I just bought this knife today and it was a spur of the moment purchase. I've sorta been neutral when it comes to Cold Steel as I have only owned a couple in my lifetime. I have always liked the look of the AK-47, with the short, but thick, and well defined clip point blade. I am even alright with the handle, but that Grivory thing had to go! I removed it with a Dremel tool and I like the looks a WHOLE lot better. Here are some specs on the knife, and then I'll give some initial impressions;
Specifications:
AK-47
Blade:
3 1/2"
Overall:
9 1/4"
Thick:
4mm
Weight:
7.6 oz.
Steel:
AUS 8A Bead Blast Finish
Bead Blasted Aluminum
As said, I removed the Grivory at the rear of the knife and made it flush with the edges of the handles as this does act as the back spacer. The aluminum handles are inlet and full steel liners are present. The thickness of the scale is .180". With the Grivory removed, the knife sits in the pocket with less of it sticking out which I count as a plus. I usually like nothing sticking out, but with the clip placement on this one, you are going to have some of the handle sticking out, but at least the part that does is not very wide.
In hand this knife feels good to me. I do have a problem with reaching the thumb plate to open it as I have to change my initial grip to get my thumb where it needs to be. The knife is flat enough to ride comfortably in my pocket and does not print from what I can tell, but I am wearing cargo shorts which tend to be able to hide a lot of things. Come jean time, this knife may "show itself" a little. With the thumb plate you can wave it open, but I have never had a knife that could that so I will be slow in learning that particular practice.
Out of the box the fit/finsh was pretty good. The blade was perfectly centered within the blade channel, and when I tightened it to my desired setting, it remained centered. The Ultra Lock is no Axis Lock as it is not as smooth, although it does seem to hold the blade closed so that it takes more effort to open the blade. The blade should not accidentally fall open on this knife. I had read elsewhere that unlocking can sometimes be difficult with one hand as the lockbar does not want to move all the way to the rear, and I have found that to be the case here. Not a real problem for me, but might be for some. I'm guessing that the lock will wear and smooth up as time and use passes.
Blade grinds were good and the knife easily shaved right out of the box. I will still hit it a few licks on my Sharpmaker with the white stones because that is what I do.
All in all I was pleased with the purchase, especially at the price I got this knife, even if it was spur of the moment. I'm going to have to renig on my promise to carry my Fallkniven PXL all month as I want to carry this one a few days just to see how much I like it.
So, there you have it. Anyone else have one of these, if so, what are your impressions?
Specifications:
AK-47
Blade:
3 1/2"
Overall:
9 1/4"
Thick:
4mm
Weight:
7.6 oz.
Steel:
AUS 8A Bead Blast Finish
Bead Blasted Aluminum
As said, I removed the Grivory at the rear of the knife and made it flush with the edges of the handles as this does act as the back spacer. The aluminum handles are inlet and full steel liners are present. The thickness of the scale is .180". With the Grivory removed, the knife sits in the pocket with less of it sticking out which I count as a plus. I usually like nothing sticking out, but with the clip placement on this one, you are going to have some of the handle sticking out, but at least the part that does is not very wide.
In hand this knife feels good to me. I do have a problem with reaching the thumb plate to open it as I have to change my initial grip to get my thumb where it needs to be. The knife is flat enough to ride comfortably in my pocket and does not print from what I can tell, but I am wearing cargo shorts which tend to be able to hide a lot of things. Come jean time, this knife may "show itself" a little. With the thumb plate you can wave it open, but I have never had a knife that could that so I will be slow in learning that particular practice.
Out of the box the fit/finsh was pretty good. The blade was perfectly centered within the blade channel, and when I tightened it to my desired setting, it remained centered. The Ultra Lock is no Axis Lock as it is not as smooth, although it does seem to hold the blade closed so that it takes more effort to open the blade. The blade should not accidentally fall open on this knife. I had read elsewhere that unlocking can sometimes be difficult with one hand as the lockbar does not want to move all the way to the rear, and I have found that to be the case here. Not a real problem for me, but might be for some. I'm guessing that the lock will wear and smooth up as time and use passes.
Blade grinds were good and the knife easily shaved right out of the box. I will still hit it a few licks on my Sharpmaker with the white stones because that is what I do.
All in all I was pleased with the purchase, especially at the price I got this knife, even if it was spur of the moment. I'm going to have to renig on my promise to carry my Fallkniven PXL all month as I want to carry this one a few days just to see how much I like it.
So, there you have it. Anyone else have one of these, if so, what are your impressions?
