All About Pocket Knives

I’m guessing that the Shark would be WW II era but what about the Baby shark with the full brass guard, pre or post WW II?

Brass guards on a Shark or Baby Shark puts a knife as a post-WW2 made knife. This is one of the rarer ones made after the war using a canceled contract blank but after brass became commercially available to cutlers, probably in very late 1945 or early 1946. The sheath is typical WW2 era double stitching with no embossing,

No G46-5s or G46-6s made during WW2 had brass guards, full or half. They had guard made of steel or brown swirl bakelite,

zzyzzogeton,

As a follow up do you have an opinion on the model number and dating on this mint Western knife, 5 1/4 in blade, no fuller, full brass guard and pat’d no 1967479?

That looks like a mash-up based on known models, although it looks authentic.

Why do I say "mash-up"? All the pieces don't match up from what I know and have deduced.

The sheath say "pre-WW2". The stamp says "pre-WW2". And the overall appearance screams L58 .... BUT....

The 1945 L58 had a 5 inch blade and a half guard.

The 1950 L58 had a 5-1/4 inch blade with a half guard.

This knife has a full guard. The only full guard bird & trout knife was the 77 pattern (577, L77, 277) but it had an slightly bent S-guard full guard, a fullered blade and was sold with tubular "Finnish" style sheath.

And the spacer pattern matches the 1950 L-series knives (pair of light colored spacers at each end.) The 1945 spacer patterns included a mid-handle spacer/spacers.

Were it not for the spacer pattern, I'd say it was a 1945 L77 made with an unfullered blade and an unbent full guard, stuck in a non-77 sheath, i.e., an in-house worker made mash-up.

Were it not for the pre-WW2 stamp, I'd say it was a 1950 L77 made with an unfullered blade and an unbent full guard, stuck in a non-77 pre-WW2 sheath, i.e., an in-house worker mash-up.

That sheath tooling style is usually seen on a few 1936 - 1940 era sheaths and on the PX purchase W31 paramarine knife sheaths.

So, who knows? Not I. A very interesting knife. Wish it was mine.

Wow ZZY, if you don’t know I’m not sure anyone does! I got it 10 years or so ago on eBay because I thought it was very interesting and I couldn’t figure out what it was I thought it was an early L 77.

There hasnt been much talk on Western much almost at all recently and thought id ask since ive been aquiring a few.Recent was a 3 line Wester/Boulder Co/ Made in USA. L28 on the guard. It was a little rough but now a great user. I have another exactly like it in pristine condition that will sit with the collection. Great little knife. But the question has never been answered. There was so many tang stamps on these knives WHAT DID THEY MEAN? I have dated them from 1928 to 1950. From 1939 to 1954. And some say 1928 to 1998 or something. Its unreal. And still to this day unanswered. Nobody had any family that knows when these were made, out or did it matter? I find it hard a Great company like Western wouldnt care about dating a knife. Theres something there and its looked over. Id put a Western blade against a Case blade every day of the week. Somebody if anybody shed some light. Ive seen the tang stamp marking picture online 15billion times and they ain't the same. Almost always never the same. So I go with the usa or I go with the patent. Do I go with a 2 line or a 3 line. We know what Camillus did it could mean anything. Is that ultimately what im looking at? Thanks for your help, hope we find an OG that worked for them. I wish we had better info.

Many of your questions have been answered in various posts over time.

If a model number is stamped on a guard or any knife, the knife was made between 1967/1968 (depending on the model) through 1976.

If the knife stamp has the "USA" or "U.S.A." in it, it was made after WW2. The very earliest USA "stamp" was a hand etched "Made in USA" using a hand-held, vibro-engraving unit, estimated to be around 1946.

Date codes were only stamped on knives made between 1977 (A) and 1991 (O). "O" knives are rarer than hen's teeth. "G"s are more numerous than "O"s, but not by much.

If a knife has the bifurcated tang patent number on it, it was made between 1931 and 1953. 1931-1932 will have PAT. APP'L'D FOR. 1932-1933 will have PAT. PEND. or PAT. PENDING, d.o.m. 1933 will have PATENTED or PAT. 1,967,479, which will be on late 1933 to 1953.

If the knife has a model number on it, it was made after 1955.

There are exceptions to the above rules of thumb. There were some WW2 knives with the early 1933 stamp (G46-8).

The years can be broken down into sub-units, but that's based on esoteric details.