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Opened up a Case collector's box and found these Buck knives in it instead.
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I love Case knives, but Buck is one of the first knife makers that caught my attention and started my addiction to knife collecting.
Here is a link to some Case history that was left out in Jan's link; Kinfolks, yet another offshoot of Case; http://kinfolksinc.com/story/story.htm. Like Jan I'm a history buff, love to read about cutlery history. I own a 1926 Kinfolks fixed blade, so I did some research and found out about their Case family ties.
Also forgot to mention below that during that 1972-1985 period, Camillus also made knives for Craftsman, (Sears), that were virtual clones of many of the Buck 300 Series. The only difference was the shield & tang stamp, but otherwise identical. if you have any Craftsman knives in that collection that look like the Bucks in the photo above, they were made by Camillus.
Linda,
I did know what you meant. There was a time I did some research into the companies as I was considering having some iKC marbles made. I am a history junkie and I did get sidetracked into the history,
If you ever want a good read about the "commingling" of the families the Case history is a good place to start.
The History of W. R. Case & Sons and Related Companies W. R. Case & Sons Stampings During the long history of W. R. Case & Sons, there have been more than three- dozen different stamps us…
The story of knives branded with the name Case encompasses dozens of markings and as many members of a family who would make cutlery history. To study the brand that is recognized by most collectors
Hi Linda, yes, Buck & Camillus had a long relationship that went all the way up into the early 2000's, and prior to 1986 ALL of the 300 Series of that time were made by them. Even after '86 Camillus continued to do special factory orders and other work for Buck. In the 90's Buck began to also have some knives of the series made in China, so any 300 Series knife with a model number in the high 300's, (379, 382, etc), were all imports, (though Buck itself continued manufacturing certain models of the series here in the US in their own factory). They still have several models made in China to this day.
When Buck decided to expand into the pocket knife market, which was after the huge success of their #110 Folding Hunter in the mid '60's, they farmed the manufacturing out at first to Schrade, (1966), but then they switched over to Camillus in mid 1971, (due to various warranty issues they were having with the Schrade-made models). In 1986 they eliminated some of the 300 Series models entirely, and the ones they kept were then made in-house, but that wasn't the end of their relationship with Camillus. I have a few mid '90's/early 2000's Buck branded SFO's that Camillus made for Buck, that were only sold by Smokey Mountain Knife Works, so the relationship continued nearly up to Camillus demise in 2006.
If you find any of those black handled versions without a model number on the stamp I can probably still identify it's origins, but would need to see some good photos of it.
Let me know if you decide to part with any of them.
I should correct that a little, the BUCK shield on the bone handles were NOT made by Camillus, they just have the same shield. The #303 Cadet w/black delrin likely WAS made by CC, though it has much different blades than the previous versions CC made for Buck, but according to my Buck gurus those shields went onto CC-made knives in the 90's, and also used on imports from the same period.
Of course the four imports in that photo are of significant lesser value as collectibles than any of the us-made versions. All of the CC-made knives in that photo are indeed "collectible". I should also mention that even Buck knives of that vintage are less valuable than Case knives of the same period for some reason...dunno why, just is what it is.
Ok, let me give this a shot. From the bottom: #311 Slimline Trapper, '72-'86 by Camillus; on bottom-right is a #301 Stockman, same pedigree as the #311. Then two imports, (China), w/ bone handles, can't remember the model numbers on those two, it would be on the tang stamp, (post a separate photo of the blades open & tang stamps visible if you can, I can give you better dates then). Above that on the right & uppermost right with wood handles are import versions, (#382 I think). Second down on right is a #301 Stockman, '72-'86 by Camillus. The two upper left are #303 Cadets, with the bottom one being made in-house by Buck, and the top one that has the BUCK shield also being post 1986 but probably made by Camillus, (they made all models with that particular shield, even after 1986 when most of the series was moved to in-house production).
Best I can do without seeing the tang stamps, but I'm pretty close.
For sale?
I sent a message to one of our guys that may be able to help with some id's here Linda
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