Want a traditional bowie knife - The Firearms Forum

johnlives4christ · 03-21-2009, 06:43 PM

i've been keeping my eyes peeled for a while in hopes of finding a good quality bowie knife. i dont know a lot of how to describe what i want, but i know what i want when i see it. i've seen pictures in the boot "packing iron" of bowies that i like. they aren't much over 12-14 inches long, the handls are normally just plain bone with like 6 small rivets or maybe 3 big ones. the corners of the handels are clipped and it has a small handguard. the blade looks like it is around 1/8 maybe 3/16 thick at the most. anyways. if anyone knows of a manufacturer of something that fits this description of the traditional bowie. i might have one made custom, but i dont want to spend over 250 dollars. anyone got any suggestions let me know. must be made in usa as well
~john

tim peterson · 03-21-2009, 06:59 PM

Hey john you might try ebay I saw about a thousand on there site when I was looking for a Bowie knife. good luck!

Shooter45 · 03-21-2009, 07:01 PM

I did a Google search and found this.

http://www.dantesknife.com/bowie_knives.htm

There were more.

johnlives4christ · 03-21-2009, 07:14 PM

hi shooter45. i checked the link out and there wasn't anything that i really liked, thanks for the help though. and thanks tim for the suggestion on ebay, i have looked on there once in a while but havent found anything that comforms to the pattern i want, i'll see if i can find a pic of what i want somewhere

tim peterson · 03-21-2009, 09:22 PM

Heres another you might try Smoky mountain knife works. I used them once or twice and there good folks!

ckill1 · 03-21-2009, 09:48 PM

Hopefully my next bowie will be a Randall made, course I will need to come up with the funds, but they are worth every penny. For the money you want to spend, I would look to ebay for a DeLeon. Enido DeLeon makes some truly beautiful knives, and his prices are reasonable. I picked up a push dagger of his from ebay for about 200.00 last year. Try there first. If you decide to go custom, PM me and I will send you the contact info for a local maker in Nebraska named Sloan. He has a myspace page, but its a PIA to order. He does great work, his knives are incredibly light for their size, and hold an edge well. Think hes working on his journeyman smith title now so his prices wont stay low for long...let me know.

chris

Vasily Zaytsev · 03-22-2009, 01:13 AM

JOhn,

The Bowie bothers made 30 odd blades in less than 20 years.

The first and the last are the most famous.

I own, and believe the first bowie was the best. Made by Gourge Searles of Baton Rouge LA. A famous blade smith of the times, and whom made most of the Bowie original blades.

There were two made. Jim's is in the Santa Anna museum in Mexico City, His brothers (who he gave to Col Fowler) is at the Alamo today.

After I bought mine, I happened by the Alamo, and brought mine in, and had it close enough to the class case to see this one listed below is as close as you can get.

http://www.imperialweapons.com/knives/Ip-203.html

Im was made by a different company (Dixie Gun Works) and was a very limited run. The blade is made from better steel. But the one listed looks more like the one in the Alamo.

This knife was designed to knife fight with. Mine cut thru a 1/2 semi mud flap with two finger ease.

The Iron Mistress was the other famous one. It was huge, and Imperial sells a version of it. Id not get cought carrying one, its as big as an axe/cleaver.

I will carry mine, the rest of my days

Bill DeShivs · 03-22-2009, 01:34 AM

Vasily
The "Iron Mistress" type knife was never used by either James or rezin Bowie. It is a 1950s invention.
The knife Bowie used in the sand bar fight was a large butcher knife.
The Searles knives are very well made pieces, and authentic. There are ony 2 known that can be attributed to the Bowies. The Dixie Gun Works versions are made in India.

johnlives4christ · 03-22-2009, 03:28 AM

thanks everyone for your replies. i have looked online for a little while trying to find even a picture of the one i want, much less a reproduction or an original. the only place i have seen it is in the book packing iron. the book is about gun leather, but the knife is pictured in a photo with some other things. as well there is another version pictured several pages later. the only thing that comes close to what i want is the BEAR MGC bowie, it's about 15 inches overall. the shape of it is the general shape i want but the blade isnt the exact shape i want, the main dislike that i have towards the bear knife is the size. i want it to be in the 12" range. i want slab side handles and a brass guard. i dont have a scanner at the house but i do at work and sometime when i'm not to hard at it i'll upload the picture from the book so you can see exactly what im talking about. i have looked for several hours online and off and on on ebay. and i cant find anything like it of modern manufacture, nor any originals for that matter. i have about come to the conclusion that i will have to have the knife custom made from the picture. i have looked at a bunch of differant websites from custom knife makers and haven seen anything like i want. seen similar on occasion. one thing that is important to me is the blade material. i dont like stainless steel. i want some type of carbon steel. im not up to date of the types of steel, but for referance the old tree brand bokers and old case pocket knives both have good steel that holds an edge well and sharpens easy. and i want to have buffalo horn handles on it, with a black belt sheath.

anyways. i know about exactly what i want. so know i reckon the search for the right person to make it is under way. i wouldn't want to may over 400 for it with sheath and buffalo horn handles, and get him to throw in shipping as well.
maybe im dreaming i dont know
~john

johnlives4christ · 03-22-2009, 03:31 AM

hey if anyone has the book packing iron, and would be willing to scan the page and post it i would appreciate it. the first picture is page 86 the next is page 90. i like the knife in the later picture better.

~john

Bill DeShivs · 03-22-2009, 05:01 PM

John
Email me the pictures through my web site.
I can probably help you.

johnlives4christ · 03-22-2009, 07:52 PM

Bill, i will have to scan them first. sometime when i have use of the computer at work
i'll see if i can do it in the next couple days

Vasily Zaytsev · 03-23-2009, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

Vasily
The "Iron Mistress" type knife was never used by either James or rezin Bowie. It is a 1950s invention.

The Dixie Gun Works versions are made in India.

Naw, The brass backstrapped bowie was a Bowie design. The movie version was not.

The DGW version was made in Italy. Well the blade was on mine. It says so under the wood.

Bill DeShivs · 03-23-2009, 01:44 AM

No knife that can be attributed to either Bowie had a brass backstrap. The Searles knives had the maker's mark engraved on an inlayed, gold oval on the spine of the blades. There are no old bowies with a brass backstrap.

Vasily Zaytsev · 03-23-2009, 11:48 AM

Its all pure speculation now

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowie_knife

Quote:

The back of the blade sometimes had a strip of soft metal (normally brass or copper)

http://www.linecamp.com/museums/amer...wie_knife.html

Quote:

The back of the blade had a soft metal inlaid to catch the opponent's blade during a scrape

Bill DeShivs · 03-23-2009, 01:05 PM

Anyone can write in Wikipedia. It is quite simply, wrong.
Consensus among experts in the field is that there were no brass backstraps.

Vasily Zaytsev · 03-23-2009, 06:01 PM

Being that none of us are that old, we will never know

Tom Militano · 04-29-2009, 10:25 AM

Your wasting your breath Bill. Bowie's blade was made by James Black, not Bowie.

Bill DeShivs · 04-29-2009, 12:50 PM

The Bowies never made any knives. Whether James Black made the "first" Bowie knife is the subject of some speculation among serious cutlery scholars.

Tom Militano · 04-29-2009, 03:41 PM

And we'll never know for sure if Black did make the knife for Bowie, your right.

Rocket J Squirl · 07-20-2009, 09:49 PM

Several site George Searles on Baton Rouge LA as making the first bowies that Resin and Jim designed.

nevermind, already covered and old post

TOOHSOTKIL · 07-23-2009, 10:47 AM

I believe that Gary Reed/Reeder??(drawing a blank) Custom pistol smith makes a traditional bowie knife. Ads in SGN for custom Ruger wheelguns.

jrg · 08-18-2009, 06:24 AM

Have you seen the Wingem bowie knives made in recent past? Not sure about complete history, but from the little I've found, seem to be from the 50's / 60's / 70's. I found a stag handled Bowie that sounds pretty close to your description at a knife shop in Oklahoma City a couple of weeks ago. It cost me $50 plus tax. I'm pretty happy with it - must be a Texan thing.

The blade is approximately 8 1/2" long, about a 1/4" thick and has a brass guard with rounded ends. O.a. length is approximately 12" - hefty blade. I have no idea what kind of steel is used in it, but it seems to be durable enough. Here is a picture of it.

It has a cheesy Original Bowie Knife in Teutonic lettering, and Othello stamped on other side of hilt. Anton Wingen Jr is the maker - I think the company is defunct.

A.G. Russell also makes some good looking Bowie knives, the Cowboy bowie, smaller than what you are describing looks sweet to me.

http://www.agrussell.com/product.asp...cd2=1250614119

Anyway, just trying to help narrow it down - hope this helps.

03-21-2009, 06:43 PM	#1
johnlives4christ Former Guest Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,828	Want a traditional bowie knife i've been keeping my eyes peeled for a while in hopes of finding a good quality bowie knife. i dont know a lot of how to describe what i want, but i know what i want when i see it. i've seen pictures in the boot "packing iron" of bowies that i like. they aren't much over 12-14 inches long, the handls are normally just plain bone with like 6 small rivets or maybe 3 big ones. the corners of the handels are clipped and it has a small handguard. the blade looks like it is around 1/8 maybe 3/16 thick at the most. anyways. if anyone knows of a manufacturer of something that fits this description of the traditional bowie. i might have one made custom, but i dont want to spend over 250 dollars. anyone got any suggestions let me know. must be made in usa as well ~john -->

03-21-2009, 06:59 PM	#2
tim peterson V.I.P. Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: COLORADO Posts: 279	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Hey john you might try ebay I saw about a thousand on there site when I was looking for a Bowie knife. good luck!

03-21-2009, 07:01 PM	#3
Shooter45 Administrator Join Date: Feb 2001 Contributor Posts: 8,752	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife I did a Google search and found this. http://www.dantesknife.com/bowie_knives.htm There were more.

03-21-2009, 07:14 PM	#4
johnlives4christ Former Guest Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,828	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife hi shooter45. i checked the link out and there wasn't anything that i really liked, thanks for the help though. and thanks tim for the suggestion on ebay, i have looked on there once in a while but havent found anything that comforms to the pattern i want, i'll see if i can find a pic of what i want somewhere

03-21-2009, 09:22 PM	#5
tim peterson V.I.P. Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: COLORADO Posts: 279	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Heres another you might try Smoky mountain knife works. I used them once or twice and there good folks!

03-21-2009, 09:48 PM	#6
ckill1 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: SW Iowa Posts: 299	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Hopefully my next bowie will be a Randall made, course I will need to come up with the funds, but they are worth every penny. For the money you want to spend, I would look to ebay for a DeLeon. Enido DeLeon makes some truly beautiful knives, and his prices are reasonable. I picked up a push dagger of his from ebay for about 200.00 last year. Try there first. If you decide to go custom, PM me and I will send you the contact info for a local maker in Nebraska named Sloan. He has a myspace page, but its a PIA to order. He does great work, his knives are incredibly light for their size, and hold an edge well. Think hes working on his journeyman smith title now so his prices wont stay low for long...let me know. chris __________________ People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

03-22-2009, 01:13 AM	#7
Vasily Zaytsev Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 72	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife JOhn, The Bowie bothers made 30 odd blades in less than 20 years. The first and the last are the most famous. I own, and believe the first bowie was the best. Made by Gourge Searles of Baton Rouge LA. A famous blade smith of the times, and whom made most of the Bowie original blades. There were two made. Jim's is in the Santa Anna museum in Mexico City, His brothers (who he gave to Col Fowler) is at the Alamo today. After I bought mine, I happened by the Alamo, and brought mine in, and had it close enough to the class case to see this one listed below is as close as you can get. http://www.imperialweapons.com/knives/Ip-203.html Im was made by a different company (Dixie Gun Works) and was a very limited run. The blade is made from better steel. But the one listed looks more like the one in the Alamo. This knife was designed to knife fight with. Mine cut thru a 1/2 semi mud flap with two finger ease. The Iron Mistress was the other famous one. It was huge, and Imperial sells a version of it. Id not get cought carrying one, its as big as an axe/cleaver. I will carry mine, the rest of my days

03-22-2009, 01:34 AM	#8
Bill DeShivs Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Contributor Posts: 1,470	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Vasily The "Iron Mistress" type knife was never used by either James or rezin Bowie. It is a 1950s invention. The knife Bowie used in the sand bar fight was a large butcher knife. The Searles knives are very well made pieces, and authentic. There are ony 2 known that can be attributed to the Bowies. The Dixie Gun Works versions are made in India. __________________ Bill DeShivs www.billdeshivs.com

03-22-2009, 03:28 AM	#9
johnlives4christ Former Guest Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,828	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife thanks everyone for your replies. i have looked online for a little while trying to find even a picture of the one i want, much less a reproduction or an original. the only place i have seen it is in the book packing iron. the book is about gun leather, but the knife is pictured in a photo with some other things. as well there is another version pictured several pages later. the only thing that comes close to what i want is the BEAR MGC bowie, it's about 15 inches overall. the shape of it is the general shape i want but the blade isnt the exact shape i want, the main dislike that i have towards the bear knife is the size. i want it to be in the 12" range. i want slab side handles and a brass guard. i dont have a scanner at the house but i do at work and sometime when i'm not to hard at it i'll upload the picture from the book so you can see exactly what im talking about. i have looked for several hours online and off and on on ebay. and i cant find anything like it of modern manufacture, nor any originals for that matter. i have about come to the conclusion that i will have to have the knife custom made from the picture. i have looked at a bunch of differant websites from custom knife makers and haven seen anything like i want. seen similar on occasion. one thing that is important to me is the blade material. i dont like stainless steel. i want some type of carbon steel. im not up to date of the types of steel, but for referance the old tree brand bokers and old case pocket knives both have good steel that holds an edge well and sharpens easy. and i want to have buffalo horn handles on it, with a black belt sheath. anyways. i know about exactly what i want. so know i reckon the search for the right person to make it is under way. i wouldn't want to may over 400 for it with sheath and buffalo horn handles, and get him to throw in shipping as well. maybe im dreaming i dont know ~john

03-22-2009, 03:31 AM	#10
johnlives4christ Former Guest Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,828	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife hey if anyone has the book packing iron, and would be willing to scan the page and post it i would appreciate it. the first picture is page 86 the next is page 90. i like the knife in the later picture better. ~john

03-22-2009, 05:01 PM	#11
Bill DeShivs Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Contributor Posts: 1,470	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife John Email me the pictures through my web site. I can probably help you. __________________ Bill DeShivs www.billdeshivs.com

03-22-2009, 07:52 PM	#12
johnlives4christ Former Guest Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,828	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Bill, i will have to scan them first. sometime when i have use of the computer at work i'll see if i can do it in the next couple days

03-23-2009, 01:44 AM	#14
Bill DeShivs Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Contributor Posts: 1,470	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife No knife that can be attributed to either Bowie had a brass backstrap. The Searles knives had the maker's mark engraved on an inlayed, gold oval on the spine of the blades. There are no old bowies with a brass backstrap. __________________ Bill DeShivs www.billdeshivs.com

03-23-2009, 01:05 PM	#16
Bill DeShivs Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Contributor Posts: 1,470	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Anyone can write in Wikipedia. It is quite simply, wrong. Consensus among experts in the field is that there were no brass backstraps. __________________ Bill DeShivs www.billdeshivs.com

03-23-2009, 06:01 PM	#17
Vasily Zaytsev Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 72	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Being that none of us are that old, we will never know

04-29-2009, 10:25 AM	#18
Tom Militano Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Jacksonville, AL Posts: 1,255	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Your wasting your breath Bill. Bowie's blade was made by James Black, not Bowie.

04-29-2009, 12:50 PM	#19
Bill DeShivs Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Contributor Posts: 1,470	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife The Bowies never made any knives. Whether James Black made the "first" Bowie knife is the subject of some speculation among serious cutlery scholars. __________________ Bill DeShivs www.billdeshivs.com Last edited by Bill DeShivs; 04-30-2009 at 12:14 AM..

04-29-2009, 03:41 PM	#20
Tom Militano Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Jacksonville, AL Posts: 1,255	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife And we'll never know for sure if Black did make the knife for Bowie, your right.

07-20-2009, 09:49 PM	#21
Rocket J Squirl Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 418	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Several site George Searles on Baton Rouge LA as making the first bowies that Resin and Jim designed. nevermind, already covered and old post

07-23-2009, 10:47 AM	#22
TOOHSOTKIL V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Curracus Posts: 318	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife I believe that Gary Reed/Reeder??(drawing a blank) Custom pistol smith makes a traditional bowie knife. Ads in SGN for custom Ruger wheelguns.

08-18-2009, 06:24 AM	#23
jrg V.I.P. Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 51	Re: Want a traditional bowie knife Have you seen the Wingem bowie knives made in recent past? Not sure about complete history, but from the little I've found, seem to be from the 50's / 60's / 70's. I found a stag handled Bowie that sounds pretty close to your description at a knife shop in Oklahoma City a couple of weeks ago. It cost me $50 plus tax. I'm pretty happy with it - must be a Texan thing. The blade is approximately 8 1/2" long, about a 1/4" thick and has a brass guard with rounded ends. O.a. length is approximately 12" - hefty blade. I have no idea what kind of steel is used in it, but it seems to be durable enough. Here is a picture of it. It has a cheesy Original Bowie Knife in Teutonic lettering, and Othello stamped on other side of hilt. Anton Wingen Jr is the maker - I think the company is defunct. A.G. Russell also makes some good looking Bowie knives, the Cowboy bowie, smaller than what you are describing looks sweet to me. http://www.agrussell.com/product.asp...cd2=1250614119 Anyway, just trying to help narrow it down - hope this helps. Last edited by jrg; 08-18-2009 at 11:54 AM..