GEC 38 Special Kinda Like the GEC # 12 Powderhorn

[Modoc ED]

I just got this 38 Special with Tractor Green jigged bone in from Barry gunstockjack and it resembles GEC's # 12 Powderhorn quite a bit - at least in my eyes. I guess it's how the blades seem to flow into the frames of both knives.

For comparison here's a GEC # 12 Powderhorn in Antique Green jigged bone.

I sure do wish GEC would bring back the # 12 Powderhorn.

 

[traumkommode]

I just got this 38 Special with Tractor Green jigged bone in from Barry gunstockjack and it resembles GEC's # 12 Powderhorn quite a bit - at least in my eyes. I guess it's how the blades seem to flow into the frames of both knives.

For comparison here's a GEC # 12 Powderhorn in Antique Green jigged bone.

I sure do wish GEC would bring back the # 12 Powderhorn.

Good eye, the frames are very similar. That front bolster had to be exactly the same. Powderhorn's rest bolster just looks like it's been drug down so it's curved more and pointier. Same length?

 

[Modoc ED]

The 38 Special is 3 7/8" and the Powderhorn is 4".

 

[gunstockjack]

The thing I like about these patterns is that the "run up" part of the tang (the part that meets the spring when opened) is covered when closed in your pocket. Sort of a sunken joint thing, I guess, that makes it nice and smooth instead of having that sharp shoulder poking out.

 

[sitflyer]

I had a similar thought when I saw these Ed, they kinda caught my eye, would love to see a two blade version with the secondary blade up front and both nicks accessable from the mark side...

 

[Modoc ED]

That would be a good configuration for the 38 Special. I showed the picture of the Antique Green Powderhorn but if my feeble brain is correct, I believe you have a version with Ebony covers.

By the way - this little knife would be fit company with a Tickler in a "Juke Joint".

 

[sitflyer]

Yes, my well used Ebony two blade Powderhorn, it has a solid couple years of pocket time on it, I have been giving it a break the past couple months. I could see myself carrying one of those 38's just as easily, if it had a small secondary as I described, and the secondary was a pen in front of a clip, it could easily be an everyday knife for perhaps many years...

Your green 38 has the same clip blade as a 440C single blade #12 I have, Turkish clip? Anyways, looks like a nice addition, I like the looks of it a lot.

 

[Modoc ED]

The thing I like about these patterns is that the "run up" part of the tang (the part that meets the spring when opened) is covered when closed in your pocket. Sort of a sunken joint thing, I guess, that makes it nice and smooth instead of having that sharp shoulder poking out.

I like that too Barry. Not completely sunken but enough so that it's barely noticeable. Although not advertised as such there is a slight half-stop "when closing" the blade. The tang seems to have an angled flat spot where it contacts the spring when closing.

 

[3-1-1]

Very close indeed. Here is how they "stack up":



One thing I will say though, is my 12 has way better snap.

 

[Modoc ED]

Thanks for posting the "stack up" and comparison pic. They really are very similar. Oh, nice looking knives. And you are right about the snap. The pull, walk & talk, and snap on the 38 Special is between a 5 and a 6 while the same on my Powderhorns is between a 6 and a 7 - maybe 7 1/2.

 

[sitflyer]

How do the 38's feel in hand? The hook of the Powderhorn shape gives me a little bit of a security in the grip, if that makes any sense, kind of catches the pinkie finger.

 

[Modoc ED]

Although the rear bolster of the 38 doesn't have a downward projection, it rests nicely in the crook of the little finger giving it a sturdy feel in the hand. That said, the extra 1/8" length of the Powderhorn and it's downward projection does make it feel a bit more secure in the hand.

 

[Camillus]

Great observations, don't think anyone commented on this similarity in the release thread.

 

[J_Curd]

Lay a 38 and a 48 back to back if you want to see something really quirky

 

[Modoc ED]

I don't have a 48 so how about you take a picture of the 48 and 38 laid out back to back.

 

[AlwaysTomboy]

Lay a 38 and a 48 back to back if you want to see something really quirky

It still boggles my mind that those have the same handle shape just with the blades on opposite ends because I love the 48 but I hate the 38.

The 47 and 74 have a different sort of reversal going on that amuses me since the model numbers are also reversed.

 

[Camillus]

As a post - 2012 member of these forums, I am still intriqued as to how the 74 pattern was created by this forum to be oh-so-similar to the 73. With tooling supposedly in the tens of thousands of dollars, how did this happen?

 

[AlwaysTomboy]

I don't have a 48 so how about you take a picture of the 48 and 38 laid out back to back.

I swear someone posted a photo fairly recently showing that the 38 and 48 are the same exactly handle, but one has the blade coming out of the small end (48) and one has the blade coming out of the wide end (38). Darned if I can find that photo now, though. Sorry.

As a post - 2012 member of these forums, I am still intriqued as to how the 74 pattern was created by this forum to be oh-so-similar to the 73. With tooling supposedly in the tens of thousands of dollars, how did this happen?

At the risk of deviating too far off topic, I didn't know that was the story of the 74, and now it makes sense that I've seen multiple posts comparing the 74 to the 73 (and the 72, I guess, since the 72 is basically a back lock version of the 73). The only similarity I see is the size. The 72/73 has that little point in the middle of the underside that tries to force my fingers to one side or the other and has a wider, pointier butt, whereas the 74 is all one nice, smooth curve so my fingers can fall wherever is comfortable and the butt end is narrower and curvier.

I love the ergos of the 74 and I love the smooth opening and closing of the back lock 72. Back lock 74, please?

 

[jc57]

Love my 12s. Two Toothpicks and a Powderhorn Jack. The Powderhorn is my most often carried GEC model.

 

[J_Curd]

Happy to oblige. Took me a while to find.

And here I thought I just inbibed a bit too much brown juice and started taking silly pictures...