DougO Posted June 24, 2014 Share #1 Posted June 24, 2014 I was offered this V-42 fighting knife. I doesn't look like others that I have handled (no pin in the upper pommel, shinny blued blade, etc.), but the seller says that he bought it directly from Case as 'newly discovered old stock'. Is this a reproduction or commemorative knife? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted June 24, 2014 Pic1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share #3 Posted June 24, 2014 Having trouble posting pics.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share #4 Posted June 24, 2014 Pic2... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted June 24, 2014 Pic3... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share #6 Posted June 24, 2014 Final pic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share #7 Posted June 25, 2014 Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1canpara Posted June 25, 2014 Share #8 Posted June 25, 2014 I'm no expert Doug, but this doesn't look right to me....something about the hilt that bothers me....and I'm sure that if it were truly NOS from Case it would be in the multiples of thousands of dollars....best case scenario I'd say it was a commemorative piece just on instinct, but I could be entirely wrong also Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchcollector Posted June 25, 2014 Share #9 Posted June 25, 2014 I'm no expert either,but I did a "Google" search and found nothing about "V-42 Case newly discovered old stock".I guess the best way to find out would be to contact Case directly and ask them about it. Here is a link I found on their site: http://www.wrcase.com/support/contact/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 25, 2014 Share #10 Posted June 25, 2014 Doug If you have a loop with good magnification look at the thumb print.I have two examples of originals.THe thumb prints were ground with a wheel and there are grind marks deep in the grooves of the thumb print.The skull crusher will also show machining marks as the ones I hav show them from being machined on equipment like a lathe.Could be the pictures but the thumb print doesnt look ground and would like to hear if there are tool markings in the grooves. The cross guard looks like the type used on originals as they were a bright metal finnished in black and the black paint tended to not adhere very well.THe guard isnt magmetic on mine and appears stainless.The blade and skull crusher are magnetic. THe fonts of the letting in the CASE stamp look good but again I would want to see it in hand.The E on CASE also has a thicker end or gets thicker as it extends out from the top the letter. I recall there being examples that came out of the Case auction that were mint. I have one of the old COPPI made repros and they did a great job with these.THe pommel on these were threaded and not pinned.I use it for displays and to put on a mannequin as well. Overall I like the looks of it but would want to see it in hand.One thing to remember with the V42s they were all hand ground.The blade should be hand ground and not stamped THe tool used to cut the thumb print was also used to cut the grooves in the handles.THis said I have owned and seen examples of smooth handles.One is shown in the Allied fighting knife book as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share #11 Posted June 25, 2014 The seller says that this one came from the Case auctions. However it does not have a pin in the upper pommel/skull crusher. All the originals I've seen have had the pin in the upper pommer/skull crusher. Has anyone seen an original without the pin? Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 25, 2014 Share #12 Posted June 25, 2014 If it came from the Factory auction then it should be fairly easy to trace back to the auction and document it.THere were several of the advanced blade collectors there and Im sure some are or were members here and may have the auction catalog avaiable from the auction. Since you know the seller I would start there as well with chain of custody. Curious what is the asking price and does it have a scabbard?? Im not sure if you contacted Case or the company historian there if possibly they would have a record of it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 25, 2014 Share #13 Posted June 25, 2014 You may find this useful. Also the Allied Fighting knives book shows a plated version. http://usmilitaryfightingknives.com/V42.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byf41 Posted June 25, 2014 Share #14 Posted June 25, 2014 Mike Silvey shows one of those prototype auction V42's in his WWII book and it does not appear to have a pinned pommel . This knife that started the thread looks better than any knock off Ive ever seen if you can look past the unpinned pommel . As Ron stated any documentation would put it to bed . JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 25, 2014 Share #15 Posted June 25, 2014 Mike Silvey shows one of those prototype auction V42's in his WWII book and it does not appear to have a pinned pommel . This knife that started the thread looks better than any knock off Ive ever seen if you can look past the unpinned pommel . As Ron stated any documentation would put it to bed . JMO The knife in the above link is the one on pages 104-105 of Siveys book according to the site information and is one of the auction knives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeder3 Posted June 26, 2014 Share #16 Posted June 26, 2014 I can only dream of owning a V42... Buddy just picked one up, sweet knives. Hope you find out it's the real deal and get the chance to own the baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1canpara Posted June 26, 2014 Share #17 Posted June 26, 2014 I knew when Ron came across this thread some great info would be forthcoming! I just learned a lot myself, and as Reeder3 said, I dream of owning an authentic one someday but even a decent copy would be nice to display! Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 26, 2014 Share #18 Posted June 26, 2014 I can only dream of owning a V42... Buddy just picked one up, sweet knives. Hope you find out it's the real deal and get the chance to own the baby. There was a nice one on ebay recently.No scabbard.Showed used.It went for under $1500.If it was a legit listing it was fair for the condition.I had thought about placing a bid but wasnt around when it ended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeder3 Posted June 26, 2014 Share #19 Posted June 26, 2014 I would have been all over that. Wish I would have seen it. Did you see the one that was in phenomenal shape go for $4600? It was beautiful and I thought it should have gone for 2x that. Told my wife and she asked why I didn't buy it! Explained to her we didn't have $5000 to stick in anything right now lol. Pretty cool she gave me go ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougO Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share #20 Posted June 26, 2014 Thanks for all of the great information so far. I have contacted Case for more information. It does come with a scabbard, which was acquired seperately. So, need to get that checked out as well. It is not cheap, so I need to be sure. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 27, 2014 Share #21 Posted June 27, 2014 I would have been all over that. Wish I would have seen it. Did you see the one that was in phenomenal shape go for $4600? It was beautiful and I thought it should have gone for 2x that. Told my wife and she asked why I didn't buy it! Explained to her we didn't have $5000 to stick in anything right now lol. Pretty cool she gave me go ahead. You should have seen the one I tried to convince my dad to buy back in the early 80s for $350.THe guy even came down to $300 for me.Being a kid I had a little saved up and told dad I would go in half with him or buy his share back...He said "your mother would kill me if I let you buy that". (note to self...listen to the little voice in your head and not to your wife) We had a lot of fun talking about that over the years.I know where the knife is but it wont be $350 if it comes up for sale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinb Posted June 27, 2014 Share #22 Posted June 27, 2014 Ron, I found my V42 in 1984 and also needed my Dad to help pay for it. It cost $1100, but I was buying it directly from the vet who carried it and Dad was easy to talk into buying it. And it did take a long time to pay him back though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 29, 2014 Share #23 Posted June 29, 2014 This one sold for $1424.00 recently.The tip is damaged and shows wear and use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knife7knut Posted July 22, 2014 Share #24 Posted July 22, 2014 As a newcomer on this forum I hesitated to post a picture of the V-42 I acquired several months ago so I will confine my remarks to just written for now.It is also telling me I am only allowed 1 more post until July 22.Here is the story so far: I frequently scour e-bay looking for mis-described items which may turn out to be valuable.Occasionally I find one.This was the case of the V-42. It was listed along with two other fixed blade knives as a letter opener! Someone at some point in time had removed the original leather handle(possibly it had rotted away as it came from Florida)but fortunately had left the pommel attached. There were a couple of things that were different from the regular V-42's:namely the blade showed no evidence of ever having a blued finish and the pommel instead of having the skull crusher was rounded and the threaded hole protruded through.It has never been sharpened and the point is intact. After receiving it and getting the ugly handle removed I examined it closely and it seemed to be real.I know that there were some fakes circulating in the late 1970's and there was an article published about them in one of the knife magazines.Unfortunately I couldn't find my copy. I posted pictures of it on another forum and someone suggested I contact Frank Trasczka about it.We communicated back and forth several times and I supplied him with some close up photographs.We discussed the apparent differences and opined that it may have been one that escaped the bluing process for one reason or another.Apparently Case did not do the bluing in house but sent the blades to an outside vendor and they were assembled when they returned.Another possibility was that it was a so-called,"lunchbox" knife;having escaped the factory in that mode of transportation.I didn't think so because it showed evidence of having a handle on it at some point in time.The pommel's lack of a skull crusher we couldn't explain. Other than taking a #2 lead pencil and cleaning off a small amount of corrosion(it works wonders and doesn't damage the metal)and wiping it down with mineral oil I have done nothing to the blade.I had thought about buying one of the aforementioned reproductions and using the leather handle from it to repair mine.As I have no intention of selling it,I considered this a possibility.If I ever did sell it,I would state the modification to whomever bought it. In the meantime,I constructed a temporary handle from clear Lexan in the vein of a "theater knife".It is easily removeable and the knife was not modified at all. In case anyone would like to view the pictures,they are located on the forum," All About Pocket Knives" in the Case Collector's forum. When I have been on here longer I will post pictures in a separate post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knife7knut Posted July 28, 2014 Share #25 Posted July 28, 2014 Thought I would post up a couple of pictures of the previously mentioned V-42.As described the handle was missing so I constructed one theater style from som Lexan sheet and rod I had laying around from a previous project.It was constructed so that should I decide to put an original style handle on it at some later date it will be an easy task.Nothing was modified when this was done.As described before the blade is in excellent unsharpend shape with a full point.The first picture of it is the original e-Bay listing with the two other knives offered for sale. The last is with the Lexan handle attached. The selling price with shipping for the 3 knives was just a shade under $55. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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