Western knives

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zzyzzogeton said:
ALL Western knives made AFTER 1955 have a model number.
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The Western "Demo" knife in post #63 violates this "rule".
No model number or date of manufacture on any of the blades, backsprings, covers, on the liners, or on the shackle. Just the c.1975 tang stamp (It must be accurate, since that is the year I received it), and the "CAN OPENER" stamp.
 
Love these great photos. Pictoral history of the company.
 
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Davestwin said:
Does the 1964 date seem legit on this Western Bowie?
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Yes, 1964. The inverted BOWIE W49s were the first post-WW2 Bowies. They came out in 1964. They are based on the Collins #18 pequeno machetes - the Army Air Corps' bailout bag survival machete that is improperly called a V44. Western made authorized clones of the #18, as did Case and Kinfolks during WW2, until the #18 was replaced by the real V44, the fixed blade bull nose machete by Case.

Western called their #18 clones the Bx54 Bushman. The biggest difference between the Bx54 and the #18 and other clones was that the Bushmaan had steel oval guards and the others had brass full guards.
 
afishhunter said:
The Western "Demo" knife in post #63 violates this "rule".
No model number or date of manufacture on any of the blades, backsprings, covers, on the liners, or on the shackle. Just the c.1975 tang stamp (It must be accurate, since that is the year I received it), and the "CAN OPENER" stamp.
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I have always suspected that these were made for Western by Camillus for some reason unknown to anyone still alive. The MIL-K-818 never appears in any Western catalog as being for sale. The 1975 "catalog" was simply a 4 page brochure that includes a picture showing a display of all Western knives for that year and a MIL-K-818 is not included in the mix.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
Yes, 1964. The inverted BOWIE W49s were the first post-WW2 Bowies. They came out in 1964. They are based on the Collins #18 pequeno machetes - the Army Air Corps' bailout bag survival machete that is improperly called a V44. Western made authorized clones of the #18, as did Case and Kinfolks during WW2, until the #18 was replaced by the real V44, the fixed blade bull nose machete by Case.

Western called their #18 clones the Bx54 Bushman. The biggest difference between the Bx54 and the #18 and other clones was that the Bushmaan had steel oval guards and the others had brass full guards.
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Thank you for the great information! It’s a beautiful knife that was kept in good shape.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
I have always suspected that these were made for Western by Camillus for some reason unknown to anyone still alive. The MIL-K-818 never appears in any Western catalog as being for sale. The 1975 "catalog" was simply a 4 page brochure that includes a picture showing a display of all Western knives for that year and a MIL-K-818 is not included in the mix.
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Possible. But where would the profit be? Western had to submit a bid to the government/military to manufacture x number of knives for issue. If they were (presumably) low bidder, since they got at least one contract, contracting Camillus to make them would result in a net loss for each knife.

It might also be possible (likely?) they were made by Western, with the entire production for the military; with none for the civilian market. (possibly to appease Camillus, who did sell the Mil-K-818 (Model 1776 designation on/for the civilian version. The USMC stamped version was the Model 1778, I think) on the civilian market, along with the TL-29.?)
I'm pretty sure Colonial and Case also made both the Mil-K-818 and TL-29 for the military, to the required military specifications.
Without doubt Camillus made the majority of those issued, but they were not the only one to get the contracts for the two knives during the years they were standard issue.

I know I got the Western knife from the Army Reserves, in 1975.

The only "Demo" knives I've ever bought are the $6.⁹⁹ SMKW Marbles version, one in the 20-Teens and one in 2021 (so I wouldn't have to carry the "old" one, and to have a spare/extra). The only differences between the Marbles and the issue knives are no "CAN OPENER" stamp, and Match Strike pulls on the Marbles. Oh, the Marbles is also a hair shorter overall length, but the blade is the same length.
 
Bloefield said:
I love Western knives. Here's a favorite L36.
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I would have guessed that is an L66. I'm no Western expert and don't know how to tell the difference between the two. Can anyone help with that? I have what I thought was an L66 but I see that I may be mistaken.
 
For your viewing pleasure…..

(Lost the pics….see next post)
 
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TacoTime said:
https://imgur.com/a/AQLig9p
Time to resurrect this old thread.

Picked up a bunch of stuff from an old knifemakers estate, and found a bag containing all of these Western blades. I knew nothing about the brand before reading all the interesting information shared. Figured at least one person out there might be interested in seeing these various blades.
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When Camillus went out of business a lot of Western parts hit the market. I've got blades, shields, and some miscellaneous doo dads that I think came from Smoky Mountain. I can't see the tang stamps in the picture well enough to be sure, but it's possible that your parts were originally acquired the same way.
 
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