View Full Version : "Cowboy Knives"
Last summer I jumped into the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS). Part of the enjoyment is the 'costuming' nature of the competition. Overall, CAS is like modern day 3-gun competition but without the steroid rage and scary black firearms.
I am looking for some a decent period-correct knife that will fit on a 2 1/2 or 3 inch leather pistol belt and a decent period-correct leather sheath but I don't really know anything about "knives" that extends past what tools are useful on a Leatherman or how to keep a modern hunting/skinner sharp and clean.
What is a good starting spot for a decent Old West cowboy knife?
RCummings
03-26-2019, 11:07
Box, Depending on your outfit, Green River Knives may fit the bill. Finding a butcher knife you like would only require a sheath being made. Good luck!
Respectfully,
Bob
Utah Bob is into CSA.
Need to poke him up some.. :D
Don't forget a folder. Look for "equestrian" or one with a hoof hook.
Utah Bob
03-26-2019, 12:32
Some guys favor a bigass Bowie just for style points but I think they get in the way. I prefer this one a fella in Maine made for me out of an old saw blade. It's got a 6 1\2" blade and comes in handy for cutting patches, leather and for removing the occasional stuck cartridge case.
here are several vendors that handle knives like Dixie Gun Works https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/page/category/category_id/552/name/Knives%2C+Knife+Kits+%26+Sheaths/
and Track of the Wolf https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=knife
And go here for fun.
http://sassvets.homestead.com/index.html
removing the occasional stuck cartridge case - that is the utility I am looking for - with whatever possible style points I can collect along the way
most of the cowboys here in NM and AZ either carry a big ass Bowie or utility knives like the Green River's here is a photo of the most common. Go to Tandy and get some leather and you are setup in 30 min.
35679
PedOncoDoc
03-26-2019, 15:15
most of the cowboys here in NM and AZ either carry a big ass Bowie or utility knives like the Green River's here is a photo of the most common. Go to Tandy and get some leather and you are setup in 30 min.
35679
Looking tghrough those knives, I'm sure he'd be really popular with the crowd if he came moseying in and proudly stated, "Considering all of my options out there, I decided to buy a 6-inch Stiff Boner from my local guy!" (Let alone going for the 8" wide boner!!!) :eek:
Looking tghrough those knives, I'm sure he'd be really popular with the crowd if he came moseying in and proudly stated, "Considering all of my options out there, I decided to buy a 6-inch Stiff Boner from my local guy!" (Let alone going for the 8" wide boner!!!) :eek:
Easy now, no need to go overboard with the boasting.......:eek:
Peregrino
03-27-2019, 07:16
most of the cowboys here in NM and AZ either carry a big ass Bowie or utility knives like the Green River's here is a photo of the most common. Go to Tandy and get some leather and you are setup in 30 min.
35679
As previously noted, you'll probably have to make your own sheath if you want something "authentic". The best local leather source for us is Zack White's in Ramseur (https://www.zackwhite.com/). If you have any interest in leather work, it's well worth the one hour (+/-) drive. Saturdays before noon or training holidays work best with our schedules. You might have to exercise restraint when you get there given the options available - patterns and materials for everything from the afore mentioned knife sheaths to chaps, gauntlets, gun belts, holsters, etc., etc. They've even been known to stock genuine rawhide lariats.
The skinner is along the lines of what I'd like. Just enough to use as a cowboy accessory - but still useful as a skinner. Bowie knives are to bulky for what I need and I wouldnt know what to do with an 8' boner if I had one. I'd probably just hurt myself playing with it.
I do like those green river knives - thanks for the heads up.
The skinner is along the lines of what I'd like. Just enough to use as a cowboy accessory - but still useful as a skinner. Bowie knives are to bulky for what I need and I wouldnt know what to do with an 8' boner if I had one. I'd probably just hurt myself playing with it.
I do like those green river knives - thanks for the heads up.
Contact "Barbarian" from this site. Every knife he's made for me were precisely what I asked for, and didn't break the bank.👌
Badger52
03-28-2019, 05:53
A friend who's been shooting SASS for many years has one whose configuration is exactly that 5-1/4" skinner shown above. I don't shoot SASS but have a knife like that anyway. It's shown itself to be really useful for a variety of tasks, and short enough not to be in the way.
Go Devil
03-28-2019, 07:24
Google is your friend. Image search, cowboy knives 1880's. Lots of fellow period gun builders, knife makers, and friends @contemporarylongrifleassociation.
Box
If you want you can have my skinner. It has patina and a history. I made the sheath in 74. It has seen some use and skinned a lot of deer, elk, etc.
It just gathering dust on the shelf now and could use a good home.
Let me know......
35694
Badger52
03-28-2019, 09:58
^^^ :lifter
That is a pretty slick looking blade.
PM inbound
Box
If you want you can have my skinner. It has patina and a history. I made the sheath in 74. It has seen some use and skinned a lot of deer, elk, etc.
It just gathering dust on the shelf now and could use a good home.
Let me know......
A beautiful example of what works, but might not be "pretty" to some.
:lifter
Chairborne64
03-28-2019, 12:28
Dixie Gun Works has a Sheffield made Bowie that is period correct and made to the specs of their original. I picked one up for the same reason that you want one for.
BHT's skinner fits on my gun belt like it was meant to be there - the color match of the leather with my holsters is right on. I have a match next sunday - I'll post another picture of this bad boy on game day.
Pay no attention to the tennis ball - however, 7 free interweb points are awarded to anyone that knows what the tennis ball is for.
BHT - you are the man - the knife looks like it was meant to be there - thanks again for providing that finishing touch that I was looking for !!!
BHT's skinner fits on my gun belt like it was meant to be there - the color match of the leather with my holsters is right on. I have a match next sunday - I'll post another picture of this bad boy on game day.
Pay no attention to the tennis ball - however, 7 free interweb points are awarded to anyone that knows what the tennis ball is for.
BHT - you are the man - the knife looks like it was meant to be there - thanks again for providing that finishing touch that I was looking for !!!
Enjoy it. As all things it need to move to a better home.....
Glad I could help a brother.
One note. The belt over the blade section holds it in tight. I usually wore it in the small of my back with my buckskins. It works either way......
:D:D
Hummm. Ball keeps the shape???
2018commo
04-05-2019, 05:05
Pay no attention to the tennis ball - however, 7 free interweb points are awarded to anyone that knows what the tennis ball is for.
Second Service, or FMWR fired the ball boy....:lifter
I just thought that he was a period tennis player with some rough competition.
They are "authentic" leather holsters so they are not lined with metal or plastic inserts. The tennis ball keeps the mouth of the holsters open so it doesn't flatten out and take a set during storage.
I’d like to see a foto with the pistol in the holster. The sheath and holster do look like they are a set. Looking good.
Badger52
04-05-2019, 06:40
I’d like to see a foto with the pistol in the holster. The sheath and holster do look like they are a set. Looking good.I second that; looks like the same tanner did it all while you were awaiting trial for something.
Pay no attention to the tennis ball - however, 7 free interweb points are awarded to anyone that knows what the tennis ball is for.
Well, in my case when I got my last hernia, I wrapped a tennis ball over it with an Ace bandage until the surgery. Gapping a holster works, too. ;)
Did some cowboy action shooting today with that knife and sheath on my gunbelt - not sure if it made me shoot any faster - but it sure made me feel like I was shooting faster.
Badger52
04-15-2019, 04:49
Hey, that did work out good. Nice lookin' setup!
Did some cowboy action shooting today with that knife and sheath on my gunbelt - not sure if it made me shoot any faster - but it sure made me feel like I was shooting faster.
What do you have in your holster a Bisley?
Its an Uberti Cattleman with a Birds-head grip. I only use it when I am shooting my "crossdraw" rig. I have a set of matching standard grip Ubertis but I have noticed that the standard grip tends to knock shotgun shells out of my slide when I am moving or drawing fast.
Quite a few times I have whipped out my left side pistol and the full size grip tends to pop the two closest shotgun shells out of their carrier. Being down two shells the way I shoot a coach gun is not a preferred TTP.
I spent so many years shooting a full size military style pump shotgun that I shoot high quite a bit with an old school coach gun. Since I am too pig headed to 'slow down' I tend to throw a few over the top. It took me 8 shots to knock down six targets during one stage this weekend.
Since switching to the birds head grip, I dont knock shells off my belt when I draw. Plus - it looks similar to one of the pistols that Doc Holiday carried in Tombstone. (an actual 'Thunderer' replica of the one in the movie was way too much for my cowboy budget)
I am having the same leather guy build me another rig in the same color that is set up as a gunfighter holster so I can shoot two pistols at once.
I figure with a gun in each hand - I can miss twice as fast !!!
sfshooter
04-15-2019, 14:55
They are "authentic" leather holsters so they are not lined with metal or plastic inserts. The tennis ball keeps the mouth of the holsters open so it doesn't flatten out and take a set during storage.
Box, If you take a squirt bottle and wet the holster down, not sopping wet but wet, then wrap your pistol in seran wrap and put it in the holster. when the moisture has got down into the fibers of the leather you can press the holster around you pistol. Let air dry completely, remove pistol and re-oil holster (I use pure neatsfoot oil). Holster will hold its shape to the pistol (unless you store it with stuff sitting on it).
The seran wrap keeps your pistol from getting any of the moisture on it. This will work if your holster is made out of veg-tan leather. Oil tan leather usually will not retain a shape.
I've built a number of SASS rigs and period holsters over the years. Also modern holsters.
added: Don't press down hard where your leather is tooled or it might lose some of its sharpness. An alternate method to not mess any of the tooling up is to just spray the inside of the holster. I preferred to have the pistol available when I made a holster so it could be molded to it during the build process. Alleviates having to try and set the holster to a gun after it has been oiled. If it has been heavily oiled the above method my not work.
I've though about trying to 'remold' the holsters a bit - but I am worries about a color change from getting the leather too wet.
sfshooter
04-17-2019, 02:32
Well, I guess that's a good point. From what I could tell from the picture I thought it was a pre-dyed, vegetable tanned leather. I can see that the edges are dyed black. If it is a dye job after the fact (tanning) then it can be some other things. If it is oil-dyed then you wouldn't really have an issue with color change after wetting. I don't know if you had this made from someone or it was an already built rig when ya bought it. If ya know the maker ask him about what kind of leather he made it out of and if he dyed it himself, and if so, what type of dye did he use.
I have molded pre-made holsters for guys with a guess on what it was dyed with before. I have gotten lucky and did not have any color runs!:) In my earlier days I wet a project down that I had already dyed and ran color everywhere:o kinda where I started using oil dyes.