Beretta/Loveless drop point comparison

MT Damascus

MT Damascus

Joined
Jan 14, 2011
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I love all things Bob Loveless and have wanted to pick up a Beretta/Loveless drop point for some time, and the right one came my way. This is the original made by Ichiro Hattori's company, which has been making fine knives since the early 70's. My Fallkniven Jarl is made by them and one of the nicest production knives I have, until this one showed up. The Beretta is a thinner stock than an original RW. An extremely well made knife, Quince(could be Amboyna) burl handles, Aus 8 blade, NS bolster. It has an excellent tapered tang, rounded ricasso, and all edges are smooth. This knife is really nice, and I bet Bob was proud of them. I oiled up the handle with a little beeswax/walnut oil mix and gave the sheath a coat of Montana Pitch Blend. My original R.W. Loveless drop point was made by Bob in the late 70's and has Lignum Vitae handles. It is pretty spot on to the original, a few pics and please post up your Beretta/Loveless drop points if you have one. Thanks for looking,


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I have this exact knife. My favorite Skinner. It has been used on a bunch of deer and hogs.
Have a good one
Ray

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
That's a very nice rendering of the iconic Loveless drop point. I have yet to get a Loveless style knife, but want one. I have the maker in mind for it when I do. It's good to see a company produce a product of that quality. Congratulations Kris, I am happy you got it my friend.

Chris
 
I've got that same knife, Kris. It really is a nice knife. I got it new and it's pretty much pristine. It's nice to know it's a good rendition of Bob's Drop Point. I'll try and get a pic or two in the next day or so.

I thought the Beretta was available in another handle material also? I could be thinking of something else though.
 
- have one too, amongst around 14 d-p hunters I own, and it is one of the nicest, most well balanced of the lot........the blade sings when you zing your thumb across it too :D
 
- small selection with the d-p in question...


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inc Zytel one (not mine or pic)

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Good comparison Kris. One thing many Loveless inspired makers don't get right is the subtle contours of the real thing, a Loveless feels different in hand.

I guess my old buddy Mike Lovett came closest to capturing the essence. Sadly he no longer makes knives, the few I owned were great tributes to Bob's work.
 
Here's a couple of quick pics of the Beretta Loveless I have. The only other marking on the knife is on the reverse side, Japan is stamped on the ricasso. This one arrived as sharp or sharper than any knife I've handled.
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JB in SC said:
Gary, that's a beaut :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jerry. I got that in 2004 and I never used it. I've got a shelf full of drop points from various makers to select from. That might be why I haven't been buying many knives lately.
 
JB in SC said:
Good comparison Kris. One thing many Loveless inspired makers don't get right is the subtle contours of the real thing, a Loveless feels different in hand...
Click to expand...

To show a "newbie" what Loveless means as a designer, at a regional knife show we picked up and handled a variety of drop point hunters that were essentially copies of Loveless' design. This was both custom and production knives. Without fail, the Loveless authorized production knives felt better in the hand than any of the other copies, including the customs.
 
Drop Point design by Loveless is one of my grail knives. I'd be fine with a production version, and have also been looking for a good deal.

I tend to like his NY Special design, as well, and Dozier's rendition is up there on my short list.

Real grail (Other than a knife hand-made by RWL himself) would be a Dozier premium Loveless Style dp hunter at around $1K.
 
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