Benchmade Red Class

[GaryXD]

I got my BM Ambush 10200S today. It seems like a pretty good knife for the money BUT it is very hard to open (yes I tried the adjustment screw). Would it do any good to tear it apart and do a little creative grinding with the Dremel or would the Asian Axis Lock be hard to put back together?

 

[mschwoeb]

Two things:

There is no axis lock on there. Its called a Rolling Lock.

The knife is hard to open because of the Indraft system.

 

[thombrogan]

Now that he knows that, what would GaryXD's next course of action be?

 

[Knife Outlet]

I got the same impression. I found the knife to be heavy and clunky and quite hard to open. My assumption was Benchmade overkilled the back spring design to prevent the sort of thing CRKT experienced some time ago when they had a Taiwanese shipment impounded. I don't know what causes the action to work this way. I don't think it's adjustable. I think it's just part of the way it is. Benchmade will have some work to do to get the imports up to the level of CRKT, I think. Take care.

 

[GaryXD]

mschwoeb, I used the term "Asian Axis Lock" jokingly.
thombrogan, Only one thing to do. Throw this thing in the trash and get a CRKT.

 

[DaveH]

Send it back?

 

[fishface5]

I have a REKAT pioneer with the rolling lock, which I think is what the ambush is ased on. It is tougher to open than other lock systems, but it very strong. you can take it apart & polish some surfaces to reduce friction, maybe try to adjust the spring a bit. Might void the warantee but who cares. Won't be as smooth as an AXIS lock no matter what, but it can be made smoother, & besides puttering is fun!

 

[Cosmic Superchunk]

I have a Benchmade Ambush and at first opening the knife took a little bit to get used to. It isn't an Axis lock afterall, however, after a bit of opening and closing, I got used to the tension of the Indraft system and I really like the Rolling Lock mechanism. It's been my EDC since I bought it.

Here were my initial impressions:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=284568&highlight=Ambush

 

[GaryXD]

Well I went ahead and took it apart. Yes the Indraft system was the culprit. I removed approximately 1/4" from the spring portion of the liner and now this knife opens as fast as any I've owned. I like it so much I'm going to order another. YMMV.