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The collection has started


Stony
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Since I got my H. Boker in a knife/bayonet collection I recently acquired, the Mk1 addiction has started.

 

The three on left are Pal 35s and the last one is the H. Boker. The Pal on the far left is NOS that I took out of the wrapper, the other two are from a local Craigslist ad and the other from a military show yesterday.

 

I'm learning about the different makers thanks to the recent thread http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/300897-usn-mk1-knife-manufacturers/

, but am not privy to the information on the sheaths. Can someone please bring me up to speed on the Pal sheaths and what the different NORD numbers and 1/7 v.p. means?

 

post-7698-0-72704900-1511115774_thumb.jpg

 

 

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For the plastic scabbards, NORD means Navy- Bureau of Ordnance, the procuring agency. the number is merely the awarded contract number. B.M Co. is the Beckwith MFG. Co. and V.P. is Victory Plastics, Contractor and sub-contractor of the scabbards.

The late Gary Cunningham broke down the fractions you see, relating them to production control numbers. I thought somewhere on the forum here he broke that down somewhat but cannot find the thread.

The sheaths are not proprietary to PAL, but rather adopted to be used with all Mark 1 and Mark 2 knives replacing the use of leather. They came really late in the manufacturing process, your PAL knife examples are all very late production knives which would be shipped from the factory with the plastic scabbards.

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Thanks for the information, much appreciated.

 

Is the H. Boker and earlier production Mk1? Did it only come in the Navy marked leather sheath?

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I had written down Gary's MK1 & MK2 scabbard info when he posted it. NORD=Naval Bureau of Ordinance

NORD Date of Order Approx # produced Cost

4723 Nov 1943 592,000 $521,000

6581 June 1944 280,000 $240,000

6804 July 1944 90,000 $79,000

8114 March 1945 672,000 $592,000

8676 May 1945 142,000 $125,000

 

As I recall these were for both MK1, & MK2 scabbards no distinction made between the two. SKIP

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What's the ricasso stamped on the opposite side? you only show the side with USN.

I suppose you have to consider that sufficient quantities of the plastic scabbards were contracted as to be available as replacements of the those knives already in service. However, a good rule of thumb is that by the close of 1944 and through 1945 the knives, for the most part, would had been shipped from the factory with the plastic types. All knives prior to their availability would had been with the leather type. Leather sheaths, were not proprietary to any one manufacturer but there is some consistency of supply to some companies. The big thing here is that exact dates are not known, only blocks of time periods. Boker appears to not have made late production knives, and I believe it is safe to say that their shipments would had included only leather sheaths, but a plastic scabbrad is and acceptable as a replacement in its service life.

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