Ames Knife

rhmc24

I have a huge knife with Ames and partial CABO??? below and partial date 184? below that near hilt on blade. Other side has U? (looks like part of S) and WD below that. Blade is 12" x 1 5/8 & 18 1/4 LOA. Brass guard has WD & JWR. It has a scabbard brass both ends with leather between in very bad condition, complete but brittle and broken in half. Blade is single edge same width 8" where it begins taper evenly each side to the point. Handle is wood with something of a turn down like hook pommel (toward the edge)with a big hollow brass rivet thru it 1/4" hole. Along the handle are 3 iron rivets. Condition is excellent, only age discoloration, no sign of sharpening or cleaning. Any info ot ID it or leads toward info will be appreciated.

rufe-snow

Only 1000 of the original ones were made in the late 1840's. GOOGLE "Ames Rifleman's Knife". Replicas have been on the market for years. Many of these have been worked over by fakers. If you have a original one that can be authenticated your in high cotton. Don't be taking any vacations to Vegas, till you have some pro knife dealers/collectors do a hands-on.

captkirk3@dslextreme.com

You might find this interesting:
1849 AMES Rifleman's Knife...
The first riflemans knife made under contract for the U.S. Government by the Ames Manufacturing Company. CABOTVILLE, MASS. 1000 knifes were made for the Mounted Rifleman and were delivered in 1849. This knife was made with a 12" Blade, 1 5/8" Wide, 1/4" thick, and stamped on the obverse Ricaso "AMES MFG CO./ CABOTVILLE/1849" On the reverse "U.S./W.D."
The Brass Guard is 3 7/8" Long & Stamped with the Initials "W.D." and "J.W.R.". Handles are Walnut held with 3 Steel Rivits. The Black Leather Scabbard has a Brass Throat and Tip. It has a Stud for attachment to a Frog. This Brass Stud was Stamped with a small "D".

(The National Park Service has one in the Chicamauga Battlefield Museum)

rhmc24

Thanks for the info. I have also learned that Flayderman has a book priced $80 with a lot of ID info. Waiting to see a friend who has the book so I can check it out. Learned that there were repros made in Japan and India and a quick check on the Jap is that the handle rivets are flushed. This knife has the raised iron rivets. A friend sent a lot of pix which I will use to compare against mine when I get around to it. I'll post anything worthwhile that I learn. Thanx agn.

captkirk3@dslextreme.com

Our Pleasure to have been able to have been of some small Help.....Best....

rhmc24

I got excerpts from what appears to be a pub "US Military Knives" by Trzaska that had quite a lot about this knife. As expected it appears to be a repro. I can't fault the blade marks. They look to be as genuine as on the original knife. Letters in the brass are sans-serif where the original's letters have serifs. There is something of a collar on the brass as it joins the wood that is not present on any of the others, several real & repros. Also no solder marks on the thong tube as on the original & possibly a very small difference in the curvature of the grip shape. The brass ends on the sheath are stapled rather than riveted & no "D" stamp visible on the button altho it looks like it has been damaged and cleaned up. My guess it is not either the Jap or the India repro but something else. Leather of the scabbard looks like it could be 150 years old and shrunk about half inch lengthwise. To be continued if/when more info is available.