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Winchester knife
- Thread starter sfal
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Looks to be an older model for sure but exact year is a problem. Probably a good ole carbon blade and better quality than the 420 junk often made today and in China. I will check my books and let ya know if I come up with any info.
I do not know anything about pre-WW II Winchesters but I collect recently made traditional folders. Neither Winchester nor Remington have made a knife since they stopped manufacturing them to focus on more important war material for WW II. For 75 years both brand names have been on knives made by multiple US manufactures and relatively recently on Chinese knives. Also, for a long time US pocket knife manufactures have been buying knives out of each other's production runs. Sometimes that is done to get smaller batches than they usually make or different handle shapes. Identifying who actually made some knives can be confusing.
Your knife is a Large Coke Bottle with what Case calls a CopperHead hump on the front bolsters. The shape and short length of its bolsters, narrow Coke Bottle neck, pin locations and blade shape appear very similar to Queen's knives. Also, it has pits left from rust that was cleaned off and Queen makes a lot of 1095 carbon steel blades. Queen is well known for making small batches of relatively expensive traditional knives for other companies. That's an observation, not an identification of your knife. Lay it flat on a ruler, press the ends of both against a vertical surface then look straight down from above for an accurate measurement of the handle's length. Queen's are 5 1/4".
Remember, I do not know how to recognize the knives Winchester made themselves and overseas manufacturers attempt to copy most of our traditional designs.
Your knife is a Large Coke Bottle with what Case calls a CopperHead hump on the front bolsters. The shape and short length of its bolsters, narrow Coke Bottle neck, pin locations and blade shape appear very similar to Queen's knives. Also, it has pits left from rust that was cleaned off and Queen makes a lot of 1095 carbon steel blades. Queen is well known for making small batches of relatively expensive traditional knives for other companies. That's an observation, not an identification of your knife. Lay it flat on a ruler, press the ends of both against a vertical surface then look straight down from above for an accurate measurement of the handle's length. Queen's are 5 1/4".
Remember, I do not know how to recognize the knives Winchester made themselves and overseas manufacturers attempt to copy most of our traditional designs.
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After looking at my copy of Levine's I'm not sure it a pre-WWII make because it lacks the Winchester shield. So although very cool looking value could be modest. But knife identification and value is tricky so don't take what I say as gospel.
FWIW I would call it a swell-center Hunter[emoji57]
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FWIW I would call it a swell-center Hunter[emoji57]
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30-30remchester
Member
Winchester built quality knives between the wars. They sold their knife division to concentrate on the war effort. Around 1990 Winchester lent their name to another round of knives but did not make them themselves but instead contracted with Bluegrass cutlery to produce them for them. Bluegrass was a quality builder with a great reputation and are top quality knives. Even Case had Bluegrass build they custom classic knives for them. Then sometime later Winchester knife production was outsourced to China under Taylor Cutlery IIRC. These are just junk now. This knife looks like it has plastic handles instead of bone. It is easy to tell the difference. Find an out of the view place on the handle, then heat a sewing needle till it is orange hot and press the needle into the handle. Plastic will easily be penetrated by the needle. Bone will just develop a small black mark and have a different older than melting plastic. If I had to make a guess I would guess this is a Bluegrass built blade. Hope this helps.
30-30remchester
Member
I am away from my knife and book collection at the present time but the more I look at your folder it may very well be an early real Winchester. Most, not all Bluegrass Winchesters, dyed their bone handle dark brown, almost black. I have had many early Winchesters and have never seen bone handles in this "bleached" coloring. Could well come from decades of exposure to the sun. The blade does have the aged but cleaned patina about it and is sabre ground with a match striker pull. Sabre ground blades are still quite common but match striker pulls are not see much these days. Not definitive proof but more to consider.
I hope his is not read as argumentative but rather just food for thought. My first thought was that sfal's knife might have been made by Blue Grass Cutlery. However, two observations contradict that. The larger Blue Grass Cutlery made Winchester folders I've seen have either a cartridge or rifle shaped marker medallion. Also those that I've seen that are Large Coke Bottles have flat ground blades. Of the latter I have not seen one with a CopperHead hump. However, if Blue Grass made Large Coke Bottles with CopperHead humps they might have assembled them with saber ground blades.
I own a 1996 Winchester stag large cigar Whittler that matches my Queen Schatt & Morgan Whittler in ever detail except the brand stamp and marker medallion. It would take some proof to convince me that it was not made by Queen. Consequently, I believe Queen is one of the possible makers of sfal's knife. Also, like Blue Grass Cutlery made Winchesters, some Queens have match striker pulls and other do not.
Once again I should close by writing that I do not know how to identify pre-WW II Winchester knives.
I own a 1996 Winchester stag large cigar Whittler that matches my Queen Schatt & Morgan Whittler in ever detail except the brand stamp and marker medallion. It would take some proof to convince me that it was not made by Queen. Consequently, I believe Queen is one of the possible makers of sfal's knife. Also, like Blue Grass Cutlery made Winchesters, some Queens have match striker pulls and other do not.
Once again I should close by writing that I do not know how to identify pre-WW II Winchester knives.
If Sweet Suzie took her folding knife hunting and field dressed her deer with it then no matter what Suzie's knife looks like it would be futile arguing Suzie's knife is not a folding hunter. Admitting that, sfal's pattern of knife is marketed by Case, Queen, and Marbles as a Large Coke Bottle. Cover up sfal's knife's CopperHead hump and I think you'll see the shape. The design dates to Coke-A-Cola's early days when their trademark bottle shape was widely recognized and their soda was a special treat for most Americans. It's one of the large folders that stores quit stocking as Buck 110s and their copies took over.
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