BUCK 303 bladeplay. And 301s too.

My 2014 301 has a small bit of play in all three blades, and a little rubbing as well. It's been used, but not abused (yet).

It doesn't bother me. A little bit of play is really no big deal on a slipjoint. There's no lock that you have to worry about walking out of position and unlocking when you don't want it to. I've got a little bit of play in every one of my user slipjoints, and last I checked they all still worked like they were supposed to. Like Carl said... a little wobble in the blades of a slipjoint is like a little bit of slop in the workings of a true government contract 1911A1... just because it's got some movement in the mechanism doesn't mean it's broken. It increases reliability and eases maintenance in the long run.

The 301 is a superb using knife. It's not exactly the belle of the ball, if you will, but it'll do everything (reasonable) you ask of it and take more abuse than a slipjoint should probably be subjected to and come back with a smile for more. They're great knives.
 
CROWEMAG said:
I love the long pulls on the older versions!
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Those were made by Schrade or Camillus. Both supplied knives with long pulls. Schrade made them for a couple of years in the 60's. Camillus made from then till '85. As far as I know, all the in-house made knives have had nail nicks.

Between those I own and those I've given, I've probably handled a good dozen 301's and 303's. Never noticed any blade play in any of them. The springs tend to be on the soft side, which does not particularly bother me. I don't like struggling with sharp objects when my hands are wet or sweaty.
 
Being a European, I have no chance of pre-examining American made knives in a shop so i have to take the chance online.

That said, my Buck knives have all met my expectations and more. They're not aesthetically as appealing as other makes but I've found them tough and well-finished, so it is a bit surprising to hear of this.

The 303 and 309 both Yellow (why were Buck insane in ending this option???) are very fine small knives with SAK like finish, so too the 309 in sawn delrin I won here in a GAW and a Solitaire 307 I got at Christmas. I have one Buck fixed a Gen5 Skinner, fantastic thin blade that is a useful food knife or small game /fishing, that too is really well made and didn't cost much. I hope you can either get Buck to fix the knife or DIY with a padded vice.
 
Henry Beige said:
Hmm. Prompted by this thread, I checked my traditional folders for blade play:

Case Sodbuster, newish, felt and visible blade blay
Case Sodbuster Jr, newish, felt and visible blade blay
Loewen Hippekniep, 45 yrs old, very tight spring, felt and visible blade play.
Old Timer Stockman, 15 years old, felt and visible blade play
Case medium stockman, new, slight felt play, but not visible.
Puma SGB serpentine jack, newish, no discernible play
Henckels SAK pattern, felt play, not visible.
Four Victorinox SAK, one GAK, no discernible play
New RR marlinspike, no discernible play on the spike or the blade
New RR camp knife, no discernible play
Opinel No 8, No 10, Mam Douro, MAM Tipica, no play
Buck canoe, no play

The play on the newer Case sodbusters was surprising and a bit disappointing, I guess, but not enough to affect the utility of the knives. They both felt exactly like my old Loewen, which leads me to wonder if the pattern has something to do with it.
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A couple of raps with a bass-tipped mallet took care of the play in each of the three sodbusters, and didn't leave a mark on any of them.
 
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