Collins Raider Bowie

Great condition knife, sheath is very beat up. Rare American World War II-era survival and fighting knife, 9 ½" blade, 14"overall, with two-piece black composite grips secured by five bright rivets, and with a brass hand guard. The blade is bright and unsharpened, showing original tooling marks, and the reverse ricasso bears a maker's mark in the form of an arm raising a hammer above a crown, beneath the manufacturer's name "Collins & Co.", and above the designation "Legitimus Made in U.S.A. No. 18". The grip shows a few minute chips at the seam, with some very light wear to the blade, else very good to fine. The knife is housed in its original light brown leather scabbard with belt loop, decorated with a foliate pattern and with a large "Collins & Co." emblem above the numeral "13". The scabbard is in fine condition. These knives were issued as part of U.S. Army Air Corps survival kits prior to World War II, with additional orders being placed at the outset of the war in 1942. A variant with green horn handles, known as the "V44" or the "gung-ho knife", was carried unofficially by some Marine Raiders.