Buck 310, Weak Spring and Large Gap. What to do?

B

boy&hisdogs

Joined
Dec 9, 2015
Messages
392
After having a whittler on my mind for a while, and several whittler threads tempting me, I finally gave in when I heard that Buck was discontinuing the 310. Keep in mind that I have seen no proof of this, just heard rumors, but I figured it was as good a reason as any to buy one.

So I did, and it came today. Overall the knife is pretty good save one glaring issue. I noticed that the main blade had a weak pull, about a 3, maybe 3.5 I would guess. Not quite enough to call it outright defective, but noticeably weaker than most other knives, including the other two blades. I flip it over to find a gap nearly big enough to see through under the right light.

This is only my second Buck, I bought a 110 about six months ago and couldn't be happier with it. For those of you who have had bad Bucks before and have dealt with their customer service, is this something that you think they would fix or replace? The knife came from Bass Pro.

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Definitely get them to take a look at it for you! I was at bass pro over the weekend looking at the 310, but they only had one left and it was the abused display model.
 
I've seen some rather soft pulls on the smaller 300 series Bucks, sometimes they will still be pretty snappy. The gap, meh, it's a production knife that they bang out in huge numbers, as a user it won't ever have any effect on performance.

That being said, if you contact them or send it in with a note describing the issues, they will most likely just send you a replacement, or fix it, it's in their court once you send it in, and I've seen them replace knives with a different but similar model if the model I sent in was discontinued. They do want customers to declare if a knife has any sentimental value included in the repair request. They always try to go the extra distance in those cases.
 
I'd hate that gap/spring, looks very poor. Plus, weak pull is not going to man up over time, with a working knife, this too is undesirable.

Buck can and does do better than this, so I would certainly ask for an exchange. I got one of their 'seconds' and can find no fault with it, so this one is a glaring mistake.

Hope you get it exchanged, they do good knives you can be proud to carry.

Thanks, Will
 
Mine has only an almost imperceptible gap and the clip blade had a softer pull than the rest; about a 3.5 whereas the rest were a solid 5. Now that I've been using it quite a bit its now about a 4-4.5, but nice and snappy. I would suggest opening and closing a bunch of times to see if it will break-in and improve, but with that gap I'd send it in. Small gaps don't bother me on a user like mine, but I have to say I do like admiring the flush springs from time to time.IMG_20180110_101750.jpg So yes, send it in! Let us know how it goes.
 
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People say Buck have weak pulls but I must be super lucky. Four 300 series knives, all have smart snap and tidy pulls.
 
Will Power said:
People say Buck have weak pulls but I must be super lucky. Four 300 series knives, all have smart snap and tidy pulls.
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Newer production, or Camillus (didn't Schrade make some too?)? My newer 301 as very unsatisfying pulls and snap, but my old Camillus made 303 is almost too strong and snappy.
 
I had a BCCI 301 edition that had horribly weak springs and I sent it in to see if anything could be done. When I received it back, it was improved noticeable, but still fairly light pull. Usuable though, which to me, it wasn’t before.

This is the main reason I don’t buy newer 300 series knives. Buck considers this overly light pull within specs, but I do not. The older flat ground, long pull models, are just about perfect imho. And yes I’m aware that the weak springs should not be an issue if you are using the knife properly, but still.

You’ve nothing to lose by sending it in to get the gap issue looked at and perhaps the springs too. I’d guess though they’ll just send back a different knife unless you specify not to.

I really would like for Buck to address the weak spring complaints. Since it is now a pretty commonly known issue, it can’t be blamed just on a random knife getting thru QC here and there. There’s no need for them to be that soft. And I think it turns off new users when they get their new knife home and discover that it feels like the back springs are made from old pop cans.

Sorry to ramble on, but it just annoys me. :)
 
Yes, I have a number of 301s, some collectors ones even, with upgraded steels and fancy covers, which are otherwise awesome knives but with incredibly light pulls. And it irks me to no end that the $20 foreign-made one (aka the 371) that I got at the big box store to beat up is vastly superior in that respect. Wish i could implant the springs from some of those into my USA made ones.
 
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Same here. My 310 and older 303 have nice snappy pulls; not strong but not weak.
Easy to open but still snap open and closed in a pleasing way.
I don't care for nailbreakers in this size, I've been bitten by my peanut too many times already.
Will Power said:
People say Buck have weak pulls but I must be super lucky. Four 300 series knives, all have smart snap and tidy pulls.
Click to expand...
 
I have a 371E I gave away cause even after returning it the Sheep's foot blade would not close with out help! I have 2 301 Buck Stockman's that are great!
 
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Some Buck fans are good with the weak pulls. "One man's meat is another's poison."
 
Well I've been away from the forum a while but I finally got around to sending the kife in, and I'm pleased with the replacement. The blades all have equal and appropriate weight pulls now and there isn't much gap to speak of.

They replaced it with a 2018 knife with a 309 blade, I wish it was actually marked 310 but I'll take function over form any day.

The stuff on the main blade is just a bit of oil. It did its first job yesterday, cutting open packaging to do the brakes on my girlfriend's Jeep and cutting some new rubber fuel line for that old dirtbike in the background.

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