Give me a grade please

[Resophonatic]

I am new to fixed blade knives. I have been reading all I can on the board.

Case 323-5
The first 3 is for leather
Aluminum Square head pommel
The stamp has serifs which means the knife was made before 1941

[Ridgegrass]

Hey Reso: Welcome. Nice old Case. Can't help much with the knife, but I was in a band with Mike Auldridge for ten years until he passed away. Sure you've heard of him. J.O'.

[Gunsil]

As a mostly fixed blade kind of guy I'd call it "user grade". Case made beautiful chrome plated blades but when poorly sharpened the chrome plating and overall appearance of the knife suffers. Top grade knives by Case have little to no scratches in the chrome and if leather handled should have shiny leather with little to no wear. One other thing about the Case hunters is that there are lots of barely used to unused examples out there especially the chromed blade models which don't rust or carbon stain like unplated knives. The 23 models are pretty common and often found in near mint-mint condition, sort of making worn ones more users than collectibles. A quick search on ebay of Case hunting knives and going to "sold items" will give you a good idea of what they trade for. I only like this model in stag, but I am sure some folks like the leather ones too.

[Resophonatic]

Thanks Gunsil. I wasn’t clear on what I wanted. I have been trying to read enough so that I can recognize these knives. Was I correct on the numbering and the date?

[Resophonatic]

Thanks Ridgegrass. I sure do know of Mike Auldridge. The reso I am holding In the pic is the first one built by Byrl Murdock of Byrl’s Guitars. Byrl is now building for Rob Ickes. I have two of his guitars.

[Gunsil]

Yes, numbers are correct for the knife, leather handle model 23 with a five inch blade is what the numbers read. If you like the old Case hunters you should try to find a late copy of Sargent's knife book. It has a great Case hunting knife section written by Brad Wood the leading expert on Case hunting knives. The date is probably close, "serifs" began in 1932-33 and ended sometime either during the war or just after, I don't have an exact date. All Case hunting knives from 1926-1932 were made for Case by Kinfolks, your knife is a Case Bradford product.

Beautiful guitar by the way.

[tongueriver]

Darn good CASE knife there, but that resonator is what really speaks to me; I love that sound. Thanks for coming on board!

[Mumbleypeg]

Thanks for confirming that's you in the picture holding that beautiful guitar. BTW you're overdressed for this forum! But we can use some class.

Ken

[Resophonatic]

Thanks Mumbleypeg. I will try to keep the right amount of class for the company I am keeping.

[Resophonatic]

Thanks for the welcome Tongueriver. Our motto is “The Pickins’ always greater with a resonator”.