A Question on the 300 Series

[bertl]

I have a question for those who want the sheepsfoot to pivot at the same end as the clip blade—what is the advantage?

 

[Hickory n steel]

Can you show the bottom of those knives?

Bert

You mean the springs ?

 

[bertl]

You can see that is a different construction than on the Buck three spring design—those knives have separate spacers between the springs. Bucks three spring design does not have those. I'm not saying one is better than the other; it's just that they are different.

Bert

 

[Old Biker]

I have a question for those who want the sheepsfoot to pivot at the same end as the clip blade—what is the advantage?

That is a good question. I have wondered the same thing.

You can see that is a different construction than on the Buck three spring design—those knives have separate spacers between the springs. Bucks three spring design does not have those. I'm not saying one is better than the other; it's just that they are different.

Bert

I can tell you from experience, that the way Buck does it without the liners makes it a lot easier to wash out the inside of the knife. However those Colonials have nice thin blades, that can get really sharp, which I like.

O.B.

 

[afishhunter]

I have a question for those who want the sheepsfoot to pivot at the same end as the clip blade—what is the advantage?

Good question.
I don't find one more advantageous than the other. Either way the nail nicks for main and sheepsfoot are not on the same side.

 

[Old Hunter]

Well, this thread got me to looking at my knives (knew about the Buck 301 design, own a few) - here is a Case 6347, same size as a Buck 301 - Case has used three springs in their 47 pattern for the last 25 or so years. On the modern Case 47, the Clip main and the Sheepfoot secondary blades are pinned together on one end while the secondary Spay blade is on the opposite end. The Sheepfoot is the center blade on both brands of Stockman knives. Like the Buck, the Case has no spacers between the three blades making cleaning very easy. I use both knives equally well and until this discussion had never noticed the difference in blade placement between these two major brands of full size Stockman pocketknives. OH

 

[willisoften]

If Buck are retooling I'd like to wish for: 301 / 303

• Springs with bit more oomph!, more Chuck Norris and less Barbie's Ken.
• a more symmetrical hump-back frame. The current frame sort of mixes humpback and serpentine.
• a thin pen blade instead of a spay, with the the point well covered by the frame and the nail nick not covered by the frame.
• the sheepfoot to be longer broader and sit higher and provide better access.
• very slightly broader, flat-ground clip blade.
• softer pocket carry, tangs almost level with the bolsers rounded edges on the back of blades.

That'll do for now, I don't care about steels I can't sharpen without special kit or freezing cold titanium scales.
I don't care if the blade / spring stock is different thicknesses for each blade. whatever works. I don't want to take it apart, and I'll probably forget to oil the pivots.

 

[dsutton24]

If Buck are retooling I'd like to wish for: 301 / 303

• Springs with bit more oomph!, more Chuck Norris and less Barbie's Ken...

I'm not criticising you or your list alt all, but I very much hope that Buck doesn't make their springs stiffer. The high points of the 300 series knives include their smooth opening and reasonable spring tension. I'm on record all over the place in saying that I don't understand why stiff springs are seen as a virtue these days.

 

[Lesknife]

I'm not criticising you or your list alt all, but I very much hope that Buck doesn't make their springs stiffer. The high points of the 300 series knives include their smooth opening and reasonable spring tension. I'm on record all over the place in saying that I don't understand why stiff springs are seen as a virtue these days.

I agree ! I hate nail breaking think they’re open enough and then bite you on their return to the blade well kinda knives. I definitely prefer the smooth constant opening of a Buck 300 series and no half stops. I can’t stand half stops! Also I would rather have the hollow grind. My hollow grind 301 takes and holds a good edge longer than my flat grind knives. I like the Buck 300 series like they are allbeit I’d like some jigged bone in the mix. And I’ll keep the spey blade thank you! And a low set sheep’s foot is my preference. If it’s to high I file the kick to lower it. The fact is everything on that list goes against what I like in a Buck 300 series and that’s why I prefer Buck!

 

[willisoften]

The tension on Bucks springs is only adequate to hold the blade closed and inadequate to hold the larger clip blade open. See the Victorinox Pioneer for how it should be done. Generally it doesn’t take much to hold a blade open given the direction of cut. The 301 from 2015, I have now is a replacement for one were a good flick downward would close the clip blade.

I don’t believe the hollow grind has anything to do with edge holding and it’s takes more effort to slice through with the full width of the blade. If you chip an edge it tends to be bigger on a hollow grind. Most modern blades seem hollow ground but bucks seems rather steep. I never asked for a half stop, don’t care about them either way. You can keep your Spey, Bucks isn’t really a Spey anyway. Next time you skin a rat or remove its ovaries (spay) you can post a picture. Personally I do as much with the Sheepsfoot as the clip. If it was even a little taller it would be easier to access. If it was longer and broader better still. I’d like a broader clip too so the sheepsfoot wouldn’t necessarily sit much higher.

Nowadays I more usually carry a 303 or a case medium stockman. The 303 suffers some of the same issues the Case is better but is a bit shiney for a crotchety old git like me.

 

[Lesknife]

Spey blades are for more than just speying, they are also good for skinning small game, Making cuts in a depression or trace cutting a gasket. The 303 isn’t as much of a Spey and more like a pen but I don’t mind that cause they are almost to small for a end cutter. The 301 is much better.

 

[willisoften]

Spey blades are for more than just speying, they are also good for skinning small game, Making cuts in a depression or trace cutting a gasket. The 303 isn’t as much of a Spey and more like a pen but I don’t mind that cause they are almost to small for a end cutter. The 301 is much better.

The only animal I've seen castrated with a blade as small as the one on a 301 was a piglet but that was actually a scalpel. Young bull calves are normally done with an elastic band in this part of the world, I doubt, the blade is long enough or stout enough for a half-grown bullock.

I've skinned coneys (rabbits) cut round the feet round the tail and anus loosen the skin with your fingers and pull them inside out, (backside to head) any sharp blade will do. A blunt tipped knife is good when you want to paunch them.

I'm not sure what other small game there is in your neck of the woods, rabbits can be eaten but they are considered vermin rather than game. Wood Pigeon I haven't eaten in 20 years, but we used to pluck as little as possible slice through the skin and remove the two breasts there isn't any other meat worth eating, clip blade is probably best due to it's length.

My main objection to the 301's spey is its thickness and it's poking above the liner, which is just wrong. I have 2019 301 I could live with but the older 301 pictured the blade stuck up far enough and was ground in such a way to obscure access to the Sheepsfoot and cut my finger. It's been a balls up since the 90s.

 

[afishhunter]

The tension on Bucks springs is only adequate to hold the blade closed and inadequate to hold the larger clip blade open. See the Victorinox Pioneer for how it should be done. Generally it doesn’t take much to hold a blade open given the direction of cut. The 301 from 2015, I have now is a replacement for one were a good flick downward would close the clip blade.

I've never had the clip point or any other blade try to close on me like that.

I am rather fond of the (average) "4" pull on a 301.
Smooth and light enough I don't have to fight with the knife to open it, especially when my hands/fingers are cold and/or wet.

If you can really flick the blade closed or partly closed, can you flick it open the same amount?
I ask because the closing force is the same as the opening force.

 

[Lesknife]

Around these parts we casterate our bull calves for the mountain oysters and have a big cook off and dinner. And I’ve used a 301 and similar sized stockmans on calves up to 500 lbs. and the blade is plenty strong. It doesn’t take a big knife because you aren’t cross cutting the scrotum, testes, all in one struck. Lol. An incision is made in the scrotum, then the testes are pulled out and we would use a scraping cut to minimize bleeding one at a time to remove them. I guess in different areas things are done differently but that’s the way we do it out here. My dad taught me and his dad taught him. I learned on pigs and horse colts in FFA in high school and our local veterinary did the clinic. I was surprised he used a Schrade Walden stockman just like my dads instead of a scalpel. His reasoning was that all the ranchers and stockmen he knew of were using them and he wanted us to be in good report with them. Lol

 

[willisoften]

@ afishunter: As I remember that knife could open a fraction without any tension as well.
If you have any Victorinox I'd call that 5 pull. I have currently a Chinese 373 almost never used, where the spring tension is perfect, for me, but opening is made more awkward by halving the nail nicks rather far back on the blade. Both my 301s moosh open and moosh closed especially the clip. Oil is not cure and I'd call the pull a 2. ( With the average British Lambfoot about a nail-breaking 8 ).

Lesknife I'm not a farm-boy myself but my father was a country-man. Elastration seems to have been used here for a long time here possibly since the 1900s? I grew up in the countryside, I live in the same place, but now I'm in suburbia....

 

[afishhunter]

W willisoften
Try a 371. Same size as the 301. I have 4 or 5 of them. (more budget friendly than the 301, and they are sold locally.) I'd rate the pulls at around a "5.5" to a "6". Just a hair stiffer than a 91 mm SAK's "5".

I tried a 373 to see if I liked the size before getting a 303.
Glad I did.
The 373 felt way too small and fragile in my hand.
(Yeah, I know it and the 303 are not fragile, but that is how it felt to me. I guess I just prefer a 4 inch and larger stockman.)

 

[willisoften]

I actually have a 371, it’s like the 373 spring tension is good but there’s an awkwardness to the position of the nail-nicks, unlike the USA made knives the bolsters are separate from the liners, and although I’m Northern Irish I have an objection to the Chinese knives - they are actually pretty good but Buck knives/ Case / Utica etc should be made in the USA, watches should be made in Switzerland, coffee makers in Italy, tea is from Sri Lanka, Whiskey is from Bushmills. That’s the proper order of things. I might have wandered off topic,

 

[bucksway]

Really the only 300 series Buck that I have used is the club knife in BG42..I have not used any other of that type as I always went with a single locking blade my whole life. I found it useful for most cutting needs. Saving and keeping one blade extremely sharp for when I really need it is why I bought it. I now understand why that type or pattern has been so popular for over 150 years. The way Buck makes it works well for me.