I got back into the Russian drawer and grabbed my Leader LightWeight this morning. Following
Wasatch11253
's lead (

) at the
Cheburkov Channel I Iightened (

) both the lock bar pressure by slightly bending for an easier flip and the knife overall by removing the backspacer. I liked this one well enough to begin with due to its unusual construction. I like it even more now that it doesn't leave a painful depression in my index finger and also went from being a ridiculous 3.625 oz for a full 4" bladed knife to an absurd 3.125 oz. The open back is just a bonus.
As to the knife's construction, this one's what I'd call a linerless liner lock, with only the steel (?) lockbar inside the otherwise unsupported CF handle slabs. Here you can that lockbar in a shot from the spine down into the open back. There are two screws driven from the exterior, their heads hidden under the clip, which are threaded into the lockbar, holding it in place. The clip screw extends from its head on the show side, through a sleeve, and threads in the clip, holding the entire butt together. The two other pins toward the rear are shouldered and went through holes in in the backspacer and locked it in. My Small Strizh is similarly constructed, though I've not had it apart to see what might be done with it.
Below, you can just make out the lockbar from the knife's spine in the open position, it's rear end disappearing into a milled out recess in the CF. A shot from the opposite side would have been more revealing, but I missed my chance this afternoon.
