Moore Maker Knives???

M

mrjed

Joined
Jul 2, 2007
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I've just recently started hearing about these folks and am curious to know more about them.

I was on their site yesterday and was impressed at their variety. Apparently all their stuff is US manufactured, but do they do all their own knives or subcontract? Saw one note that Queen might make some for them. Their big folding lockback looks just like the Mountain Man to me.

What about their quality? Especially in their lockbacks? I haven't bought many carbon steel knives lately, but that's not a stopper to me.

Who makes their one hand opening roper knives? They're pretty low priced, is that a sign?

TIA
 
Moore Maker contracts all of their line to other makers. At one time or another, Queen, Camillus, Bear & Sons and others have made knives for Moore Maker. The lockback (Mountain Man) is a Queen pattern, so far as I know.

Quality, unfortunately, has been all over the place. Queen, I think, has done the best by them. And before Camillus shut down, they made some nice ones too. Not so much for the knives made by Bear & Sons; a lot of folks have been disappointed with those (myself included). I bought three large double-lockback trappers from Moore Maker, the first one a few years back, made by Camillus. Very nice knife. I liked it enough, that I bought two more a few years later. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, those last two were the Bear & Sons version. Difference in fit/finish was night & day. Rough edges, sloppy blade play in all directions, loose lock-up, and blade edges actually RESTING against the backspring when closed, were the distinguishing hallmarks of the B & S version.
 
Utica makes some of their lower end knives as well - both in bone and in yellow. Look for the U after the pattern number.
 
I have a 1999 small trapper from MooreMaker that's excellent quality. I ordered a large trapper with ram's horn scales in 2004 and was disappointed. One scale was much thicker than the other and uneven end to end. MooreMaker fencing pliers are excellent. I have both sizes.
 
If it's expensive, it's made by Queen.
If it's inexpensive, and there's a B after the model number, it's made by Bear and Sons.
If it's inexpensive, and there's a U after the model number, it's made by Utica.
If it's inexpensive, and there's no letter after the model number, it was made by Camillus.

I can't comment on the Utica ones, but B&S's quality always been spotty. The Queen ones should be as good as any other Queen, although reportedly Moore Maker is picky with these and only sells the better ones, with the rejects being sold as seconds. I have a couple of Camillus small stockmans, and they're both great.
 
Planterz said:
If it's expensive, it's made by Queen.
If it's inexpensive, and there's a B after the model number, it's made by Bear and Sons.
If it's inexpensive, and there's a U after the model number, it's made by Utica.
If it's inexpensive, and there's no letter after the model number, it was made by Camillus.

I can't comment on the Utica ones, but B&S's quality always been spotty. The Queen ones should be as good as any other Queen, although reportedly Moore Maker is picky with these and only sells the better ones, with the rejects being sold as seconds. I have a couple of Camillus small stockmans, and they're both great.
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The 'expensive' vs. 'inexpensive' comparison can be somewhat misleading. Even the 'cheap' Moore Makers are rather high, compared to similar patterns from other makers. A big part of what ticked me off, when I compared the Camillus vs. B & S Double Lockbacks, was the fact that I still paid essentially the same price for all of them (in the $65 - $70 ballpark for each). If I'd paid significantly less for the B & S version, it wouldn't have been so disappointing. The Camillus represented excellent value, for the price. The Bear & Sons version, quite the opposite. HUGE difference, in bang-for-the-buck.
 
I only have experience with the Queen-made 5301, and it is a great knife with excellent fit and finish.

IIRC, another way to determine if it is made by Queen or Bear is to look at the handle pins - Queen models have three, Bear has only one. Just looking at the pictures usually tells who made them, the blade grind on the Queen models are so much better.
 
I have a Queen made Moore Maker sodbuster. Uses 1095 steel and is not too bad. The quality is similar to the Queen Country Cousin that uses D2 steel. Two bad areas; 1) it cost at least double as the Queen, and 2) shares the same problem of the blade hitting the back spring when closed. I use it as a garden knife so it does see quite a bit of hard use.
 
I bought and promptly returned a gorgeous lockback Sodbuster-pattern Moore Maker because of unbelievably awful blade play. The blade was finished exquisitely and so was the rest of the knife for that matter, save for the 1 mm gaps on both sides of the blade, right at the pivot pin. Was very disappointed because that was a bit of a grail knife for me. It was in the mid-$60 range, as I recall.
 
My only Moore Maker is this 4-1/2" stockman, model #5304, made by Queen Cutlery.

IMG_0071-4.jpg


This is just a great looking large stockman. Very nice F&F and W&T, with a minor blade rub the ONLY negative.
Check out the beautifully even edge grinds, the natural smooth bone scales and round bolsters, with 1095 steel.
 
Like Lambertiana, I only have experience with the Queen-made Moore Maker knives. I've been carrying the 6302, a 4-1/4" stag handled stockman since it came out in 2000, and the 5301, a 3-7/8" honey bone stockman since it came out in 2003. The fit and finish on both knives are excellent. The 1095 blade steel sharpens beautifully, and holds a really nice edge. Both of these knives have a Turkish clip main blade, combined with a sheepsfoot, and spay blades. All excellent cutting blades. I particularly like the way the main blade is deeply seated when closed.

Jay

IMG_0429-1.jpg


IMG_0430.jpg


Here's one more view showing all the blades on the 5301.
MooreMaker5301IMG_0020.jpg
 
Planterz said:
B&S's quality always been spotty.
Click to expand...

It baffles me to no end that Moore Maker would jeopardize the reputation for quality they've built up over many years by outsourcing to Bear. :confused: I still think they'd be better off with Case or GEC.

-- Mark
 
The only Moore Maker knife that I have is the Mountain man carbon blade with ram horn scales. It is a beautiful knife. I bought the knife at a gun show. I was happy till I found out that there was up and down play when locked open. I called Queen about the problem with the quality and they didn't seemed concerned about it. It seems to be a frequent problem with that knife from what I have read. I like the pattern of the knife. Even if you could send it back, I would not be able to pick the ram horn scales to my liking. I'm not sure how to fix the problem.
 
I had a Queen-made Moore Maker large stockman in smooth yellow bone for a while, a couple years back. It was very nice, excellent F&F, and I sometimes regret trading it away.
 
mnblade said:
It baffles me to no end that Moore Maker would jeopardize the reputation for quality they've built up over many years by outsourcing to Bear. :confused: I still think they'd be better off with Case or GEC.

-- Mark
Click to expand...

I've wondered myself, if the Camillus tooling for some of the patterns might've ended up in Bear & Sons' possession, after it was auctioned off. I'm pretty sure the double lockback knives, in particular, were exclusive Camillus patterns (there are still some identical Camillus-branded double lockbacks out there). I don't think anybody else had tooling for those particular patterns. If B & S bought the only available tooling for them, that might've influenced why/how Bear ended up with that contract (winner by default, basically). Otherwise, I've no clue.
 
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Got a bunch, but at the mment I really have a fancy for the 4" stockman/punch

Of the non-Queens, (and I am not sure as this is a non-Queen 'cos it is rather well made) the large, yellow delrin Sodbuster is just marvellous :)

I like thir trappers, and the stag Mountain Man looks top

They have a real way wih the mainblades on stockman, trapper etc patterns
 
Thanks! That's a load of info, but the consensus seems to be it depends on which MM.

I guess that shouldn't be too surprising for an outfit that outsources, but it's sure disappointing for a line I had gotten some strong recommendations on. Those recommendations came from folks who carry and use work knives (not surprisingly, usually the stockman, horseman or trapper styles) every day. I used to EDC a Buck stockman, but life changed and I'm more interested in one hand opening single blades these days.

Now I've lost the urge to "get a Moore Maker, now!" and will watch and wait more cautiously.
 
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