All About Pocket Knives

I am new. I bought this knife locally and am curious about the age of it. It's a Western W49 Bowie. I looked at the chart of the different tang stamps but am still unsure. Any help will be appreciated.

zero_eight wrote: ↑Sat Dec 14, 2024 5:49 pm I.....

Try here:
viewtopic.php?t=54880

Thank you!
Looks to be an early 90s Camilus made version based on that thread.

It is a Camillus era W49. 1994 to 2006. There are 3 "tells" and a "hint"

The first tell is no date code. No date code W49s are either Camillus era or pre-date code guard stamped versions.

Second tell - the sheath. It's a Camillus era sheath as it has a guard strap rather than a handle strap. And it has the script WESTERN on the sheath.

Third - the order of the 2nd line stamp. During the Western and Coleman/Western eras, in addition to the date code as the 3rd line (or at the end of the 2nd line for some models of the I and J years), Camillus chose to reverse the model number and the U.S.A. stamps. Camillus has model number followed by the U.S.A., as your knife has. All Western and Coleman/Western stamps were U.S.A. then model number.

The "hint" is tied to the blade. If it looks like stainless steel and does not have stag Delrin handles, it is a Camillus era. Western's SS W49s were only the model S649 and Coleman never made a W49 in SS.

Great info. Thank you for taking the time.