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Winchester Knives

Got Winchesters? Old or new?

I'm kinda surprised no one talks much about Winchester knives. I remember a time when old Winchesters knives were one of the revered knife brands.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on December 23, 2012 at 22:34

Here are a couple that I have.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on December 24, 2012 at 2:06

Those are nice ones Billy!

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on December 24, 2012 at 9:49

Robert,

I did a quick surf of the net..and found this.since I don't collect Remington ..hope it helps.

Winchester knives

It depends on which Winchester knife you buy...A Winchester knife from the 1940's backward, is a highly collectable knife, that was quality made and dependable....About the late 80's, the Winchester name was leased, and knives were made of great quality, with jigged bone handles, or stag, in limited editions, that now sell for $60 to $150 USD.....Now the company marketing knives under the Winchester name are making them in China, and they are medocre at best...If you find the 80's or original Winchester's, they are a good investment, but the market is flooded with the new ones, and it is doubtful that they will ever be worth much…

With much of Europe in ruins, including factories in Germany and England, the Remington Company recognized the talents of out-of-work cutlery makers from Sheffield, England and Solingen, Germany--areas renowned for high-quality cutlery production--and brought them to its new knife factories in America in 1919 through the early 1920's.

Remington plunged into the cutlery market with a vengeance. In late 1919, they began preparations and by 1920 were in production. The Remington and L.F.&C. Plants closed almost simultaniously in 1940, Remington turning back to their primary business, guns as WWII loomed upon the horizon. Their knife division was sold to Pal Blade Company. The metal stock of L.F.&C. Was purchased by Baer for his newly formed Ulster Knife Company.

Remington capitalized on the success of the bullet knife, and between 1920 and 1941 Remington released 20 different variations of the popular blade.

Using a single handle form, Remington was able to make numerous versions of the pocket knife with the bullet knife emerging as the favorite. The bullet knife, named after the bullet-shaped cartridge on the handle, became the company's bestseller.

and is now highly sought by collectors. Remington continued to release 20 different variations of the bullet pocket knife between the years 1920 to 1941.

WWI and Incorporation

Having solidified itself in the firearms business with such inventions as the hammerless autoload shotgun, the first successful high-power slide-action repeating rifle and the success of its Rolling Block Rifle, Remington incorporated in Delaware in 1920. The company began production of pocket and hunting knives, cash registers and household utensils to utilize production factories used during World War I.

40-50 Western Knife co., And PAL knives

50-60 Simmons Hardware

70-80 western , did some work for them.

In the 1980's, Camillus made knives for Remington.

After Camillus went out of business, Bear and Sons picked up the business

80s-90's Colonial Knives did work for Winchester ,and Chicago Cutlery

Over the years, Remington experimented with different knife styles. In 1982 Remington relaunched the popular bullet knife line to promote two new rifles, the Model Four and Model Six. Following the old model, the reproductions were alike in every way except the blade metal and handle material. The new bullet knife now uses stainless steel in a DuPont Delrin handle.

90's to present Blue grass cutlery and a couple more even china made some, so the quality is a bit substandard on some

of the knives from current era

http://www.remingtoncutlery.com/index.htm …..these guys could give us the real answers!

http://www.remington.com/pages/our-company/our-company.aspx

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on December 24, 2012 at 10:25

Thanks Miss Sue, for your time and trouble. Looks, like the answer is not a simple one. This little bit of history, will help the collector to enjoy his knife even more.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on December 24, 2012 at 11:10

Well I have a cheap Chinese made Stockman that is surprisingly sharp as a razor and well made. Plus a few other small Chinese made lockbacks. All are quite nice for inexpensive imports. I also opted to mate a winchester up-swept skinner to my Woodman's Pal. I removed the plastic handles and used 550 paracord in its place. The skinner is pretty decent. At least as good as the Chinese made Schrades. It also came with a pretty decent nylon sheath.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 24, 2012 at 13:47

Thanks Robert, Sue is a great resource and good people too!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on December 24, 2012 at 16:30

Why does it seem strange to me to have the famous Sharpfinger not made in the U.S. and not in carbon steel? LOL!

I like what you did to that one Toby. That's a whole new look for a "Sharpfinger"!

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on December 26, 2012 at 10:08

Craig, Bear & Son makes a nice one but it is in 440. Still it has an excellent edge and works quite well. Considering the length of the blade, the 440A works good enough. I'd like it in better grade of stainless or perhaps a 1080+ CS. But it is still a fine a knife.

I'm pretty certain the latter day Schrade and Camillus USA products were also 440 Stainless.

As for the cord wrapped Winchester. Glad you like it Craig. It's a actually pretty comfortable. It would be my first choice for a survival knife but it was it seemed to look good with the Woodman's Pal. It might get replaced with a Black Izula 2. or BK11

Below is the Bear and Son "Sharpfinger"

The Sharpfinger is one of my favorite fixed blade patterns.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on December 27, 2012 at 0:29

That Bear & Son "Sharpfinger" looks really good! I wish I had kept one of my old Old Timer 1095 carbon steel Sharpfingers.

Yeah, the design of the Sharpfinger is perfect......in my opinion. It feels like an extension of your hand......therefore "Sharp-finger". See, I'm not as dumb as I look!

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on July 19, 2013 at 6:54

Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on July 19, 2013 at 11:41

Nice Winchester, Ken.

Permalink Reply by Michael D. on July 20, 2013 at 10:11

The iconic "Winchester" name has incredible marketing potential albeit based on nostalgia.As mentioned in this thread Winchester knives come from PRC (current issues) and some USA made editions (on and off since the early 1980s). It's pretty convoluted to try and find out who was the USA contractor. As a matter of fact it's more convoluted to try and find out who set up the marketing deals to produce and sell Winchester knives.

Only one item is consistent: the "Winchester" name has been owned continuously by Olin Corp. (ammo manufacturer) since WW II. This means every "Winchester" labeled rifle you've seen (since 1980) has been built by somebody else - most recently a Japanese arms company.

Who determines what Winchester knives are made? Who knows. I agree that contract knives are fascinating but in the Winchester realm it gets really convoluted. I would think a collector who wanted to research modern Winchester knives (they started making them in the early 1980s) would need to start at Browning Arms Company (Utah). Like I said it gets complicated. Like this thread mentions, the early 1980s knives were USA made and have collectible value today. Why go to Browning Arms? They most likely do the marketing for the current Chinese manufactured knives (since they market the Japanese made Winchesters) and they most likely have the records of the US Repeating Arms Co. (New Haven, CT). USRA manufactured the last USA built Winchester firearms before it closed down in 2006. Maybe the USRA did the marketing for the early 1980s knives?

How's this all tied together? Browning, Fabrique Nat'l (FN) ,(and formerly USRA) are owned by a Belgian defense contractor.That's why you might see the FN label associated with the Winchester label. Remember Olin Corp. is reaping the royalties all along!!! If a Winchester collector would want to do the research all I can say is "GOOD LUCK"!