Buck 110 Steel?

T

Toothy Wolf

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Feb 5, 2021
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I have a Buck 110 I got as a grooms man gift. I know it was made in 2015, because of the markings on the blade. Best I can tell is made of 420 HC. Anyone confirm my suspicion? Or correct me in my error? I’d appreciate it.
 
Yep, 420HC ... it is Buck's standard blade steel since 1994
Other steels are sometimes available but generally are indicated with a BOS heat treat, pile side blade etch and mostly only available through Buck Custom Shop
Unless of course, it is obviously Damascus Steel, but that isn't standard or even common
Prior to 1994, Buck used 425M steel as their standard steel. And prior to about 1980, Buck may have used 440C as their standard steel.
 
B1GSHOT said:
Because of the unique heat treating, Buck’s 420 is as hard as higher grade steels. It’s a best of both worlds steel.
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Durbin7 said:
Yes, their heat treat results in a very different 420hc than other knife companies. It performs surprisingly well.
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I keep hearing this, but is it demonstrably true, or just marketing that has been accepted as true by the knife community?

It is my suspicion that folks just tell themselves it is true to reconcile their love for Buck knives with the steel snobbery they have when it comes to any other brand.

Is it possible that nobody else has figured out how to heat treat it? What if it turned out that 420hc was just fine for everybody all along?

Not being contrarian here, but genuinely curious.
 
For me Buck's pre 1980 440C steel is far superior to their 420hc, just a personal preference, and I have hunted and found many older 112's and 110s with this steel.
 
Just Tom. said:
I keep hearing this, but is it demonstrably true, or just marketing that has been accepted as true by the knife community?

It is my suspicion that folks just tell themselves it is true to reconcile their love for Buck knives with the steel snobbery they have when it comes to any other brand.

Is it possible that nobody else has figured out how to heat treat it? What if it turned out that 420hc was just fine for everybody all along?

Not being contrarian here, but genuinely curious.
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Buck uses BOS heat treat on all their domestic blades. I don't know if they do on the imported blades, but my guess is they do on the imported 420HC blades. It wouldn't be difficult to use the same procedures, temperatures, and times, after all.
I don't know if Mr. Bos developed a heat treat for the 420J2 blades used on the imported 37x and 38x slipjoints.
I do know I haven't had issues with my 371 stockman's and 389 canoe holding an edge, or had to sharpen them more often than my Case Sodbster Jr. with a True Sharp blade.

Buck doesn't put the BOS heat treat etch on the 420HC blades though.
Paul Bos was head of the Buck heat treat for a "few" years.

BOS heat treat is considered the "best" by a lot of folks in the cutlery industry, and consumers who care about such things. Believe it or not, most consumers don't know or care about the different heat treats used for each steel. If they think of the heat treat at al, they just expect the manufacturer to "get it right".

Buck does run their 425HC one or two points harder than Case runs their "Tru Sharp" 420HC. Which I understand "makes it a totally different steel" insofar as performance goes.
Of course the same can be said for other steels. D2 for example, run soft does not perform as well as D2 run a couple points higher. (Yes, the softer steel may be considered "tougher" but it won't hold an edge as long.)

In normal use Buck has a reputation of holding an edge longer than Case, Schrade+, and Leatherman 425HC blades. On the flip side, since the Case and Leatherman blades are a little softer, they are "easier" to sharpen using the same method and equipment.
To be honest, Case and Leatherman blades will do the job just as well, but will need sharpened a little more often.

From experience I can tell you a Buck 110 with a 420HC blade can peel and field dress 3.25 to 3.5 whitetail before it needs stropped or sharpened.
An Schrade+ Old Timer 6OT or 7OT can peel and field dress 2.5 to 3 whitetail deer before it needs stropped or sharpened.
"Schrade+" was 440A or 420HC. I believe they used both over the years. By calling is "Schrade+" (or "Tru Sharp" in the case of Case) they don't have to specify which stainless steel it is. I believe Case and Schrade USA ran their blades at the same hardness, or close enough it didn't make any difference.
From a marketing standpoint, it would make sense to specify 440C and "higher".
 
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afishhunter said:
From experience I can tell you a Buck 110 with a 420HC blade can peel and field dress 3.25 to 3.5 whitetail before it needs stropped or sharpened.
An Schrade+ Old Timer 6OT or 7OT can peel and field dress 2.5 to 3 whitetail deer before it needs stropped or sharpened.
"Schrade+" was 440A or 420HC. I believe they used both over the years. By calling is "Schrade+" (or "Tru Sharp" in the case of Case) they don't have to specify which stainless steel it is. I believe Case and Schrade USA ran their blades at the same hardness, or close enough it didn't make any difference.
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So not a scientific study, but based on your experience then, the Buck 420 is anywhere from 0.25 to 1.00 whitetails better than Schrade or Case 420 :thumbsup::D. For that statistic to be meaningful to me, I would have to convert whitetails to sheep or maybe salmon…
(You are not really comparing identical steels, though.)

I would love to see the “whitetail” adopted as a standard measure of knife performance:
Dude, check out my new Arachnidco in OU812. It’s rated at 4.75 whitetails on the Fishhunter scale!
 
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I did buy an imported stockman of theirs,and gotta admit the fit,finish was far superior to alot of big name high dollar knives.
I never had an issue with their J2 either.
Only issue I have with the knives is remembering where I put it.
That's not the knifes fault tho...it's probably due to the fact I can't remember a dang thing😂
 
Personally I like 420hc steel over their previous 440c. For my purposes, ease of sharpening, is more important than edge retention. Not to mention that, my favorite buck, the 192, was borned after the switch and is only available in either standard 420hc, or a super steel. I would like to pick up a “better” steel model so I can direct compare them.

But I think schrade 440A is superior to the 420hc buck or case uses. It takes a more keen edge, and holds it as long or longer to me, than bucks 420hc, and both do better than case stainless.

Now for me, learning that I can’t refine the edge the same as, or as fine as I would a carbon steel blade was difficult when I began using case and buck stainless knives. I’ve had a love hate relationship with stainless blades.
 
Maybe I’m doing it wrong, or maybe I just haven’t learned the correct use of the fishhunter scale system yet, But I don’t generally get through a single deer without touching my edge up. As soon as my edge starts to dull, I refreshed it on my dmt stone.

Which brings up another point, who uses the same knife for deer and only for deer? I use my knives for may purposes between deer.
 
JM2 said:
Maybe I’m doing it wrong, or maybe I just haven’t learned the correct use of the fishhunter scale system yet, But I don’t generally get through a single deer without touching my edge up. As soon as my edge starts to dull, I refreshed it on my dmt stone.

Which brings up another point, who uses the same knife for deer and only for deer? I use my knives for may purposes between deer.
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I have a couple of knives that I've only used for hunting... my Cold Steel Master Hunter has been used on deer, pigs, and a couple of aoudad. Well, three aoudad, actually, but it had to be touched up during the third one.
I don't hunt much anymore, or at least lately, but if I go again, I plan to use my GEC 23 in mesquite... just because.
 
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