U.S. WW2 M-3 Imperial Blade Dated Fighting Knife. The 8 groove leather handle has most of it’s rough russet finish, and sharp groove. The rear groove is just a shadow. There are two black spacers, at front and butt of the handle. These black spacers were used on early Imperial blade dated and blade marked M-3’s. The tang has a single strike peen, however no Ordnance Bomb Stamping is present. In early Imperial Blade Dated Knives, I believe only about 50% of those found have an Ordnance Bomb. The medium grey parkerized finish is very attractive having wear on the edges and on the highlights of the machine marks present on the blade. If the grain of the metal ran from butt to tip, these marks would be the rays. This type of machine work is typical of Imperial made M-3’s. The guard is near mint with just light edge wear. The blade edge has been touched up and blunted from the sides of the knife due to it having it’s tip broken off. Tipped blades are a distraction, usually, however this is a very nice knife and M-6 Scabbard with the exception of the sharpening and the blunting of the tip. The scabbard is made by Milco and is in excellent plus lightly used condition. There are light marks where the guard rode at the scabbard throat. The total production of the nine manufacturers of M-3 Fighting Knives in WW2 was 2,590,247 knives. Imperial Knife Company, of Providence, Rhode Island was the largest producer with 854,000 knives produced. Price: $1,400.00 (ref. A5-9)