710 Sprint Run

While I still carry my 710D2, and would love to see it make some kind of a comeback, I’m more interested in Benchmade exploring different steels with the griptilian series. Possibly even a (dare I say) flat grind version. Yes I know there was one a while ago. Benchmade is a conservative manufacturer, they aren’t as “exploratory” as other companies. So I think it’ll be hard to convince them to bring back a model they most likely took much consideration in discontinuing in the first place. Just my two cents.
 
Dav(id)03 said:
So I think it’ll be hard to convince them to bring back a model they most likely took much consideration in discontinuing in the first place.
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I agree that bringing it back to regular production is very unlikely, for the exact reason you stated.

However, it isn't uncommon for Benchmade to do limited edition runs of discontinued models. 805/806 in the -1101 models, a whole mess of 730s in the 2012-2013 timeframe, 615 was their Shot Show knife in 2015... pretty sure the black handle 723SBK from 2010 was after the 72x series was discontinued.

I guess I can't think of any examples since the 615-1501 and 730-1501 from 2015... So maybe it wasn't uncommon for Benchmade to do this. But still, a limited run of a discontinued model wouldn't be completely unprecedented for them.
 
Dav(id)03 said:
Yeah full flat.
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That would be interesting, especially on the sheepsfoot blade with the hole. I just don't see them doing it when the Bugout is nearly a full flat grind, and that seems to be where most of their efforts are now anyways.
 
I would also like to see some of the older models make a return in some form as limited runs. But as time goes by it get harder and harder to do that. Sometimes, company’s destroy or modify to tooling that was used in the manufacturing process. Also, the programming language to run the CNCs could be different than what is currently used in production. If you change the blade material you may also need to change the cutter speeds. I wouldn’t say it would be impossible, it just gets more improbable as time goes by. Really makes me sad though. There are some really great ones back in the catalog that deserve to come back.

JonesE
 
I just got a LNIB 710 in the mail yesterday. I've owned this knife a couple of times and always talked myself out of it. Then it was discontinued and I've been jonesing to get one back. Now that I have it in hand I'd say this knife doesn't need much if any changes. I'd do the following:

1. Barrel Spacers over the back spacer. It doesn't take away from the original design but elevates it.
2. Update the steel. Do not put some crap stainless in here with a soft heat treat. This knife is designed to cut and something with edge stability should be prioritized. I'm a fan of tool steels typically but if we're talking stainless put s90v in it. Hell make a g10 with cruwear or M4 and a carbon fiber with s90v. I'd buy both!
3. Leave the recurve. I'm not a recurve guy overall but after owning it again I can say the 710 = recurve and I have no issue with it on this knife. It's iconic.
 
BMCGear said:
I just got a LNIB 710 in the mail yesterday. I've owned this knife a couple of times and always talked myself out of it. Then it was discontinued and I've been jonesing to get one back. Now that I have it in hand I'd say this knife doesn't need much if any changes. I'd do the following:

1. Barrel Spacers over the back spacer. It doesn't take away from the original design but elevates it.
2. Update the steel. Do not put some crap stainless in here with a soft heat treat. This knife is designed to cut and something with edge stability should be prioritized. I'm a fan of tool steels typically but if we're talking stainless put s90v in it. Hell make a g10 with cruwear or M4 and a carbon fiber with s90v. I'd buy both!
3. Leave the recurve. I'm not a recurve guy overall but after owning it again I can say the 710 = recurve and I have no issue with it on this knife. It's iconic.
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Definitely agree on the barrel spacers. It was a nice touch when BM included them from the factory on some of the limited editions (though I think the -3 had an issue with some blades being chipped/rolled from the blade hitting a spacer when closing? Careful with the tolerances!)

If you have a plastic backspacer it can also be replaced with aftermarket barrels.

TCcPyC8.jpg
 
Dav(id)03 said:
Even 10V. The recurve is synonymous with the 710 and should not be altered.
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I chose steels that Benchmade is currently using but would gladly welcome a 10v 710 into my pocket. And yes, the recurve is the 710. Altering that now makes it something else. Now that I have the knife again I realize the recurve is part of it's charm.
 
Skywalker31 said:
Definitely agree on the barrel spacers. It was a nice touch when BM included them from the factory on some of the limited editions (though I think the -3 had an issue with some blades being chipped/rolled from the blade hitting a spacer when closing? Careful with the tolerances!)

If you have a plastic backspacer it can also be replaced with aftermarket barrels.

TCcPyC8.jpg
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Got a source for aftermarket?
 
BMCGear said:
Got a source for aftermarket?
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MXGGear has some listed on their site, it looks like.

The ones in my picture I think are from KnifeKits. But, if memory and my old vernier scale analog calipers serve, they're 0.165", and the closest I see on there now is 0.150".
 
Hah... google also pointed me to this 2013 thread that seems to confirm 0.165" - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/benchmade-710-solid-backspacer-vs-barrel-spacers.1079577/

Also a good note about the screws in there; my 710-1 has one screw all the way through to a threaded insert in the (stock/factory) G10 scale but my 710-1401 has screws on both sides and presumably a threaded spacer (been a while since I took either completely apart so I don't exactly recall).
 
If you are using the factory 710 scales with the threaded inserts the MXG gear spacers will work since they are not threaded. If you are using after market scales or running scales without the threaded inserts you will need to get some threaded spacers. BMCGear BMCGear , I have a set of blue anodized MXG gear spacers siting in my spare parts drawer in the garage. They are yours if you want them. Just send me a PM.

JonesE
 
I'm not a big fan of recurve in general...but the 710 taught me to appreciate the feature. That long gentle recurve is the 710, it's a distinctive feature that other comparable knives don't bring to the table.

BM's current M4 or cruwear would be great choices. Maybe 4V.

In place of bringing it back in production, I'd settle for just adding it to the knife customizer.
 
Cargun said:
I'm not a big fan of recurve in general...but the 710 taught me to appreciate the feature. That long gentle recurve is the 710, it's a distinctive feature that other comparable knives don't bring to the table.
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Prior to getting the 710, I avoided recurves because so many people said they were annoying and pointless. The 710 really changed my mind, I love recurves now. It's not a 710, but the 496 Vector has a really nice recurve, paired with an awesome hollow grind (the only hollow grind in Benchmade's current lineup if I'm not mistaken).

Cargun said:
In place of bringing it back in production, I'd settle for just adding it to the knife customizer.
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A 710 customizer would be awesome. I'd buy so many...
 
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