Western Model 54

E

edbeau

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Jan 20, 2006
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Picked up this Western off the bay and cannot find it in my catalogs. Anyone have any information? In the 1986 catalog it has the following "Mighty Lights" with Valox handles 526 and 546, 526G and 546G. G for green. The 546 was the 5" closed (same size as mine). Thanks


 
I'm guessing that there doesn't appear to be anything like a year date letter. Did some looking at the post 91 camillus catalogs and the 1993 western. No luck for me either.
 
Below the Stainless marking is an "M" which would be 1990. Have a Camillus in a box marked Buckmasters that has an identical handle. Working on the pictures now. The Camillus has no Model number.
 
Okay, sac troop here is more questions.

Buckmasters box


Buckmasters knife and sheath (knife has a pocket clip also)


Buckmasters and Camillus 54
 
Think I found more info about the Model 54. I think I found that both the Black Handle 546 and the Green Handle 546G blades were marked 54.
 
In the Seventy Fifth catalog (1986) on page 4 and 5 they show a 516, a 526 and a 546 model. It is a Coleman/Western catalog. Cost for the 546 in the catalog was $25.45.
 
Only peripherally related here, but I have a couple of Western Buckmasters fixed blades by Camillus (based on stamps). Of the ones I have seen, some just say "WESTERN" over USA Rx where "x" is the model number (2,14,16,18). Others have Camillus over Western over USA with no model number. Some of the profiles look like Westerns (the R2 looks like a rubber handled W84). One non-model number looks like like a Schrade 158OT. Some leather handled fixed blade Camillus Buckmasters have model numbers beginning with or without the BM. The Buckmaster BM66 just has a 66 (like the camillus produced Western L66s of the mid-90s. A folder that looks just like a Buck 110 clone is the BM9. Some Buckmaster folders have a Camillus over New York over USA stamp, with no model number. I saw one folder that just had Camillus as a stamp w/ nothing else visible.

This is all to be able to say that a Buckmaster knife could be a clone of any knife that Camillus made either under a name they owned, e.g., Western, or someone they just made knives for under contract. So if a Buckmaster looks like some other knife, it probably is that other knife, just in Buckmaster "clothes".
 
If the Rosette (washer) over pivot hides the pin, it is made by Western.
If you see the pivot pin thru the washer, it is made by Camillus.
 
Well I can certainly see the family resemblance.
I guess we now know that the original knife shows up by the mid 1980's. We can use the presence or absence of date codes and whether or not there is an exposed pivot pin to place where the knife was made. As to why Camillus choose to rebrand the knife style, that one is beyond my pay grade. Surely when a company owns a brand they have a lot of leeway.
To be fair Camillus also went the other way too. In the mid 1990's Camillus branded some of the MIL-K818 knives they made with "WESTERN/U.S.A.". The original WESTERN company never made any of these style knives, while Camillus by far had made the most of these knives of any company. Camillus id'ed it as a model 1760, although the last number was often changed to denote a small difference in the knife.

WesternMIL-K818copy_zps6cd2c347.jpg
 
edbeau said:
Thanks Phil! Were the handles picked up by Camillus after the buy of Western?
Click to expand...

No real quantity of parts.
We got the mold, made a couple of subtle internal changes, & molded our own handles!
 
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