Imperial hunting knives question

[Rupe]

I hit the local indoor flea market today and came away with an Imperial fixed blade H-7 for $5. No sheath and some light rust spots that should clean up nice. It appears to have the factory edge and the black plastic scales are clean and tight. Overall, I'd say neglected, never used. Tang stamp is Imperial PROV. R.I. U.S.A.

My questions are:
The vendor had another Imperial that was in less than perfect shape. It was a model H-51 Stag Head with a well worn (read beat to hell) sheath and again, neglect, not abuse on the blade. It was also $5. Personally, I thought it was just ugly. Should I go back for it? What years were these made?

And the big question... Would I be out of my mind for taking off the perfectly good handles and dressing these up for use with some modern materials?

Thanks,

Chris

[Gr8Scout]

Have fun with the knives, Chris. Thousands of them were made, still available anywhere and everywhere for low, low prices. Yeah, put some decent handles on them.
Phil

[Rupe]

Thanks Phil.
I actually found three of them there. Two were priced $5 ea. The other was marked $10 at a different table. Apparently they can be found everywhere.

I'm thinking of making a matched set for my son and I. Possibly in a granite looking Corian just to be different.

[Gr8Scout]

Good deal. Again, have fun with them. Hey, I was at a local knife and gun show today. Got a mint condition WestMark 702 skinner for $75. Had to look at a lot of junk first, though.

And thought I'd post a photo of a few of my Imperial Frontiers. Best knives to ever wear the frequently denigrated Imperial tang stamp. You know I like to keep a few extras handy. They fillet my fish and gut and skin my deer.

Phil

[dogngun]

Chris: I bought one from ebay a few weeks ago-I had one just like it when I was a Scout in the late 1950's.They were made, IIRC from the 1950's for nearly 30 years, and they were inexpensive, but very usable knives. They will take a pretty good edge, and they are rugged.
I paid $9 for mine, but it came with a sheath.
There are different versions of the basic Imperial knife, later models with "bone" scales with an elk or something similar pictured on one side. There is another later model with a sawtooth edge on the top of the blade.I'm sure there were many more variants.
Many of these knives were used hard and got little care, so I think condition is everything if you actually want to collect them.

I hope someday they will be appreciated-they served their purpose well, and are still usable knives.

mark