st8yd, the Rem. model 11 was mfg. off the Browning patent. Did you find the 501 to be enough knife to dress cat squirrels? DM
When I started hunting on my own around 13 yo before I knew about Buck, I used a large stockman with about a 3 inch main blade for cleaning small game and birds and medium size critters like coyote, badgers, raccoons and such. That was the size I liked then. I had a few different ones through jr. and sr high school, some old timers and uncle Henry, I could make use of a large stockman more than any other knife. Occasionally I would use one of my dads fixed blades when hunting big game or out camping. I think I stayed with a stockman till my early 20s when I got a Imperial lockback off of the Mac tools truck and it was cheap junk. I think if I had known about the Buck 301 or 307 that’s probably all I would have used back then. After my first 301 in 1989 I have mostly stayed with Buck and now have several different models.
Ha ha, not a lefty, but a bottom eject gun with a left-handed safety that needs converting. My other rabbit gun is a Fox double 16ga that belonged to my great uncle. I swap them around so they don’t feel neglected.
Longbow, I knew it was something along those lines. Those bottom eject Browning pumps have a strong frame. A Fox is a nice gun. DM
I don’t have a 317 (that is one on my gun show list to find), but I do have a similar 2-blade Kabar that was probably also made by Camillus. I have always though of that second blade as more of a small game/filet type blade, similar to a 102 Woodsman blade. Nice knife and rooster...
I can’t be positive but when I was a kid the knives with upswept blades were called skinning blades. Then the drop points became popular and they were noted as skinning knives.
id call it a skinner blade/small game blade. like Les that sort of very slight upswept blade shape always made me think of it as a skinner. likewise the size of it always made me think of a small game cleaning knife. not sure that's right but I always thought of it that way.
Yes, you gents are hitting at it. I wasn't sure and like you I thought I had read in some of Bucks early literature, that blade was called a skinner. However, in Blade's Guide To Knives that blade is named as a 'Turkish clip point'. It has a picture and the shape is an exact match. Thus, I wondered... Anyway, I used that blade to process the rooster and it worked great. So, I wondered... Thanks. DM
longbow, yours and the Buck blade are very close to the same. Here it is with a straight edge at the plunge line, showing it has a clipped blade. DM
David do you carry the 317 in a belt sheath or pocket? The Kabar I have is pretty hefty. I often just put it in the pocket of my M65 field jacket.
I use some Browning-based shotguns myself: the Franchi 48 AL. I have two of the "Deluxe" models; one in 28ga. and one in 20ga. They each weigh just under 5.5 lbs.
David, I would have called that blade a "skinning blade" but you have shown it to be a Turkish style Clip blade. Of course among hunters the terms used for blade shapes are much wider and less precise than among knife collectors. I would have called that blade a skinning blade until today. As long as we are posting pictures rabbits, shotguns, and Buck Knives, here is an old one from several years back - 16 Ga Model 12 pump from 1948 and a Buck 307 Wrangler from about 1980. OH
