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The Blade: Features the classic wide, deep-bellied carbon steel profile designed for sweeping skinning strokes. It has a pronounced notched thumb rest (jimping) along the spine for choke-up precision work, and a distinct false top edge near the clip point.
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The Maker’s Mark & Stamps: * On the display side (Image 1), the ricasso features the crisp, classic “BONE / LUBBOCK, TX” anvil-shaped stamp.
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On the reverse side (Image 2), right above the guard, it features the clean, stamped “K”, explicitly designating this as the Elmer Keith model.
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The Handle Construction: Features a classic hidden tang. The guard and pommel cap are solid brass. The grip itself is carved from a high-grade, beautifully grained exotic hardwood—most likely Cocobolo or Brazilian Rosewood—complemented by Ralph Bone’s signature stacked black and brass spacers immediately behind the guard and right before the brass buttcap.
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The Sheath: A robust, custom-fitted, heavy-stitch tan leather pouch-style sheath with a brass-snapped retention strap, perfectly contoured to accommodate the wide belly of the Model K blade.
Ralph Bone “Model K” Big Game Skinner / Caper
$950.00
This knife is the Model K, which features a very distinctive, deep-bellied skinner profile.
The “K” stands for Elmer Keith, the legendary American firearms author, big-game hunter, and developer of magnum revolver cartridges (like the .357, .41, and .44 Magnum). As the story goes, Sam Arnett—the business and financial partner of the Ralph Bone Knife Company—was a hunting companion of Elmer Keith. During a trip, Keith described his absolute ideal vision for a dedicated big-game skinning and caping knife.
Arnett brought the specifications back to Lubbock, Texas, and had Ralph Bone (and his prized protégé, Enedino De Leon) grind a tiny handful of these custom knives to present to Keith as a gift. Interestingly, the knifemakers themselves initially thought the highly exaggerated, deep-bellied shape was a bit of an odd design joke—but Keith absolutely loved it. Because the makers weren’t entirely fond of the aesthetics, it was never a high-volume production catalog piece, making genuine Model K survivors incredibly scarce today.
Availability: 1 in stock
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