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Camillus, NY USMC Ka-Bar style knife


CHASEUSA11B
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CHASEUSA11B

Hello everyone, i just picked this Ka-Bar style knife marked "CAMILLUS, NY" and "USMC" on the guard. It has a little bit of rust on the blade, the sheath is cracked, and it definitly shows some age but I think its a good honest piece of history. The man who sold it to me said he got it from the attic of a house he was cleaning and was told it had been up there for 40 years. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything more about the knife, and possibly determine how old it would have been. Thanks!

Chase

 

post-6201-1306206318.jpg

 

P.S. I apologize in advance if I have used any incorrect terminology-I'm not a knife guy and this is my first piece.

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WW2 model.A later style model after they quit stamping the blade.If I recall they changed the marking sometime in 1943 from the blade to the guard.

 

RD

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Jack's Son

This is my 1943 K-Bar. Notice your guard is bent, similar to a M3 Trench knife.

There are a few different reasons for this........I'm told one reason was to tighten the handle pieces.

 

post-8213-1306211107.jpgpost-8213-1306211114.jpg

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CHASEUSA11B

Thanks for the responses guys, my next step is to clean this up a little without damaging it.........

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Still-A-Marine
Thanks for the responses guys, my next step is to clean this up a little without damaging it.........

 

For the metal I use 0000 steel wool and gun oil. Nice knife. Don't over do it. Bill

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Chase

 

Congrats on your first ! Be carefull blades can be rather interesting and sometimes addictive.

 

Tony

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  • 1 year later...

How long did they manufacture this style of knife with these particular markings? 1943-? I'm buying one and hope they were not manufactured through the 50s...

 

Thanks,

Sean

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Still-A-Marine

How long did they manufacture this style of knife with these particular markings? 1943-? I'm buying one and hope they were not manufactured through the 50s...

 

Thanks,

Sean

 

 

Camillus had their first USMC contract in 1943. The Camillus blade marked USMC would have been made in 1943-1944. In 1944 the change was made moving the markings to the guard. The version with USMC on the guard would have been made in 1944-1945.

 

The contracts ended at the closing of WWII. Camillus did not have another contract until 1962. Then the markings changed. They no longer marked them to a particular branch of service. The ones used between 1945 and 1962 were WWII leftovers.

 

Bill

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Still-A-Marine

WW2 model.A later style model after they quit stamping the blade.If I recall they changed the marking sometime in 1943 from the blade to the guard.

 

RD

 

The change took place in 1944.

 

Bill

 

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