Buck 301

[Woodrow F Call]

I received my Buck 301 in yellow delrin yesterday. As I removed the 3 7/8 inch knife from it’s clam pack, I found a robust work horse of a knife.

The stockman pattern has some fairly thick blades for this type of knife measuring a little over 1/16 of an inch thick (no dial calipers on me today). They are beefy blades that appear evenly ground and are decently sharp… not razor sharp, but definitely sharp enough to work with. They were also finished in a lower grit than some other knives. They have an even satin finish which you can feel rubbing your finger against the grain. This is normal as from what I understand Buck’s a finished a little rougher than other more expensive knives.

It’s comfortable to hold in the hand, it’s easy to see, it rides in my pockets fine. Some may find it big or heavy, but I do not.

I did find a few flaws with the knife. Nothing that I find a big deal about for a $35 work horse type knife, but it could be better.

First flaw: The blades have just a touch of wobble to them. Just a touch, but it’s there.

Second flaw: The blade did have some stain/rust spots out of the package. Very minor and it will come off, but it’s fresh out of the package.

Third flaw: This one is just more interesting than a flaw. Look at the main blade stamp…. Other knives I’ve seen say 301… this looks like it was double stamped to me.

Fourth flaw: Here you can see that one side of the bolster spent a lot more time having material removed than the other. It’s slightly lopsided.

Fifth flaw? I’m not sure this is really a flaw, but it could be an issue. From my understanding the shield is glued in. That’s not the problem. The shield is a little proud on some of the edges. I think that’s just because the handle is contoured and the shield is glued on afterward. I think it’s a problem because it allows things to catch on the shield which will eventually loosen the shield and risk of losing it.

Design oddity: I wasn’t sure what to call this one. The spey blade sits a little proud of the liners. I searched and apparently it’s designed this way. It doesn’t catch on anything. I don’t see a real problem with it…. It just looks odd since it doesn’t sit below the liner.

 

[wouldestous]

nice post!
bought a 301 (same yellow plastic handles) in person at a store and had to look at quite a few of them to find one that had minimal to no blade wobble. thats one of the few things that bothers me since i figure if it wobbles out of the box then its going to be worse after years of carrying and using.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

I tried to find one locally, but failed. I'm in a fair sized city and nobody had one of these.

 

[wouldestous]

yeah, ive only ever seen buck knives in a big fishing/outdoor chain that has a location near where i live and also in this big knife place off the interstate in tennessee. (hardware type places seem to carry case if they carry anything.)

to be fair to buck, i stopped in right before christmas. the place was *full* of people and the knives had been picked over. i kind of wanted one of the black handled 301s but they only had one left and it was bad wobbly. they had a yellow one that was solid so thats what i got. you dont cut with the handle.

 

[jwren]

Third flaw: This one is just more interesting than a flaw. Look at the main blade stamp…. Other knives I’ve seen say 301… this looks like it was double stamped to me.

Are you referring to the date stamp?

 

[wouldestous]

oh, so thats a 2012 knife. mine has the same thing on it next to the '1' in '301'. never knew what it meant.
interesting

 

[silenthunterstudios]

I've always liked the Buck stockman pattern. I've had a few 301's, a 303 and a 703. The only one I have now is a 301X, which has a flat grind, bone scales and 425M steel. Really nice premium stockman. My father borrowed my bare bones 301, and lost it, so he says I have to get him another knife like that. His Buck Cadet and Case peanut are just the right size in his opinion. He kept "his" , "big knife" in his bag. (I have way too many knives, he should have seen what I owned a couple years ago ).

The only issues I've ever had, were the springs broke on my 703. I sent it back to Buck, they replaced it with a new charcoal dymondwood 303, and the shield promptly fell out. Not a big deal, but again, right out of the box? Won't stop me from buying a Buck in the future.

I still want to see a 301 come out of the custom shop. At least give us different scales and 440C steel .

 

[Woodrow F Call]

That's a date stamp? I can't even tell what it is.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Here ya go, I believe they are a little more in depth, with the actual authorized Buck stamps, in the Buck subforum.

 

[wouldestous]

That's a date stamp? I can't even tell what it is.

yeah, google something like 'buck knife date stamp' and you should get some results. its a symbol that represents a particular year and not the actual year.

edit: lol i was too slow lol

 

[silenthunterstudios]

BTW, Woodrow, tell Tommy Lee Jones to stop reading all of your posts aloud . Every time I see your avatar, all I hear is Cap'n Call.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

BTW, Woodrow, tell Tommy Lee Jones to stop reading all of your posts aloud . Every time I see your avatar, all I hear is Cap'n Call.

I don't know that he'd listen. Woodrow is kind of stubborn like that.


BTW, Let me know if you start hearing Ed Tom Bell too.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Here ya go, I believe they are a little more in depth, with the actual authorized Buck stamps, in the Buck subforum.

Thanks! I had seen some that didn't have a date code. I had no idea.

 

[jackknife]

Congratulations on the new Buck! Those things are the Sherman tank of pocket knives, right up there with alox SAK's. I used a Buck 301 as my almost sole edc pocket knife for 25 years. Put it through heck,and it never gave up. Great user knives.

Carl.

 

[jwren]

I still want to see a 301 come out of the custom shop.

I'm with you on that!

Good review, Woodrow F Call :thumbup:
I love my 301's and 303's - great knives.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Congratulations on the new Buck! Those things are the Sherman tank of pocket knives, right up there with alox SAK's. I used a Buck 301 as my almost sole edc pocket knife for 25 years. Put it through heck,and it never gave up. Great user knives.

Carl.

What's the Tiger or Abrams of the knife world?

 

[bemo]

I'm 300Bucks will be along to comment as he's the expert on these, but it seems all of the spey blades on Bucks sit proud like that. I've got 2 303's and a 301 and have looked at a number of them in stores and they're all like that. I've heard the new 301's are actually tougher than the old Camillus made ones, but I sure do miss the old ones; a little more refined.

 

[jackknife]

I'm 300Bucks will be along to comment as he's the expert on these, but it seems all of the spey blades on Bucks sit proud like that. I've got 2 303's and a 301 and have looked at a number of them in stores and they're all like that. I've heard the new 301's are actually tougher than the old Camillus made ones, but I sure do miss the old ones; a little more refined.

:thumbup::thumbup:

I miss the flat ground blades and the long pulls. Just had a better look.

Carl.

 

[Turk88]

The 301 that I have (black scales) has been used for a bit over a year and has handled everything that I threw at it. "Flaws" are purely cosmetic and probably will never affect its usability, I doubt the average person would even notice. For ~$35 I think I can handle those flaws.

 

[dogstar]

That's a nice looking knife. Thanks for taking the time to make the review.