AUS8 vs CTS XHP knives, changable handles?

[`br4dz-]

Hi everyone, new to the forums but I have a question that I haven't been able to find through a decent amount of searching.

I currently own a mini ak-47 in both the aus8 (2010 and later model) and cts xhp steels, but to me they seem like very different knives. The aus8 has a thicker handle with much more aggressive G10 texturing, like all of the other ak-47 models new and old, and the xhp version has much thinner and slicker G10 scales. The aus8 feels much better in my hand because I can actually get a grip around it, which is obviously important for a knife. Because of this I've been debating on returning the xhp version since I don't see myself using it nearly as much, but then I got the idea of what if I can swap the handles on the two, is that even a possibility? I would love to have the older versions handle with the CTS XHP steel. Any thoughts or knowledge on the matter? Thanks.

 

[insta9ves]

i think you can swap the blade, for recon 1 and lawman at least, probably the same for ak-47. but the lock bar cannot be changed since the lockbar pin is located in different location.

 

[mbastien55]

i think you can swap the blade, for recon 1 and lawman at least, probably the same for ak-47. but the lock bar cannot be changed since the lockbar pin is located in different location.

Hmm, i don't know wich model has this issue with the lock bar, but for my lawman it's interchangeable. For the pins, if you take the pins from a xhp version they won't sit flush on the ticker g10 as the new g10 is slimmer. It's the only difference. For ak47 and recon 1, they kept the same g10, so I wouldn't understand why you would interchange them, but you can.