503 with stainless bolsters

E

EagleIH

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Dec 5, 2009
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Hi folks,

Could anyone please tell me what the last year was that the 503 had stainless steel bolsters instead of nickel silver? Thanks in advance!
 
Checking several references, it appears the last year for the SS bolsters on the 505, 503 and 501 was 2002. I think the SS looks better because it resists dings and scratches better than nickel silver bolsters.
 
plb said:
Checking several references, it appears the last year for the SS bolsters on the 505, 503 and 501 was 2002.
Click to expand...

Can you give some of those references? I have looked and not found anything. Thanks.

Bert

Edit: I've often wondered if it was when the change was made from micarta to wood scales, about 1981, or maybe about 1990 when other knives—the 300 series—went to an integral frame/bolster.
 
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I checked a reference and it said, 2003 is the date that nickle bolsters started being used on the 500 series knives. So, yes. DM
 
plb, thanks for the references. Give me some time to digest things and I will have more questions.

Bert
 
Bert, I searched BCCI newsletter articles and found one in the Dec 2003 issue about the 501 that says "Another change that has taken place over the years is the change from stainless steel bolsters to nickel silver. This doesn't show up in the catalog until 2003, but according to Joe Houser, the blueprints called for this change in 1994." Hum...

So, there seems to be some uncertainty. I went through all of my 500 series (except the Dukes), 2-501s, 6-503s, 3-505's, and they span from around 1978 to the present, looking for anything that would distinguish the 2 bolster materials. I read somewhere that the stainless steel was probably 316 and is non-magnetic, so using a magnet was no help. I was able to see a difference in the finished bolsters between the two. Apparently, the blade pivot pin stock is harder than the NS bolsters and after the final sanding and polishing, the pins are more humped up on the newest NS models, and perfectly flat on the oldest SS models. I have a 1994, 1997 and 1999 that all appear to have the stainless steel finished bolsters. So, not sure if Buck phased in the changes beginning in '94, or if they waited until 2003, which is the way I'm leaning. Sorry to muddy the waters on this.

One other odd thing. Of the 11 knives, 9 of the back springs were strongly magnetic, and 2 were not magnetic at all. Anyone know why that would be?
 
Some big changes took place in 1994, namely the steel. Could these dates be getting switched? DM
 
Hopefully some with the knowledge needed to solve this mystery will comment. But this is certainly becoming a fun topic and a learning opportunity?
 
I would imagine the dealer catalogs are correct. However I have a 98 501 with NS bolsters and a 95 with SS bolsters. In the picture you can plainely see the tarnished NS bolsters and the U date code (1998)

On the 501 the ss bolsters are smaller than the ns bolsters. I dont know if the smaller ones in the series changed size.​

Buck 501 U.jpeg
 
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First, here is my thought for the OP—for the 503 Prince, the bolsters probably were nickel silver by 1997, maybe a little earlier. My reasons for this are from a 503 Prince BCCI Model History by Richard Matheny in 2003 where he says the 503 was stainless until about 1997; and Greg Smith wrote, "Another change that has taken place over the years is the change from stainless steel bolsters and liners to nickel silver. This doesn’t show up in the catalog until 2003, but according to Joe Houser, Director of Consumer and Buck Collectors Club Administrator, the blueprints called for this change in 1994." (December 2003 BCCI Newsletter: "501 Esquire/Squire).

The 500 Series isn't my main collecting interest although I do have samples for each model from the micarta/script era. However, when the year 2003 kept getting mentioned that got my attention. I kept thinking about the BCCI Newsletter article by Larry Oden in December 2002. He wrote, "Over time, Buck has switched the integral stainless steel bolsters and liners to sintered (nickel silver) and, more recently, to powdered metal (also nickel silver) technology. I am not sure when these changes were implemented and to my untrained eye, there is no obvious way to differentiate stainless steel from nickel silver. " Larry's 2002 article sure didn't seem like there was going to be a sudden change in 2003; it had already occured.

We all like certainty, especially for dates, but if you collect Buck knives you had better learn to accept approximation. The sudden listing of nickel silver in 2003 was probably a correction. I can almost hear someone saying, "You know we have been using nickel silver for several years, maybe it's time to change the catalog description."

It's likely that the 503 changed in the mid 90's, and Richard Matheny says the 505 Knight changed by 2000. My guess is that the other models also changed to nickel silver before 2003. However, there is one exception: it seems certain that the 500 Duke has always been stainless.

Bert
 
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