When was the brown micarta changed to black on the 119 special?

[aza77]

I saw one today with a 2004 (upside down T) tang stamp and was wondering when they made the switch to black? I thought this was something that was done many years ago but I must be wrong. Am i right about being wrong?

 

[omaha-beenglockin]

As far as I know---they always have been black---but its not micarta---its phenolic(sp?)---like the handles on Revere ware pans.

 

[aza77]

Oh, I thought that the spacers (two black stripes one above and below the phenolic handle) were called micarta? Whatever the name is, I was referring to those stripes. On the one I saw, they were brown instead of black.

 

[omaha-beenglockin]

Oh---I thought you were talking handles---I have no idea on the spacers---never really paid attention to those in fact.

 

[Richard Matheny]

The spacer colors have varied quite a bit over the years. The 119 Special started with leather (1961), then went to red fiber then to Micarta. The Micarta has appeared as dark brown, black, yellow, etc. I recently had an all micarta handled 119 made from guard spacers and all the micarta was dark brown. The color is often a function of the availability of the material as was the case with the yellow spacers which showed up in the 2002 time frame.

 

[jimmer_5]

The recent micarta spacers have been black for some time now. Sometimes they look brownish when the knife is completed, but I can assure you, they are black out on the production line right now as I'm speaking.