Case 323-5 or 325-5?

[Vcd1363]

Picked up this knife recently and looks like it was stamped 323 and over stamped 325??? Any ideas which it really is?

[Gunsil]

I think it is a 323-5, 325-5s have a fullered blade of a different profile unless Case changed their numbering system by the time your knife was made. If you google Case 325-5 knife you will see what those look like.

[Berryb]

I just got what appears to be the same knife, but with a black composition handle. Mine is marked 223-3, so my guess is the 1st number is the type of handle. When I looked mine up, the article said that if the number after the hyphen was a 5 it indicated a commemorative blade etch. Typically, I can't find the article again. Bruce

[Gunsil]

The first number on Case fixed blades and early (pre-1951) KA-BARs is the code number for the handle material. I would have liked to see your article since the -5 is the blade length, always has been. were it a six inch blade it would have a -6 suffix.

[Berryb]

The blade on mine is 4 7/8 , but its been sharpened quite a bit.
Bruce