Hi James - If by "is it real" do you mean is it authentic? I guess it depends on what you mean by authentic. I will tell what I see in the one photo you have...

What I see is what appears to be a mid-market production piece for the American market...maybe early to mid 1950's. The blade looks like carbon steel while the handle appears to be stag (hard to tell specifically - could be jigged bone, a material also used), and a beautiful brass S guard. Anyone who knows this is a Bowie knife will understand the shield and the sandbar fight - which of course is synonymous with the Bowie knife. 

The blade is very similar in size and shape to those used on the Monarch and Saber Monarch Bowie knives of the same period. These blades were made in Germany and are considered good steel.

Knives like I described above are all mid-market quality knives - not high priced and not cheap (as in quality). They were (and are still) very well made, affordable, and landed in many a gear box for hunting, fishing, camping, and outdoor use in general. Places like Sears, high-end sporting stores, and even the larger hardware stores sold these proudly.

For me, that answers the question of authenticity. Until proven otherwise, this appears to me as an authentic imported production piece for the intended market described above. 

What I don't see is a cheaply made reproduction piece. 

My assessment is just that - an educated guess based on what I see and comparing that to what I know about other Bowies of that time period from F.A Bower, Gutmann Cutlery, Edge Brand, and other importers of Bowie knives. Without additional data on the knife, it's really hard to say for certain.

Are there any markings on the ricasso (that part of the blade between the guard and cutting edge)? Do you know of it's history? These kinds of details help fill in any blanks. 

There are quite a few Bowie aficionados here at iKC. Once you figure out how to upload your photos, I recommend you post a handful of this Bowie and let's see who else might know more. 

I hope this helps - 

Welcome aboard, James.

It's great to have you here at iKC.

Hi James....welcome to iKC! We're glad you're here. That is a sweet looking Bowie you have there in your first ever attempt to add a photo on iKC. No need to apologize - let's see if I can help you here.

There are several ways to do this - let's try it this way first.

Up on the menu bar titled IKnife Collector, there is a Media tab. Select that, then select ADD PHOTOS HERE. I find it the easiest to add photos from my desktop as opposed to from a URL like Photo Bucket or other photo sites....but that's me. It will gives you the option of either. Also - you can load up to 8 photos per day...so make it count! If you load some up, then don't like one of them, you can delete it and regain your photo count. 

It's been a while for me, but I believe that once you have loaded up your first photo, you can then select Photos here from your home page...over there on the left under your details. Same thing once you create a photo album. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy - it's getting that first set down that's a little tricky if you  don't know what to look for.

Also - if you are adding a photo as part of a discussion thread, that does not count against your daily photo total. Adding a photo in a discussion thread is by selecting the the photo icon in the dialog menu bar, just above where you are typing. Those are a little easier to figure out.

I hope this helps. Give a shout out if you are still not figuring it out...we'll go through it some more.  :-D