or 70).

Nice old knife.

:)
 
I'd guess late 67 to late 69 because the spacers look like the hard bone fiber instead of Micarta from your pic.

That stamp went from late 67 to about the end of 72......it's the spacers that date it more closely.
 
They look like Micarta to me, the hard bone fiber was more red and not so much maroon. IMO
 
Ok, forced me to look it up. I would go from 1969 to 1972. In 72 the model number was added ( first were early inverted 3 liners) and in 1969 the spacer material was changed from red Bone hard fiber to red micarta. So, it can't be any earlier than 1969,having the micarta spacers we don't know if early, mid or late. Thru setting in on seminars and visiting with many knowledgable collectors who think the stamp changed occured in the last quarter of 71 all the way into the first quarter of 72. This is as close as we can get on either of these dates + or - six months. Much research has been collected on this subject with the 110 and there are 3 versions of this model and this stamp which extend into 1972. So, when dealing with the lack of information one must recognize the 'Buck pattern' among several models inorder to substaintiate a possible date. But I'm confident most collectors more knowledgable than myself would give these dates their approval. DM
 
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I have this model with your exact stamping and have discussed it with Joe H. and another long time collector and they both agreed on the above dates. These fixed blade knives are hard to pin point a mfg. date but we try to give you your monies worth . DM
 
Yes, well......as I said, it all depends on the spacers, and Clichten hasn't advised us as to whether they are fiber or Micarta.

That's the only question. It's not exactly a confusing knife to date and ID. Fairly elementary as soon as you know the spacer material.

;)
 
mbjannusch said:
They look like Micarta to me, the hard bone fiber was more red and not so much maroon. IMO
Click to expand...

From my notes: Source unknown, but it would be copied from one of the Buck gurus on this forum. It came in a paragraph with the words, "We rarely replace handles on fixed bladed knives anyway," so it must have been somebody from Buck.

"The micarta is the reddish colored spacer, sometimes the red is so dark as to appear black."

That said, there's a lot of variation in these spacers, but I always look for a grainy or textured appearance to ID the Micarta.

The red bone is usually pretty smooth and shows solid rather than textured.

Hard to describe, but they just look different.

(I looked it up and that was a Joe Houser quote from 2008.)
 
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Early Buck sheaths were made either by Angeles or Achison. All of their sheaths had border lines scribed on the belt loop. In approximately early 1969, BUCK began making their own sheaths. BUCK's sheaths, as the sheath in this thread, did not have those borders. That means that this knife was not made before early 1969.

Telechronos:):):)
 
Sorry I somehow unsubsribed and didn't realize the convo was still going on. Sorry for my absence and the spacers are micarta that is so deep red its almost black
 
In that case, it's about late 1969 to about early 1972.

Telly already had that nailed by the sheath (but we always hate assuming it's the right sheath).

Thanks for the question.....it does all of us good to review.

:D
 
No thank you guys for teaching me a thing or two. I didn't even realize the spacers were a different color/material until I read this and took a closer look and went over it with a magnifying glass looking at everything. Its great to have such a knowledgeable group of people at your disposal. You guys are gonna make me look like an expert to my friends and family ;)
 
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