Most accurate currently available Bowie knife

Like the others have said I think you would be best served to just find a knife that is accurate for the time frame you are looking at and one that you like. For value and the price range you gave I don't think the Bark River Rouge bowie can be beat. Clean classy and a good size. You can even order it with just about any handle material you can think of to make it as plain or fancy as you want.
 
It is my personal belief that Jim Bowie and his brother Rezin were knifeknuts.
They had many knives and after Jim became famous at the sandbar, he had even more knives ;)
So the most accurate replica is hard to define. Replica of which one? What year? The time of his death at the Alamo or at the sandbar?
Now for your SASS needs you might look at:

Northwoods knives makes a (generic?) bowie that is sambar stag and 1095 steel.
While not huge, it is a real knife.
Check out Vintageknives.com for a pic.
(never did business with them or saw the knife in person)

Bark River Rogue?
Bigger, A2 tool steel and again, a real knife.
Based on the Black design (guardless coffin handle)
Here's the BRKT rouge
rogsheath.jpg

(I made the sheath ;) )

The knife at the Sandbar duel was decribed as 'that big butcher knife' so...you've got alot of leeway there ;)
Here is a big butcher type bowie
FakeMarbles2.gif

This is a repro Marbles Trailmaker. The real Trailmaker is about identical, aluminum pommel instead of stag.
That'll run you a little less than 2Cnotes.
Again, a real knife.

Hope you find this helpful
Here's my favorite (custom) and a book for you to get.
bowiebook.gif

:D
 
Big Ugly Tall Texan - I see that you're from El Paso. Do you ever make it over to Austin?? The next time you're here, you need to go visit the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. The 2nd Floor has all the displays relating to the Texas fight for independence, and there you will find an awesome Bowie knife carried by a soldier who fought with it at the Battle of San Jacinto. You really need to see this knife!!
 
That Russell knife seems to be the real find here. How can they sell a knife for less than 60 bucks when it has genuine stag grips? It also meets my standards for a Bowie knife... almost. It has symmetrical grips and that clip point false edge on top, with a brass handguard.
 
I have the Case "Alamo Bowie". The two most non-authentic things about it, IMHO, are the handle shape(I don't think they machined handles in the 1800's), and the fact that it's stainless. Other than that, it's a great knife. Sharp as hell, great balance, good looking. I keep it in a case with my 1861 Colt Navy revolver, next to a picture of great grandfather, who was a deputy U.S. Marshall in Indian Territory. There are more authentic repro's, but they will cost you. If you want truly authentic, get carbon steel, brass hilt, brass guard on top of blade, etc. Atlanta Cutlery's "Primitive Bowie" looks good to me, just don't know what the blade steel is. Cabela's has two bowies, "Hell's Bell", and the "Gambler", that get very good reviews, also. Buy them all, then give the ones you don't like to me.:D
 
That Laredo Bowie looks good, but it's out of my price range. I realize there are several different type of knives which could accurately be called Bowie. The type I'm talking about is PDC to that Atlanta Cutlery "Primitive bowie"

primitivebowie.jpg


If the Randall Bowie was twice as big, it would also be a candidate. I may buy one anyway since it seems to be such a good deal, but I would still be left searching for THE knife.

To fill my bill, the knife needs to be big... at least 10 inch blade, clip point with that top "false edge" as sharp as the main edge. The grip must be symmetrical so the knife can be weilded with the main blade either up or down. It has to have a larger brass handguard, but the hilt design isn't that critical to me.

This one is also very tempting.

damascusbowie.jpg


The Damascus steel is both a plus and a minus, of course. It is absolutely beautiful, but not as hard as modern steel... as I am sure you all know.

http://www.888knivesrus.com/product/BC502D
 
Well.........that damascus might be a minus. But well made damascus can be every bit as good as simple/single steel.
Didja look at the Western W49 bowie?
Enjoy the search...it's half the fun.
 
B.U.T.T., did you say Randall? Now you're talking Dude, get one of those Randall's Raymond Thorp Bowie....Now that's a knife.
http://www.nordicknives.com/Rand-desc/R12_N.html
Hang the expense, who deserves it more than you?

At the price of that Bear I think I'd look at the Paul Chen Bowies also at 888.

To be honest I don't think you're going to see many knives at CASS events that are 10".
 
My bad, I meant Russell. That Randall is an awesome knife and certainly matches my description of a Bowie, but it is way out of my price range.

This Russell:

russellbowie.jpg


http://www.888knivesrus.com/product/RU1000
goes for $55 at 888.

And that Western 49 would be what I was looking for except for that little downturn at the rear of the grip.

Western49.jpg


Nearly 30 years ago, I had one of those knives. It was while I was still in high school. My father made fun of me when I bought it, but I was working at livestock auctions on weekends and had my own money, so he didn't try to stop me.

As big as that knife is, the balance is so good, I was able to throw it (at reasonable ranges) and make it stick where I wanted it to seven times out of 10 (sometimes more). I don't remember what happened to it, but I haven't had that knife for a couple of decades now.

I have thought about buying that knife this time, and then grinding off that part of the grip and refinishing the wood.
 
I have a W 49 that I bought years ago and still use all the time. Carbon steel blade and sharp! I think the newer ones have switched to stainless for the blades-- nowhere near as nice.

*Edit-- now that I have it out, the grinds are different. My older one doesn't have the crisp gind lines that the newer one has-- they are more rounded, less defined. I'll take carbon steel over crisp grinds any day!
 
I sell the Western 49, and it has an incredible feel. It's comfortable no matter how you hold it. Fantastic. I would also recomend looking at any of the models offered by Hanwei. Great knives. But pay attention to the specs. Some of the knives will look incredibly long, but actually just have very thin handles.
 
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