My 2nd (and now a 3rd) specimen of the 1917 Frontier Bowie. And ?'s for CS Rep...

PocketKnifeJimmy · Nov 12, 2015

GrReaper said:
The carbon steel Natchez has a cable tang, but the one in San Mai III has a solid rod tang. Obviously, not as thick as in the Frontier bowie but if you'd like a Natchez and you don't want a cable tang, then that's the way to go. The SMIII Natchez is getting hard to find now though, as it's been discontinued. I guess if the handle ever deteriorated on the cable tang version, you'd have to re-handle it and you should be good for another 50 years or so.

I definitely like the Frontier Bowie style more than the Natchez, and though I also like the Natchez, I don't like it enough to go for the much higher priced San Mai version. What I don't understand, is why the San Mai was being made with a rat tang, and the mono steel versions with a cable tang. As I mentioned before, with the Frontier Bowie, there is no tang worries... The tang seems to be a beast. Heck, if the wood handle were to ever be damaged... You could wrap the tang with some layers of paracord and simply continue it's use with no prob. Cold Steel's 1917 Frontier Bowie is not my most expensive fixed blade knife in my collection, but it truly is my favorite. I love it's styling and design 😀

GrReaper · Nov 24, 2015

Just got an email from atlantacutlery that they're doing a black friday sale of the 1917 frontier bowie for $80.

PocketKnifeJimmy · Nov 26, 2015

Since you posted that info up, I just had to check out their black friday deals. I did get 50% off on some other item on their list... Not a Cold Steel item, but diversity is my game anyway. Def a good deal on the 1917 Frontier Bowie, if one has been sitting on the fence about getting one 😀

Blender345 · Dec 2, 2015

Hey pocketknifejimmy, where'd you get that pistol that you made? Your displays are awesome thank you for sharing.

The Whip · Dec 5, 2015

Jimmy, thanks for sharing the photos of your beautiful displays! I also appreciate your thoughts and observations on the 1917 Frontier Bowie and the similarities/differences between the two runs. Great thread!

-Steve

PocketKnifeJimmy · Dec 5, 2015

The Whip said:
Jimmy, thanks for sharing the photos of your beautiful displays! I also appreciate your thoughts and observations on the 1917 Frontier Bowie and the similarities/differences between the two runs. Great thread!

-Steve

Thank you 😀

I am glad you could get some positives from the discussion ☺

PocketKnifeJimmy · Dec 11, 2015

Blender345 said:
Hey pocketknifejimmy, where'd you get that pistol that you made? Your displays are awesome thank you for sharing.

Oh, darn... I don't know how I missed your question... I am so sorry. Anyhow, the pistol is a CVA branded Kentucky Percussion design gun made in Spain. A friend of mine had received it from a friend of his that had it for a very long time, but never got around to assembling it. My friend then held onto it for many years as well, him too not getting to it. When I received it from him as a gift, it was still totally sealed in it's original packaging. It did not stay sealed long, my starting the project immediately, and finishing it within a couple of weeks 😀 I guess the 'Traditions' firm continues to bring in the latest Spanish made Kentucky Pistol kits, and are supposedly from the same maker that CVA used to last get them from ☺

This is a pic of the kit's original box...

And the components before I started the project...

Having made some progress...

Barrel having been cold blued...

Stock finish having been applied...

I always love how a crude brass casting can be made to be a thing of beauty...

And a pic of the finished product...

There were obviously alot of steps in properly accomplishing this project... But after a careful 40 or so hours invested into it, (and having totally avoided the use of any sort of power tools), it came out very nice indeed. It is a shootable piece, but I just have it as a display item.

PocketKnifeJimmy · May 8, 2016

I am revisiting this thread to discuss something about these knives that I had a question about, and now have the answer for (so I will share that here).
I have not dismounted the handle scales on my Frontier Bowies, so I did not know what the tang would look like underneith. Well, doing a recent YouTube search on this model, showed up a newer video where someone does the handle scale removal to expose the tang. It shows the tang to be fully blued, and having the three holes required for the attachment screws. The guard is secured on either side by a weld. Watching the video, I could not see any maker markings placed onto it. Anyhow, the tang is the same thickness ass the blade (quarter inch), and roughly about half the blades width.

https://youtu.be/MfEm4fVNPOU