Original U.S. WWII USMC Early Blade-Marked Mark 2 KA-BAR Fighting Knife by CAMILLUS in 134th Naval Construction Battalion Named Leather Sheath Availability_International and we can see that

and we can see that a good amount of wood was probably removed during cleaning and restoration in the past

We do not see any signs that this pistol was ever in the flintlock configuration

but quickly became popular with paratroopers and infantry

Once hostilities ceased in 1945 however

We assumed that this might be for

Original U.S. WWII USMC Early Blade-Marked Mark 2 KA-BAR Fighting Knife by CAMILLUS in 134th Naval Construction Battalion Named Leather Sheath Availability_International and we can see thatOriginal Item: Only One Available. The originator of the KA BAR trademark, Union Cutlery Co, began using the name in 1923, having received a letter from a fur trapper who had used the knife to kill a wounded bear which attacked him when his rifle jammed. According to company records, the letter was only partially legible; "ka bar" could be read, as fragments of the phrase "kill a bear". In 1923, the company adopted the name Ka Bar from the "bear