Help w/ a Western Knife

Look down at the face of the finger guard ... on the mark side of the tang ...
Do you find anything stamped into the finger guard? ... maybe a model number
 
There is no model number on the finger guard (which is steel, not brass) and the overall blade length is 4-1/6” and overall length is 7-3/4”. The blade has the larger groove. Based on catalog searches, I think it may be a 648A or S-H48A that’s been shortened (to fix a broken tip?).

IMG_6617.jpeg
 
Pretty cool old knife, and great information, thank you for sharing.
 
It's definitely a pattern 48A ( the first digit or letters is the type of handle ) , you can see it's been sharpened a lot and lost some tip over the years.
The model number stamp on the guard was done between '68-'72 or so, and I don't think they were still offering bone or stag at that point so that checks out.

It doesn't look like SS so me, unless I'm wrong about that I'd say this is an H48A with bone or stag handles.
from what I've seen on actual knives, 6 was jigged bone or jigged delrin 60's-80's. I don't know why that particular catalog calls it stag pattern delrin or what the horn pattern delrin they mention would look like ( I assume it was stag style delrin).
I believe this catalog you found is 60's because those are the same sheath that came with my F48A of the stamped guard era.

I would say this knife is an H48A with that H meaning " stag horn " as it did earlier on, the handles definitely aren't delrin and look like a very white stag to me.
 
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The knife in question seems to have what was called bone stag handles. Those two above have delrin handles. Delrin wasn't really used much until the early 1960s....
Steel is 1095CV.
aM7OhTV.png
 
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Here's my F48A ( F is stacked fiber and aluminum, the black beauty series).
Keep in mind that it's been sharpened alot and I filed the jimping on the spine as a teenager.
20240906_103455.jpg

And here's a 628 just to give you an idea of what that type of handle looked like.
20240906_103538.jpg
Maybe they intended it to look like stag, but I think that had to be some kind of miscomunication because it's definitely an imitation jigged bone to my eyes.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Here's my F48A ( F is stacked fiber and aluminum, the black beauty series).
Keep in mind that it's been sharpened alot and I filed the jimping on the spine as a teenager.
View attachment 2655167

And here's a 628 just to give you an idea of what that type of handle looked like.
View attachment 2655168
Maybe they intended it to look like stag, but I think that had to be some kind of miscomunication because it's definitely an imitation jigged bone to my eyes.
Click to expand...
Stag and bone stag are two different things. Stag is deer antler, bone stag is bone cut to look like antler or sometimes it was what we know today as jigged bone.
 
Arathol said:
Stag and bone stag are two different things. Stag is deer antler, bone stag is bone cut to look like antler or sometimes it was what we know today as jigged bone.
Click to expand...
Yes I know full well the difference between jigged bone and stag.

What I was saying is that in the 60's era catalog page the OP found the 648a was described as having stag pattern delrin, when their jigged delrin does not look remotely like stag to me.
It is clearly an jigged bone lookalike, not an imitation stag.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Yes I know full well the difference between jigged bone and stag.

What I was saying is that in the 60's era catalog page the OP found the 648a was described as having stag pattern delrin, when their jigged delrin does not look remotely like stag to me.
It is clearly an jigged bone lookalike, not an imitation stag.
Click to expand...
You are missing the point.....It doesn't mean the same thing today as it did 60 years ago. Stagged bone or bone stag was what we call jigged bone today.
 
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