All About Pocket Knives

I got this knife because I liked the swedge on the main clip blade. The springs and blade appear nice and old, although the main clip blade appears to have been cleaned up a bit, except for inside the knick, the top of the swedge, and a small bit at the end of the tip on the pile side. Any opinions?

Maybe it's just the pictures but is the master blade short? Also looks too wide? Odd that the tang stamp isn't readable. Maybe a huge red flag?

Main blade is not "right".

I suspect that the clip is a replacement. It doesn't appear to be the right shape, doesn't have the same patina/age appearance as the other blades, and looks like it has been treated to a good sanding.

I'm no expert, but I agree, the main blade doesn't look "Case."

Yes, certainly looks like a master blade replacement.

That main blade looks a little too short and fat to me to be a Case -47 main.

The master blade is not original to the knife. Whether it's an intentional counterfeit or just an attempt to salvage an otherwise usable knife depends largely upon where and how it was obtained, and what was paid for it.

A counterfeiter typically would have stamped the master blade with a "Case" stamping in an effort to pass it off as a legitimate old Case knife. Someone just salvaging a knife to make it useful wouldn't bother to stamp it. The fact that whoever did it apparently ground the original stamp off the blade puts it in a gray area. JMO

Ken

Thanks everyone for the info! I paid 18 bucks for this knife. Ironically, I've never been too big a fan of Case stockmans because of the narrow, swedgeless clip blades, so when I saw this one with a short fat clip sporting a pronounced swedge I figured I'd pick it up, but thought it might be suspect. I also liked that the springs had that great, subtle carbon steel pitting that really shows the age of a knife.

It would be nice to know where the replacement clip blade originated. It also looks pretty old, and I may do an HRC test to see if it's got a decent heat treat (to the extent one can tell based solely on Rockwell hardness).

The conclusion that the clip is a replacement is further supported by the fact that it's got mushy/gritty walk and talk and some side-to-side wobble. Whereas the spey and punch blades have great snap, strong pulls and no wobble. At least it's nice to know they appear to be original.

Thanks again for the replies. I've really learned a lot from this forum and am pleased to have finally become a participating member.