Looking for any information on this Western States Cutlery

[rcb2000]

Evening all!
My wife's friend gave me this knife to refurbish. Of course I forgot to take a picture before I cleaned it but here it is.
It was her grandfathers and she has no plans on selling it, she just wanted it cleaned up.
I'd appreciate any information, thanks!

 

[rcb2000]

 

[sac troop]

I think what you might have is a model 263. They go back to at least 1931. I'm not sure if they made any of these after WW2. LOA 7.5 inches blade length just under 4 inches. The knife and sheath look great!

 

[rcb2000]

Very cool, thanks for the information!!
She loves it, I can't wait to get it back to her.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

Left you an answer over in Bernard's forum...

This is a model 263, one of the early fixed blades by Western, 1931 to 1941.

Western's first fixed blade was the model 63 and was first offered in 1928 and was the predecessor to the 263. The 63s had bone stag handles. The very first ones were actually made by Union Cutlery aka Kabar under contract. When Gunsil comes along he can specify the Kabar name/number for it. The "2" in the model number is for the designator for composition pearl handles. The 263 is described as having "white composition pearl handles with a black plastic underlayment" or liners

Up until 1928, Western had made only folding knives. This was their first foray into fixed blades. Later (1931ish) they started manufacturing their own fixed blades.

Edit - I have been informed that KABAR never made this model for themselves, so the info I had that they made them for Western would be incorrect. Some one else, possibly CASE or Queen or XXXXX made the 63 for Western. ZZZ

 

[zzyzzogeton]

This collection of Western stamps is correct but lacking in accuracy/completeness.

Part of the problem is that the stamps used on their folders and fixed blades were sometimes the same and at other times different during the same time frame. Take stamp 1-4. It actually specifies different time frames for folders and fixed blades. BUT, even there it is wrong. Just look at the OP's knife's stamp. Colorado is spelled out. The chart shows that it was "COLO."

Edit - I have been informed that KABAR never made this model for themselves, so the info I had that they made them for Western would be incorrect.

Does that mean that the OP knife is an earlier KABAR knife, a latter Western made version, maybe 1932 to 1941, since the chart says only until 1931? That's one of the frustrating things about "fixing a date" to specific stamps. Sometimes you can be really precise to the year of manufacture and at others, it is simply a black hole.

Stamp 2-1 indicates that the Patent number stamp goes from 1935 to 1950. The patent was for the double tang construction, easily identifiable by the double pins in the pommels of Western fixed blade until Camillus took over manufacture of Western knives. Camillus dropped the DT construction when they bought the name in 1992.

The patent was applied for in 1931. It was "pending" in 1932-1933. It was issued in 1933.

1931-early 1932 knives have "Pat Appl'd For" on them.

Late 1932 - early 1933 knives have "Pat Pending".

From late 1933 until "some point in time", most likely 1934, "Patented" was used until the actual patent number was added.

The chart says that stamp was used until 1950. Harvey Platts, CEO of Western, in his 1977 The Knife Makers Who Went West, says that the reference to the patent number was dropped in 1952.

BUT, he also says that model numbers were first stamped into the blades in 1955, but I have a couple of Westerns with BOTH patent number and model number. Confusing, it is. That's just a couple of issues I have with the chart.

And, as with any "rule of thumb", there are exceptions - The "PAT'D" and "Patented" stamps rear their heads again at some point during WW2 on the G46-8s They were 2 of the multiple stamps used on the knife. And no one has been able to figure out when or why or what order they were used on the G46-8.

 

[sac troop]

I agree with Z. It's not just Western either. Tang stamps can help ID a knife but the exceptions can make using them send one in the wrong direction. Use them with a grain of salt.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

For accuracy here, I need to point out that Gunsil has corrected me over in the Bernard's thread on this knife in that Kabar never even made this model for themselves, much less for Western and that someone else, POSSIBLY Queen or Case (or maybe even some other company) made them for Western.

So much for believing something else as "fact" in TKMWWW.

 

[Codger_64]

I have a knife of this pattern marked "Imperial". I never have been able to definitively pin down the maker. The stamping is in cursive which Imperial never used on their own production sheath knives when they finally began producing them themselves. My chief suspect for the maker is Kinfolks.