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Value? Date? Ka-bar

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:07 am
by A&E
IMG952992.jpg
Anyone have any ideas on this knife? I don't know anything about it.

Re: Value? Date? Ka-bar

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:36 am
by robinetn
Does the knife in the link listed below appear to be like yours ? These knives have been in production for many years with little change which makes them hard to date , especially after they have been used for a couple of years .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USMC-Kabar-knif ... 7675.l2557

Re: Value? Date? Ka-bar

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:59 am
by oldblinddog
Looks like fairly recent production to me... ::shrug::

Re: Value? Date? Ka-bar

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:14 am
by jerryd6818
Information I've been able to gather suggests Ka-Bar suspended production of the 1219c2 at the end of WWII. They resumed making them as a reproduction in the mid-'70s (I think 1976 for the 200th birthday of the Marine Corps). You can spot the reproductions a mile away by the embossed sheath. As far as I know there is no way to date the reproductions other than 1976 to yesterday.

All those sellers on eBay listing their Ka-Bar as Viet Nam or Viet Nam era are misinformed. After the end of World War II, Utica Cutlery Co., Conetta Cutlery Co., Camillus Cutlery Co., and (beginning around 1980) the Ontario Knife Co. all produced the Mark 2 under contract for the U.S. military. The majority of the contracts for a MK-II fighting/utility knife after WWII were filled by Camillus and the Conetta Cutlery Co. only produced their knives around the Korean War era (to the best of my knowledge).

All information gathered from various sources and stuck together for this post.

Re: Value? Date? Ka-bar

Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:26 am
by Gunsil
It is a post 1976 re-issue knife, the lettering on the blade identify this along with the sheath. The first few years of the re-issues have a different blade coating than the later ones.