Western knives

L88 Heavy Skinner
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L36 Hunter
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West-Cut K-5
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W39
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None of the Black Beauty line were official BSA knives.

Western folders were made throughout the Western. Western-Coleman, and into the Camillus years. The 2003 Texas Ranger lineup were the last folders made with a Western stamp.

Western had contracts during WW2 to produce G46-6 Sharks, G46-5 Baby Sharks, L71 Seabees, W31 USMC Parachutist and Life Raft knives. They also had PX/BX contracts for private sales.

Platts had all his knives made by cutlers back east until 1919, when Western States started making folders. Most were made by Case in payment for Platts prior ownership of Case prior to him moving west, although other cutlers made folders for them as well.. All fixed blades Western sold until 1928, be they kitchen cutlery, letter openers, or hunting knives, were made by someone else. Some after that date were also made by 3rd parties.

All knives made during the Western and Coleman Western eras were made in Boulder (1919 to 1978), and Longmont (1978 to 1991). Camillus bought the assets in 1991 and moved all manufacturing to Camillus NY.

WEST-CUT was considered a lower end line of knives. WESTMARK was a high end line of 3 knives - the 701, 702, 703.

Western dropped the bifurcated tang construction on the L66 around 1973 and never went back to it for the L66. The W66 stayed bifurcated.

No proof, but I suspect that the WESTERN demo knives were probably made for them by Camillus.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
No proof, but I suspect that the WESTERN demo knives were probably made for them by Camillus.
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Hard to say.
I got my Western Demo knife from the Army Reserves, in 1975.
It seems strange to me, that Western got a government contract for the Demo knife if they weren't producing it themselves, though.
 
My grandfather's Western ... accompanied us hunting / fishing. He took meticulous care of it wrapping the blade in tin foil / oil. Got little use as a filet knife did most of the work. According to those who know tang stamps it was made in the early 30s.


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zzyzzogeton said:
Western dropped the bifurcated tang construction on the L66 around 1973 and never went back to it for the L66.
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Not saying you're wrong because all the Western posts I've read by you are spot on, but I've read that Western went to a single tang with "O" leather washers about the time of the Longmont move, later in the 70's.
The official Boy Scouts fixed blade, Boy Scouts stamps and all (including square knot sheath) I had when in Scouts in the early to mid 60's was an L66. At some point when older but a dumb young fella, I tossed the L66 in a tool box, forgot about it and that pretty much ended it ... well that and much abuse when hands on.
 
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BrotherJim said:
Not saying you're wrong because all the Western posts I've read by you are spot on, but I've read that Western went to a single tang with "O" leather washers about the time of the Longmont move, later in the 70's.
The official Boy Scouts fixed blade, Boy Scouts stamps and all (including square knot sheath) I had when in Scouts in the early to mid 60's was an L66. At some point when older but a dumb young fella, I tossed the L66 in a tool box, forgot about it and that pretty much ended it ... well that and much abuse when hands on.
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The official BSA Westerns that I KNOW about are L66, L46-5, L48A and L48B. This does not mean that someone may run across a knife in a sheath marked in some BSA manner that was USED by a Scout. I would expect more non-official knives were used by Scouts than Official knives. My Scout fixed blade was a non-offical L66.

These are the models that I have seen that have been stamped with either the 1st Class or Tenderfoot rank badges OR an OFFICIAL SCOUT KNIFE stamp OR have been found in OFFICIAL BSA stamped sheaths that also MATCH the age of the knives stamps. I have seen a ton of 1960s to 1980s Western knives stuck into the late 40s/early 50s sheaths that are stamped with the round BSA National HQ seal. These are obvious bogus marriages made for sale price increase only.

My opinion on the introduction of the non-bifurcated tang L66 is based on this info ---- I have an L66 that has the 1968 - 1972 stamps that is bifurcated and one that has the 1973 - 1976 stamps and it is non-bifurcated. The move to Longmont occurred in 1978. Every date code stamped L66 I have or have seen has been non-bifurcated.
 
I’m new to this site so I’m trying to learn my way around it. Is this the proper thread to ask about dating of a Western Knife? I just purchased one with its tang stamped with Western on top and Boulder Colo. U.S.A. underneath it. Thanks
 
Davestwin said:
I’m new to this site so I’m trying to learn my way around it. Is this the proper thread to ask about dating of a Western Knife? I just purchased one with its tang stamped with Western on top and Boulder Colo. U.S.A. underneath it. Thanks
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This should work. You could also start a thread entitled something like "How old is this Western knife".
There's a tang stamp chart around here, that might come up in a search.
 
Davestwin said:
I’m new to this site so I’m trying to learn my way around it. Is this the proper thread to ask about dating of a Western Knife? I just purchased one with its tang stamped with Western on top and Boulder Colo. U.S.A. underneath it. Thanks
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Western moved to Longmont in 1978, so a Boulder stamped knife probably predates that.

A note about dating knives: Unless the knife has a date code of some kind on it, dating any knife based on tang stamps is an approximation at best. Every chart I've ever seen has had problems, and the charts floating around for Western knives are no exception. The book The Knife Makers Who Went West, written by Harvey Platts himself has a chart in it that's widely reproduced, has many problems. A very common Western sheath knife tang stamp is simply two lines: Western / Boulder Colo. (no 'USA'). The chart says that it should be '31 at the latest, I know from having bought two of them new in the 70s that that is probably not right.

This is not in any way a criticism, it's an observation based on handling a lot of knives. I'm a long time Western collector, and they sometimes stump me. I'm sure I'm not alone. Add to that the idea that anything made before 1990 or so it thought by many to be ancient... There's a lot of history between the end of WWII and the 90s that seems to run together for a lot of people.

Often the best way to date a knife is to post a few close, clear pictures showing the tang stamp, handle construction, etc. Make note of the materials the knife is made of. If you've got the sheath, and think it's original to the knife, that can very often be a valuable clue.
 
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