WESTERN SHARK

[Ridgegrass]

Bought this yesterday in Salisbury, MD. I'm not a fixed blade guy but he made an offer I couldn't refuse. 6" blade, lanyard hole, full guard. The sheath, though beat, looks to be original. Some wear but nicely maintained. Any opinions on model, date, etc. would be appreciated. J.O'.

[jerryd6818]

That sheath sure has been rode hard and put away wet but they look that way after a few decades of use. The one from my L39 didn't even make it 2 or 3 decades. However, the knife looks good. Sorry I can't ID it for you.

[Gunsil]

Your knife is WW2 era, and the sheath is correct. Western was the only company double stitching their sheaths on the knives they made for private purchase during the war like the "shark" and the W46-8. I believe the model number on your knife is W46-6 but Wayne (Zzzy) will likely be along with more info, he's our Western expert and very good. The W46-6 war era knives can be found with aluminum pommels or steel butt caps and with blued or bright blades.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks Gene, Jerry. J.O'.

[Colonel26]

I have a couple like yours. Great knives, which to me, feel better balanced in the hand that most any other fixed blade I’ve held.

Unfortunately, it seems that although Western made some of the best blades ever, that didn’t translate well over to their sheaths. I don’t know why, but it always seemed to me that Wester sheaths didn’t hold up very well.

[zzyzzogeton]

Yes, it is a WW2 era "Shark" aka G46-6, with a slightly less than 6" blade, a full guard and a lanyard hole.

Shark/Baby Shark Factoids....

While the G46-5 and G46-6, along with the 4-1/2" blade G46-4, were pre-WW2 models, they had mushroom pommels, not the bird head pommels of the war-time knives. Mushroom pommeled G46-5s and G46-6s did serve during the war as private purchase items, either brought from home, sent from home, turned in during the hunting knife drives or PX old stock sales. Western knives were sold in west coast PXs long before the war began.

ALL WW2-era G46-5 and G46-6 knives had steel or brown swirl bakelite guards and aluminum or bakelite bird head pommels. If a wartime G46-5 or G46-6 has a brass guard, it was assembled after the war was over and brass became available. Very, very, very few, if any, of these brass guard knives were made new. Nearly all of them are really post-war refurbs. If a veteran had a dinged up Western knife, Western would refurb them for free, even into the early 1950s. Hence, a few brass guarded G46-5s and G46-6s.

ALL G46-5 and G46-6 knives assembled with a blade that was NOT a post-war, canceled contract, surplus blade will have "MADE IN U.S.A." as part of the stamp, 99.9% on the mark side ricasso. These knives were made between 1947 and 1954. I have only seen ONE ever with "MADE IN U.S.A." on the pile side.

If the Shark or Baby Shark has a model number of L46-6 or L46-5 on the pile side ricasso, it was made from 1955 to 1966. No amount of fleabay razzle-dazzle will convert a 1955 to 1966 made blade into a WW2 fighting knife, There's a couple of those falsies on fleabay right now.

[Ridgegrass]

ZZ: Thanks for the good info. No mark on the pile side. Steel guard and a patent number. Any changes due to that stamping?
I've managed to duck another addiction like fixed blades but it looks like I'm getting in deeper. Thanks again. J.O'.

[zzyzzogeton]

No changes - still a WW2 G46-6 Shark.

[Felanmac]

The “Shark” and “Baby Shark” are great WW2 knives. Here are 5 different “Sharks” with a couple other Westerns!

[1967redrider]

Awesome find, J.O'.

Sweet group, Felanmac.