One of my "stag" handled 46-8s is marked W46-8 and has an "N" date code. The other "stag" handled 46-8 is marked H46-8, also on the blade. I "think" I remember it as having an "H" year code, but I'll have to check on that. It's in a box out in shop.
I do not remember ever seeing a guard marked 46-8. The earliest guard marked knives that I know of are the guard marked BOWIE W49s, probably from around 1967.
My dating it that way is based on these "facts
TKMWWW has reprints of 1968 advertising touting that their knives were "now marked on the guard".
The W49 and S-649 model numbers first appear in the same 1968 reprints and both are guard marked.
The guard marked BOWIEs would have come out PRIOR TO the W49/S-649.
Therefore by my convoluted logic I give the guard marked BOWIEs a 1967 production time frame.
On the calf foot pommels (CFPs), the earliest appearance of those in TKMWWW is 1960 reprints showing the F14 Black Beauty Camp Axe, stand alone and as part of the F3914 combo. The marketing literature called it a "Form Fitted Grip".
The next appearance in print that I know for the CFPs of is the 1975 Western catalog that edbeau has on his web site. I think it shows a W36 or W38 with the calf foot.
The earliest non-BB F14 example of the CFP that I have is on a pile marked L46-8. The last pile marked knives were made in 1967ish as the mark shifted to the guard in 1968 (above). I assume it is 1960 to 1967, based on the BB-F14 info above. I have considered the possibility that on the 46-8, rather than developing a guard stamp for it, they just continued with the pile marking OR they may have had so many already in stock, they just didn't make any for a few years.
The pile stamp model number "MAY" have gone on as late as 1976. More digging and guesswork.
I have never seen the 14 in an "L" or "W" configuration, so apparently it was an "F" model only. The smaller x10 hatchet was more varied, with "W", "L", "F" and "P" versions.
More BB tidbits U have gleaned ::
The 1960 Catalog sheet refers to the BB's aluminum and plastic washers as being "famous", implying they had been out a while and were big sellers. The BBs don't appear in the 1950 reprints. I have never seen a BB w/o a model number, so the earliest they could have first appeared is 1955ish, when model numbers started to be included as part of the stamp.