the grip strikes me as a replacement.
It is clunky.
It may be poorly fit (it may have shrunk to leave a gap, but the abrupt depth of the slot the lagnet is in is also suspect)
But most tellingly it does not go into the handguard or even underneath the upper lagnet. These crossguards are usually also ferules, and this along with the upper lagnet serving as a clamp by going over the grip, eliminates the need for a rivet near the blade shoulders, which rivet's hole would be a weak point. This is where machetes break, for instance, and old N American butchers' cleavers and similar tools often have a similar feature whereby a ferule eliminates a rivet close to the juncture of blade and handle.
I had a kard with a poorly fitted black horn grip. My thought was water buffaloe.
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