All About Pocket Knives

Got a question for other Remington UMC Collectors. I cannot locate anything about this knife online so time to ask the experts. Anything anyone can tell me will be appreciated.

Thanks for the help

Howdy sir and welcome to AAPK.
Not home right now to research this particular knife.
This is what I think I know
All Remington hunting knives normally start with RH indicating a Remington fixed blade hunting knife. It would then be preceded by a pattern number on one side of the knife and then would have the other side stamped with a Remington logo depending upon the production year. Example Remington UMC, or Remington DuPont. Some of Remington’s hunting knives had their logo embossed on the side of the knife handle itself.
Sure would like to see a few more close up pictures of your tang stampings. That might help.

That knife sir is no Remington. It is a knife often associated with WW2 although nobody seems to know who made them. This is the first one I have seen with any numbers stamped on the blade. These may just be home made hunting knives rather than "war effort" knives. They are much more crudely made than any Remington hunting knife and Remington by the way ceased all production of knives in 1940 when they sold their whole cutlery business to PAL Cutlery Co. It is also not a "new" Remington made by Camillus.

Thanks everyone for the input.

Well i’ve given it a pretty good search and I believe this is probably a theater knife or a fantasy knife. It is not a Remington UMC hunting knife.
Remington has no registered pattern number that matches your pattern number of L1275.
The tang area is unlike what you would see on a Remington.
Also the finger guard is an odd shape than what you might see on a Remington RH knife. There are several other issues with the knife that leads me to believe it is not a Remington production knife.
Nonetheless, you have a decent hunting knife. I do like the blood grove in the blade and the blade appears full. If you hunt this should come in real handy.

Did some further research on my own. The blade guard is larger, but matches the blade guard on my Pal RH-36's. This knife however has a 7 inch blade.

The stamped letters L1275 is also stamped on the back of the sheath making these a matched pair. My initial guess is an armorer controlled these and the UMC either USMC or most likely Unit Master Catalog.

Very interesting and I think you are on target. I also think this is a war time theater knife if you will. The sheath is a dead giveaway. Love the history and the comparison look see. Thank you!

Oh by the way I really love the blade profile. A really nice looking knife.

Under the wire reinforcement for the sheath, there are 9 split rivets along with a sewn edge. The sheath is just long enough for the 7 inch blade.

The time and effort and care of the knife and sheath shows someone thought a lot for this set. I wish it could tell it’s story. Would probably be a good one. Thanks again I enjoy the look see and the conversation.

Still can't identify the knife other than Mike Silvey has a picture of a similar knife on pg 189 in his book on" US Military Knives of WW2". He states they are a cheap copy of the PAL RH36, no name of manufacturer, or stamp listed for knife.

But with I did identify the owner of the knife.

Louis La Marca
the L-1275 matches his name and service number
L = LaMarca
1275 = last 4 of his service number 4211275

US Army Selectee, enlistment 31-Oct-1944, DOB 1926

Now the WY. 155 is also still a mystery.

That is so very interesting. Great job on your research. 18 year old young man in the Army...wow would love to hear more if you get a chance to uncover more of the story!

A quick google search and I believe that I have your answers.
The WY stands for Wyoming and 155 stands for a resident deer hunting area. If you search Wyoming 155 it is a good read and will tell you in part a little about this young man at the time. This would have been his military knife issue and he personalized it with remembrance of his youthful days of hunting at his home in Wyoming. This particular resident hunting permit was in what is now the Teton National Forest.

Wow, what a great bunch of research. The young fellow is still breathing through history and the knife is super special now with the story. Great knife and great story.

BTW, there is also a Wyoming County and a Village of Wyoming in New York that is southwest of Rochester, NY which is his place of enlistment. My newest guess is WY 155 was his phone number when he entered service

Also, I have located his daughter and grandaughter in an effort to learn more. In the event they want the knife back, I am just gonna bite the bullet and send it to them for free. I know with the provenance I should get around $100 - $200 selling it, but it's worth more than money to them.

It's getting better. The UMC engraved on the blade could be for his church. The United Methodist Church of Wyoming New York.

That is so awesome! What a great story that is unfolding. Please keep us informed on how this turns out . A picture of him with the knife on his side would be amazing. You are a special person for your efforts in returning the knife to his family. May God bless you for your efforts.