Needing information on a Winchester

[RGCLawrence]

I'm helping my mom sell my late dad's knife collection and am having trouble finding information on Winchester knives. Can anyone tell me what this knife is called and when it was produced. Thanks.

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. The knife is a two-blade jack. Unfortunately one of the more difficult tasks in knife collecting is determining the age of a Winchester knife.

Typically manufacturers periodically changed the stamps used to mark the tangs on their knives. Thus the age of a knife can often be determined by comparing the tang stamp and any other markings with old published catalogs and the dates of those catalogs. Unfortunately Winchester never changed their tang stamp. Leaving us trying to determine age by other methods such as the knife’s construction, materials, or other clues. It will be helpful to know the knife’s closed length. I can’t tell from the single picture provided whether the handle covers are jigged bone, or some type of synthetic material. If you’re not an experienced collector you may not know either, but better, clearer in-focus pictures might help. Looking through all the Winchester references and reprints of old catalogs, I don’t see any having a diamond shaped shield. Doesn’t mean there weren’t any made , just another variable making yours more difficult to guesstimate an age.

I can tell you that earlier (1919-1930) Winchester pocket knives are usually stamped on the tangs of all blades. From the 1930s - 1942 they were typically stamped on the master blade tang only, and are of lower quality relative to prior Winchester knives. Winchester ceased manufacturing knives in 1942. From 1970s to 1987 some cheaply made unauthorized “Winchester” knives were made, mostly from Germany. In 1987 Blue Grass Cutlery was authorized to make Winchester knives, which are of generally high quality - and using that exact same stamp.

Unless someone here recognizes it, determining which version and date of manufacture you have will require more information, and better pictures.

Ken