this is in a local shop , it appears to be patterned after the WW2 mk 2 , some digging revealed western did in fact produce fighting knives for the war , but all of those referenced i could find were stamped WESTERN (over) BOULDER COLO PAT'D xxxxxxx

the knife in question is only marked with WESTERN (over) PAT'D , thats all

maybe an early example of this https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/cat...-knife-patented

thanks for the reply ,and your thoughts , very much appreciated, have another pic , it has the flat peened butt like the old WW2 Mk 2 fighting knives , other than not having the grooved stacked leather grip its just like them

USN Mk2

i guess another difference is the Western is not a fullered blade

they want too much for it , but they have been sitting on it for a while , im picking up a Mini 14 from them friday , i may try and get them to a more reasonable price and take a chance on it , i believe its ww2 , possible a PX offering , or issued just not military marked , there was such a shortage on fighting knives that Remington actually sold their cutlery division to not only concentrate efforts on weapons and ammo but to allow a company to solely focus on cranking out knives

here is one i found , perfect match sans the stamp , this one says BOULDER COLO PAT'D , all others i found online have WESTERN BOULDER COLO PAT'D xxxxxxxxx (S/N)

https://www.horsesoldier.com/products/world-war-i-and-world-war-ii/equipment/23531

bingo

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/133009-wwii-western-fighting-knife/