All About Pocket Knives

I've wanted an old dogleg trapper (pattern 40) for quite some time and now I see this one. Heck, for the price listed I don't care about the celluloid scales, which look like they are more that just starting to shrink. But, I think the blades and their tangs don't seem to match. The main parts of the blades look almost unbelievably good for a knife of this age and the tangs are well worn and pitted, almost to the point of not being legible. And, where is the shield? (I know that some Case knives were produced without them.) The seller describes the knife as "right at 4 1/2 inches", and I've read they are 4 7/16 inches, which I guess is close enough. ( A picture of one in Tom McCandless's great book is listed as 4 3/8".) I am just asking for opinions, not accusing. What do y'all think?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Case-T ... 3077923390

It looks ok to me but the condition is not good of course. Cleaning the tang would have probably erased it completely. Not really a collectible knife in that condition in my opinion but might fill a spot until a better one comes along.

By the way, I appreciate the compliment on my book, much appreciated.

Tom

It's just been "cleaned". In my opinion, it would have been better if left alone ( I don't like "cleaned" knives ).

Here is my Case Bradford Greenbone trapper 6240 1915-19 for comparison. These 40 patterns are relatively rare. This pattern was also produced in the W R Case & Sons period 1905-14.

Thanks for looking

tom

Wow, that one is a beauty Tom! Now you've got me drooling.

I agree with preceding posts that the original post knife is legit (caveat... I did not look up whether it was made in that particular handle material). The clip blade looks to be a bit short (1/8" to 1/4").

Here is a Tested XX 6240 for reference. You will notice the nail nick on the clip blade is in a slightly different location than on Tom's older Bradford rendition. Nothing wrong with either knife, just a difference in design

Looks to me like it's (the OP knife) been cleaned, re-profiled and maybe the kick has been filed so the spey blade sits a little lower instead of riding high.

That’s a beauty, love those Rogers Bone handles

Tom