Buck 112 Ranger. Did I get a lemon?

The blades of my 112 and 500 will bottom out only when I carry them in my front pocket. I can see a blunted area on the edge and over the years, a corresponding mark on the back spacer. The distance that the blade moves to touch the back spacer is too great for me to believe that it could hit during a rigorous closing. This is never an issue when I use the sheath and my 501 has never had a problem riding in the pocket. I've had the same thing happen with some other back locks and not others.
 
Am I the bad luck guy? I have only 3 bucks but two of them have similar issue. This 112 have this issue and a Buck lite Max has crazy shallow kick making the tip always on the back spacer when closed. Another 503 is normal though. I have other lock back knives and don't behave like this... Like the cold steels and the spydie delica 4. Also have a lionsteel lock back knife which will travel in close position with pressure but never hit the handle...
 
It seems to me that other manufacturers have recognized this problem and have designed solutions. Your Delica has a mid-lock where the kick lands so close to the rocker bar pivot, that no movement is possible in the closed position. My Maserin Favri has a tail lock, but includes a stop pin to keep the blade stationary. AG Russell addresses this problem with either of these two solutions, as he discusses in his videos. If I used the sheath that Buck included with my 112s, I wouldn't have this problem either. My solution is a stop pin that I wish Buck would include in the design, since they would do it correctly instead of the bodge-job that I did.
 
Reitwagen said:
It seems to me that other manufacturers have recognized this problem and have designed solutions. Your Delica has a mid-lock where the kick lands so close to the rocker bar pivot, that no movement is possible in the closed position. My Maserin Favri has a tail lock, but includes a stop pin to keep the blade stationary. AG Russell addresses this problem with either of these two solutions, as he discusses in his videos. If I used the sheath that Buck included with my 112s, I wouldn't have this problem either. My solution is a stop pin that I wish Buck would include in the design, since they would do it correctly instead of the bodge-job that I did.
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Yup. I found the sheath will prevent the blade from over close so I am leaving it for sheath carry now. I was carrying it in my bag without the sheath and found that problem... It was so bad that it has such a silly issue. It is an extremely nice knife.
 
how much force are we talking? my dozen or so 110s and 112s dont hit the lock bar or spring or rear bolster. i pushed lightly and they didnt really move much or at all. with still some clearance. are we talking a lot of force to make the lockbar push out of the handle to make blade contact or ......what am i missing?
 
I can easily move the blade with one finger on my new 112. I noticed the blade bottoming about 30 years ago and it wasn't until I heard AG Russell talk about this issue that I decided to do something about it. The 112 has been one of my favorite knives since I bought my first one, but I think it can be improved. Of course, I have to admit, my reluctance to use the sheath is part of my problem.
 
Reitwagen said:
I can easily move the blade with one finger on my new 112. I noticed the blade bottoming about 30 years ago and it wasn't until I heard AG Russell talk about this issue that I decided to do something about it. The 112 has been one of my favorite knives since I bought my first one, but I think it can be improved. Of course, I have to admit, my reluctance to use the sheath is part of my problem.
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i see what you mean. i was pushing closer to the pivot side of the spine. at the tip it goes down easily but no blade dull, but i wasnt forcing it either. shouldnt really be an issue the way i carry them...since i dislike pocket carry unless with a clip. i wouldnt carry in a bag without a sheath. thanks for explaining it to me Sir. appreciate it.
 
My 112 has a lot of clearance, I can push it until it hits, but I am pushing against the spring and I cannot see this happening in my pocket or in the sheath. My 110 does come to a stop against metal. So it rests on metal at one point about 1/4 inch from the point. I cannot see any dull spot there though.

I had never noticed or thought about this.
 
I'm not so loyal to any brand that I'm willing to overlook the flaws that bother me. I bought a Buck 500 around 1987 because I wanted a more pocket-friendly knife than my 112. In time it developed a cut on the spring about 4 millimeters long that matched a blunt spot on the blade. I would sharpen the knife and the dull spot returned after a few hours in my pocket. I'm not the only user to tire of this as is evidenced by other manufacturers addressing this design flaw. I like Buck knives, especially my 112, but the company is too lost in tradition for my tastes. Some people prefer tradition to innovation and that's fine. I prefer some of both. My 112 sat in the drawer for years before I added a stop pin and returned it to service, my 500 remains in retirement.
 
Pondoro2310 said:
My 112 has a lot of clearance, I can push it until it hits, but I am pushing against the spring and I cannot see this happening in my pocket or in the sheath. My 110 does come to a stop against metal. So it rests on metal at one point about 1/4 inch from the point. I cannot see any dull spot there though.

I had never noticed or thought about this.
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I bought a 501 today, like the 112 you can push it and force it to touch the metal. (Cabela's Bargain Cave "Package Damage", marked down.) On both the 112 and the 501 you can see the spring move, so I think the kick is engaging the spring. Like I said the 110 does touch when at rest but I cannot detect any dull spot.

I will carry the 501 as a test to see if pocket carry causes any problems. This is a sacrifice, I know, but I want to help all of you decide if this is an issue, we need data.
 
I was thinking about possible explanations for the differing experiences with 112s here.

Mine have never had a problem with this edge contact. But I realized that I have almost entirely old ones (70s and 80s).

I compared a few to a 1998 model that I have and found that the blades on the old ones were far harder to press down to the point of contact than the '98 model.

Maybe that's why I never had a problem.

That's all I can figure out about this........little difference in experience.
 
Oh......I just thought of something else.

My old ones are almost all 440C........a lot less likely to be bothered by a little bump from a hard surface (if indeed that IS what's happening).

Just another thought.
 
Woo. Thanks for the reply of everyone. I just tested it a few days more. Snapping it close cause almost no problem, while the biggest problem is pocket carry or bag carrying it without the sheath. The sheath is so tight that it will press down the blade a little but and at the same time preventing the back lock from coming out too much. Therefore it is actually preventing the issue. I found might will be pressed down with little to kind of little pressure. So it is especially problematic if carrying on busy pockets.
 
VorpalRain said:
LOL! This is simply not an issue.
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Maybe not to you, but I carry knives loose in my pocket and it's happened with other manufacturer's lockbacks as well. Maybe you like dull spots on your blades? It'd never happen if you carry in a sheath, but I don't. It'll also never happen with some other designs.
 
I've carried a 112 in my pocket for years without encountering the problem you have.

I gave you a possible reason above.....a couple, actually.

That's all I can tell you.
 
Not sure I'm following? The 112 was designed to be belt carried in its supplied sheath. If you pocket carry without the sheath you can get dull spots on the blade. The answer is for Buck to alter the design to accommodate the users who aren't carrying it the way it was designed to be carried?
 
Badhammer said:
Not sure I'm following? The 112 was designed to be belt carried in its supplied sheath. If you pocket carry without the sheath you can get dull spots on the blade. The answer is for Buck to alter the design to accommodate the users who aren't carrying it the way it was designed to be carried?
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Not only that.......but I still don't see how pocket carry is going to put enough pressure on the blade to cause it to contact other parts of the knife.

Even newer 112s with weaker springs and weaker steel should not be a problem. I just don't see how the user's pocket could provide the compression forces to squeeze the knife that much.

Maybe the answer lies elsewhere?
 
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