Buck 420HC w/ BOS heat treat. How does it compare?

Wolverine666

Wolverine666

Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
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Does the BOS heat treat on Buck's 420HC make it a competitor to the likes of S30V and CPM-154 in regard to edge retention?

Is the BOS heat treat something special?
 
I've kind of been wondering, myself, about this point of pride "BOS Heat Treat" of theirs.

I can't imagine 420 of any sort being anything anywhere near the likes of 154CM, let alone S30V, but if so, then it should be considered an amazing feat and I'm in for a sample!
 
Agreed, it is not as good as those mentioned, especially S30V.

But the BOS heat treat does seem to bring out the best in the 420HC. I have a few Bucks in this steel and am very happy with them. But, it depends on what your application is. These days, given the choices, for a field or big game hunting knife, I have to say, I'd opt for the others.

In a folding EDC knife, for me personally, meh...Take your pick. Of course it depends on your usage and needs.
 
I'd say, based on my experience, it doesn't compare with s30v or CPM154, but I'd say it come closer to being a bit below VG10 and 154cm/ATS34. Probably most directly comparable, in my experience, to CTS-BD1. Definitely not going to be "top shelf" but it also is about as good as 420HC gets.

I find it to be tough, and takes a wicked edge.
 
19-3ben said:
I'd say, based on my experience, it doesn't compare with s30v or CPM154, but I'd say it come closer to being a bit below VG10 and 154cm/ATS34. Probably most directly comparable, in my experience, to CTS-BD1. Definitely not going to be "top shelf" but it also is about as good as 420HC gets.

I find it to be tough, and takes a wicked edge.
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Buck 420HC holds an edge far worse than VG 10 or ATS 34 or 440C.
Even AUS 8 will out perform it.
Any alloy with carbides will blow Buck 420HC out of the water
 
knarfeng said:
No. Not even close. Not anywhere in the same ball park.
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Kind of depends, what kind of heat treat did the s30v or cpm 154 receive?
I like Buck , the nice thing is you can find out how well 420hc works with out spending much money.
 
Even though 420 HC is designated high Carbon, CPM S-125-V has 7X as much Carbon.
 
knarfeng said:
Buck 420HC holds an edge far worse than VG 10 or ATS 34 or 440C.
Even AUS 8 will out perform it.
Any alloy with carbides will blow Buck 420HC out of the water
Click to expand...

I don’t know what to say. Maybe I had a better experience than you did.

I’ve never had a knife in AUS 8 so I can’t say.
I agree that it comes in behind 154cm, and VG10.
And as I said, it would compare to something like BD1 (comparing it to my Manix 2).

But these things are all subjective, and it could be I hold it in higher regard than you do because of the type of meterials I cut or even just the way I perceive it.
 
knarfeng said:
Buck 420HC holds an edge far worse than VG 10 or ATS 34 or 440C.
Even AUS 8 will out perform it.
Any alloy with carbides will blow Buck 420HC out of the water
Click to expand...

Meh.

It holds a fine enough edge for me to field dress two deer and is only a couple of swipes away on a folding diamond sharpener from being hair popping sharp again. So, it might be out performed by the aforementioned steels, but it performs well enough that I don't care.

Is it equal to S30V? No. Does it matter? Not to me.

Is the Bos heat treat something special? It is special in that it consistently gets this lower end steel to 58RC; other manufacturers using the same steel do not.
 
Not even close to any higher quality steels because 420hc has not that good of a composition compared to others. The bos heat treat is even better on more high quality steels. I’d be willing to bet Bucks s30v is a better edge holder than ZTs Benchmades or Spydercos.
 
In my experience, Spyderco s30v out performs buck s30v with Bos heat treat. I have a buck vantage and paradigm in s30v. And a Spyderco military and manix 2 in s30v. Spyderco’s have held an edge longer and have displayed better edge stability. Is it all heat treat? Maybe it edge geometry? Just stating my experience.
 
The Buck BOS heat treat is definitely something special, but even Buck can't break the laws of physics. the 420HC is pretty good, actually. But if you are looking for s30v levels of performance, why not get a Buck in s30v? Buck knows their heat treatments, and their s30v is quite good.
 
Lodd said:
The Buck BOS heat treat is definitely something special, but even Buck can't break the laws of physics. the 420HC is pretty good, actually. But if you are looking for s30v levels of performance, why not get a Buck in s30v? Buck knows their heat treatments, and their s30v is quite good.
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I'm a bit smitten with the 124 Frontiersman (good size , thick blade , full tang etc). But it's only available in 420HC. Thus my curiosity for said steel.
 
If you used 420hc and a whole host of other "better" steels until they were all blunt, and then put them under a microscope to check edge damage how would it stack up then?

The reason why I ask is because I watched a Cliff Stamp video where he compares 12c27 with two high carbide steels and they both chipped and rolled, the 12c27 did not.

I believe Condor still makes some machetes in 420hc, are there any companies that make machetes in S30v?
 
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