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Aww Man I Came Across A Decent Find!

My luck has definitely turned up some lately. While I have been blessed in the past (for goodness sakes I've had incomplete stranger give me a good condition Type 99 arisaka rifle), I've had a dry spell for a good while now. Today I stopped at a "yard sale" (that I'm pretty sure runs every weekend and it's this ladies side "antiquing" business). A nice, but not completely honest, little old lady was taking money. Lots of corelle that she tried to convince another shopper was from the 1950s (corelle didnt exist until 1970), a few pieces of anchor hocking bakeware that I could tell actually was from the 50s or 60s but purported to be pre-war, some vintage cast iron that was worth only half what she had it marked as... the usual. As I was about to leave, I noticed a couple of small knife boxes hidden on one of the tables. Amongst them I found a Western Cutlery stockman style knife that was essentially new old stock! Factory edge was still quite sharp. It was marked at $30... I almost had convinced her to let me have it for $20, but I finally relented and paid $25 for that and an old oil lamp that was fine but missing the wick (I have a spare wick).

It is US made, but after Camillus bought it out and moved production to NY. The scales are not delrin, but laminated wood finished nicely. Not even so much as any lint in the joints (though it's in my pocket now so I fixed that). I'm happy as a clam with it.

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Nice knife dude, I'd buy that for a dollah. :D

Lil Granny may or may not be on the level? But neither are those instructions :sneaky2:
 
Yes, nice find!

I’ve been looking for Westerns lately in antique shops and flea markets when I go out looking for razors.

On the majority I see, the scales look great, but the blades have been filed or ground down quite a bit; they were just used as tools.

When I found the top Stockman in the photo below no one had sharpened it since it left the factory so I dusted off the edges on a Spyderco Sharpmaker. (I haven't sharpened the Spey blade yet.) That carbon steel gets scary sharp. With a strong snap to the blades you’ve got to be careful when opening all 3 blades. 😲😬

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It sounds like you've already dated it, but Western used that tang stamp from 1961-1977, so from the tang stamp yours is pre-Camillus. Here's a link to Western tang stamps.

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.co...id=1b488b7b489afa0e96210f983de9c057&mode=view
 
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Yes, nice find!

I’ve been looking for Westerns lately in antique shops and flea markets when I go out looking for razors.

On the majority I see, the scales look great, but the blades have been filed or ground down quite a bit; they were just used as tools.

When I found the top Stockman in the photo below no one had sharpened it since it left the factory so I dusted off the edges on a Spyderco Sharpmaker. (I haven't sharpened the Spey blade yet.) That carbon steel gets scary sharp. With a strong snap to the blades you’ve got to be careful when opening all 3 blades. 😲😬

View attachment 1947993

It sounds like you've already dated it, but Western used that tang stamp from 1961-1977, so from the tang stamp yours is pre-Camillus. Here's a link to Western tang stamps.

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.co...id=1b488b7b489afa0e96210f983de9c057&mode=view

Thanks for the link on the Tang Stamp dating! This does indeed have the Tang Stamp that coincides with the 61-77 dates... but it came in the box and the box has Camillus and NY labeled. It is possible that the box and pamphlet are "force matched" to the knife... but the knife having a factory edge argues against that. Plus these blades are stainless... even has stainless stamped on the back.

I would love for it to be pre-Camillus... I just don't think it is.
 
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