All About Pocket Knives

I’m a 50 year collector of Case XX and Antique Remington knives but absolutely know nothing about Western knives. Just wondering if it is a decent user or something to just throw back in the “ trade off box”?? Thank you all in advance. John

Photos of the box find.....

Hi John, you have a model 77 handled in bone. Nice knife in nice shape. Value, $150 to $175 or so. 1950's to 1960's era. Your're lucky to "find" it. Best regards, Randy

Wow! Thank you Randy. I appreciate your help. John

Amazing what a little buffing and some polish will do.....,

I'm surprised the Case collector didn't know about Westerns. It was started by a member of the Case family who moved out to Colorado and started a Knife Company. I think the knives they made in the 1950s and 1960s with carbon steel blades are some of the finest carbon steel there is from the US in that era.

Probably did not make myself clear when I asked for guidance after finding a Western mod 77 in a box of trade material. It is not that I was unaware of Western brand knives, I just never learned much of the company or the knives themselves. Probably more of a regional thing but in the late 60’s when I was a boy starting to accumulate pocket knives, the Western brand was not a highly collected brand in the South. Nothing to do with the quality of the older pieces but more to do with when I first became interested in pocket knives Western knives were only sold in a discount store called Gibsons thus availability was extremely limited in small towns. I do appreciate the information I have gained over the past couple of days about my Model 77 and the Western brand.... John

John I used to peruse Gibson as well. I loved the fact that there was a gun section. Back to the issue at hand, that is a gorgeous knife to be found in a box of other knives. Winner.

I know I’m showing my age, but the big discount stores could take a lesson or two from the Gibson stores..... They also sold Puma, back when they were a premier brand knife. Thank you Doglegg

John,

Actually your knife is a 1948 to 1952 version. late 1947 at the earliest. It has PAT'D MADE IN USA as part of the stamp.

The PAT'D makes it pre-1953 and the MADE IN USA is post-WW2, and most of the knives made by Western in the post-war 1945 to 1947 period were of the patterns made during the war.

The 5" blade 77s weren't made during the war. They first came out in 1941, right before the war started. For some reason, when the WW2 era L77s were made, Western chose to re-use the number 77 for the 7 inch blade L77s. After the war, they quit making the 7" 77s and returned to making the 5" versions.

A wonderful old Western! I have two of those tucked away and they’re amongst my favorites.

I knew nothing about Western until I joined here. When I was growing up here in Kentucky it was CASE and those other brands. But I’ve surely come to love my Western knives!

Thank you Colonel, you know exactly what I was trying to explain, knife collecting truly has a regional supply and demand issue. Take care, John