Great Eastern Model 23 / Remington R-1123

[Vince Roberts]

I was recently given the opportunity to visit with a distinguished old Remington R-1123. Made approx 1925 and still in excellent Condition.



As a Great Eastern fan I felt a kinship to this knife though I had never even held one. Much as a young man resembles his Grandfather, I am sure GEC followers recognize the current Model 23 in this old patriarch.

While visiting with this old chap I decided I had a rare opportunity to actually compare apples to apples and I felt other GEC fans might appreciate seeing a direct comparision. So I took the time to snap a couple of family photos of these two gents together and also do some side by side comparison. Here are the results;





Great Eastern 23 / REMINGTON R-1123

Height 1 1/8 / 1 1/8
From top of main blade to bottom of front scale

Length 4 7/16 / 4 1/2

Weight 6.1 oz / 6.3 oz

Thickness @ Front Bolster 0.6375 / 0.6900
Thickness @ Butt 0.680 / 0.7250

Length Main Blade 3 3/4 +32nd / 3 3/4 -32nd
Length Secondary Blade 3 11/16 +32nd / 3 11/16

Blade Thickness - Measured at Tang area Main .112 / .130
Blade Thickness - Measured at Tang area Secondary .111 / .1285

Brass Liner Thickness .0285 / .0285
Steel Spacer Thickness .1225 / .140

Shield Pinned / Pinned
Shield Length 1.305 / 1.257

Bolster Width .612 / .612

Sorry the Format isn't better on the stats but you get the idea. If you have any particular questions don't hesitate to ask.

[Froggyedge]

Two awesome knives with so many years apart..!

Nice pics and very interesting comparison.
Great idea!

[useem]

Good show, thanks. I like the fact that the GEC does not have the lanyard hole.

[Luckypaul777]

Both very nice and similar; except for the prices of course. I don't care for the lanyard hole either; but that Remington bone and jigging are hard to beat.


Paul

[Vince Roberts]

Thanks guys.

Paul- Your quite right about the prices. In 1925 the Remington would have sold for approx $2.25 Now keep in mind what other things were costing then;

Bread $.09 lb
Coffee $.50 lb
Suger $.35 5 lbs
Corn Meal $.06 lb
Oranges $.57 doz

Times have certainly changed.

[noddy]

Bruiser!

That's a knife I'd like to take out with me someday :D

[cbnutt]

nice comparison, i would like to see modern companys try to match that jigging like that though on the old remington, i like the old school look.

[big monk]

Great post/story Vince----------as many of us GEC fans have been saying,the quality of the Great Eastern line-up of knives,is so close to ""Old School"" that you might think it is old school-----------we probably will see,some old style jigging,before long they do everything else so well___________why not _______thanks for sharin'

[bloomingeek]

Great looking knife. I saw a similar one in an antique shop near Eureka Springs,Ark. a couple of months ago for an asking price of around $200.

Also, my two-blade, Great Eastern Scout with Standard Green Tea Bone handles has the exact same jigging as the Remington above.

For an example look at CollectorKnives.net on the GEC page. These Scouts are a great value, I'm surprised they're still available.
Fred

[peterforce]

i always figured this was where GEC got the frame from???


speaking of old school patterns i want GEC to bring back the coke folding hunter,hawkbill/pruner{with snap of 23} ill take 2 in snakewood!