WWII Australian Made "Ranger" Knife
Item #: WR285
Click on an image to enlarge
This is a theater made fighting knife known as the 1st Ranger Battalion knife from World War II. These knives derived their name from Harold Peterson's book, "American Knives" written in 1958. It was mistakenly identified as having been designed by members of the Army 1st Ranger battalion in 1942, and it has stuck with that name ever since. In years since the publication of Peterson's book it has been revealed that these knives were actually made in Australia. They were made on the civilian market and sold to American soldiers and Marines who took part in the Pacific theater area of operations. They were made in two different sizes, a large and small version. This is the harder to come by, small variant, complete with original scabbard. The knife has an overall length of 10" with a blade length of 6 1/4". The brass hilt has cogs cast into it for hand to hand fighting. Somewhere along the line dark green paint has been applied to the brass hilt, apparently in an attempt to camouflage it. Remnants of the paint can be seen on the hilt, mixed with the aged brass. The blade has achieved a dull pewter look, with some dark brown areas of rust near the hilt. The original scabbard is in very good condition. The stitching is tight and unbroken. The belt loop is still present as well. There's no doubt these two have been together since the 1940's, as both the scabbard and hit have the same shade of green paint on them. If you collect theater made WWII fighting knives, this one is an absolute necessity!
(Sold)
Sorry we are not accepting on line orders at this time. If you are interested in an item please contact me at 615 717 7792 or email me at mwkiser07@gmail.com.
If you have ordered or are considering ordering an antique weapon or artifact from our website please be advised that these artifacts and antique weapons are sold strictly as collectible antiques.
We strongly recommends that these artifacts be enjoyed and appreciated for their historical significance and not ever fired. By ordering you are acknowledging these facts, warnings and assume full responsibility for your personal actions with regard to them.
We DO NOT sell modern firearms , all our inventory is pre 1898 and are classified by the ATF as antiques and require no government paperwork to own.