This topic still comes up periodically. Someone sent me this photo of two model 14 handles and asked if the one on the left is brown micarta. Always the caveat by not having them in hand, but my inclination is to say no. Why you ask? It is all covered here:

http://www.rmkcollector.com/the-randall-collector/brown-micarta

This article was written I guess 20 years ago, and it pretty much holds true to this day save for the amount of brown micarta knives I underestimated to exist at the time.

In the article, I state (perhaps the most important statement in the article) that what makes brown micarta brown is the resin, not the laminate material, generally canvas or linen.

The illusion presented is that as the early laminate ages and yellows within the resin, black in this case, it acquires a brownish/greenish hue, BUT, it is NOT brown micarta. The knife on the left is a perfect example of this as you can see the black resin with the yellowed laminate, the same black resin as the knife on the right with a non-yellowed laminate.

**Note the filled bolt hole is black as well.

Here are a couple of older Model 14 handles, one brown and the other black. The left picture was taken in the shade, the right picture in today's 100-degree full Arizona sun.