Tom:
I remember holding this beauty in my hands. And, it was better than even your great pictures here show.
Good catch and congratulations,
John
hey Tom, thats a screamin blade! Very nice.
Did you find any nice Packs?
Congrats
Stingray
Thanks guys! Saw one really nice early slant Pack with a beautiful hand worked guard and a Pack aluminum hilt with the scabbard polished to oblivion also saw several of the later common Pack 2nds most in average condition PM me if your interested in the early Pack I can give you some details.
A real pleasure for collector´s eyes. That´s one of the main reasons we collect. Excellent photographs. Thank you for sharing! Congrats to this gem.
Regards,
Nice one Tom
I was lucky enough to get to hold and drool over this fine army dagger, I cannot remember ever seeing one of these before, is this maker mark the only one used on these early Horsters and are they always tapered tangs and do these early Horsters ever come with a slant grip?.
A very fine dagger, looking forward to seeing those others you found.
Gary
Gary, I have an early Horster with a slant grip but the x guard is WKC and it was obviously produced before they had cast their own. ( bench marked #14). Denny Roach did have a slant Horster but I cannot now recall the x guard type. It had already been sold to someone else so I didn`t pay too much attention. I do have two others that are like the one Tom shows, one with the large oval makers mark and one unmarked. I think that any Horster with this early x guard will certainly have a tapered tang.
Tom,
congratulation, it is a great dagger!
The blade is perfect and the unique Hörster crossguard a real beauty.
Another rare configuration which I am still missing from my collection.
You are lucky to find one in that perfect condition!
Thanks for showing.
Janos
Gary I agree with Landser any blade with this large mark would most certainly be a tapered tang but as we all know as companies transitioned through inventory any thing may be possible. Gary I wondered the same thing about the slant grip on the Horster and here is a link to the thread
Horster Thread Mine is not numbered and I disagree with Ford I do believe this guard is Horsters initial in house made guard.
Thanks for having a look guys! Janos my friend I was quite lucky as the condition is about the best one could hope for.
Tom,
Great dagger and fabulous pictures as usual. There are a VERY limited number of these Horsters that have appeared with slant grips. The earlier and first production run featuring the WKC 1st crossguard are normally internally numbered with the latest figure being "45". A couple of the slant grip versions of the dagger shown above which followed are also numbered.
That number "14" V was a great catch and all three early configs from Horster are very scarce. As a matter of interest, the firm also used the WKC transitional prior to the more common last style Horster and after the type shown above.
In short, they used three crossguards ( 1 of their own ) probably in a 2 year period before settling on the the final and widely recognised Horster design.
Aqquiring three is just plain greedy
.
Jon
Thanks for your input I do greatly value your opinion I look forward to the completion of your website which is sure to be the new bible for army collectors.
Just to clarify this is IMO Horsters initial production with an in house made crossguard the earliest examples have the 1st WKC type guard and are sometimes internally numbered as shown on the link I provided.
WOW Tom,you just don't see these! Great catch!! Love the DARK MM and look at the thick throat on that scabbard! Can't wait to see your others! Kevin.
Congratulations, a wonderful instance of the dagger.
pretty cool as you can see the circular outline where the swastika sits in the crossguard.
Landser, I know this is an old post but I see here that you have an initial Horster that is numbered "14", I was looking at another old post "Horster Parade" and OLI1970 has #15!! Thought that was pretty cool so I am just passing that on to you! Kevin.
I remember it, have not seen a post from him in a long time
Tom,
That is a very fine Army.....Superb pictures, as always.
Rich
Rich Thank You Here is my other Early Horster internally numbered 45 unusual to see this crossguard with internal numbers and yes the slant grip is numbered !
You going to the SOS ?
Your OTHER early Horster?
I love it.
Keep me in mind.....
Frank
SMOKIN dagger as usual Tom!! Kevin.
I posted mine some while back but that post seems to either have disappeared or the search procedure is so disfunctional that it can`t be located. Here they are, i can`t compete in any photography competition. 1 is numbered #14 early & pre own x guard. 2 & 3 are same config. 2 looks a bit scabby because it still has lacquer & 3 is without maker mark.
2
3
Tom,
A truely MINT example of a beautiful dagger. Awesome pics as usual that really bring out the beauty of this example! The other pieces are also great guys and its really interesting to me the diversity of the daggers pictured here!
I was lucky enough again to obtain a really nice example of an early production Horster with the 1st WKC cross guard. I have 5 Horsters in my collection, one of which is the slant pictured. The other interesting one I have is the Pack cross guard fitted one. I`m now lucky to own 2 early production pieces but none numbered! Unfortunately!
Dion
Tom, Landser, Dion,
Great looking daggers and photography from all of you. I've tried finding the early type myself but no luck so far. But have found later versions. Thanks for always showing your collections, it's appreciated more than you can imagine.
