Black buffalo horn is an excellent material for making this type of dagger handle. One of the conditions for ordering blades in Zlatoust was a price affordable to all Cossacks without exception (Cossacks paid for weapons and military equipment at their own expense). Most of these blades received a modest finish - buffalo horn or apricot wood was used for the handles. Wealthy Cossacks, who could order ivory or walrus tusk, purchased daggers from famous craftsmen in the Caucasus - in Vladikavkaz or Tiflis.
Your dagger could have been damaged for a myriad of reasons, I don't even want to guess some of them. I will only note that in the Soviet Union from about 1955 until 1991 it was strictly forbidden for private individuals to own such items under the threat of 3 years in prison.
Sincerely,
Serge
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