I have a Gerber Parabellum, perhaps the first of the big folders, that is equipped with a bolt action lock. I also have a smaller Gerber with the same lock that I used to carry every day. I do not remember ever having a lick of trouble with that lock in either version and am wondering what others' experiences with it might have been and whether Gerber still uses it. It seems like such a good idea.
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Gerber Bolt Action Lock
- Thread starter FullerH
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2003
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- 1,577
Gerber still uses it on the Chameleon series. I don't have any experience with it, but I sometimes use an AR II as my EDC and it has what Gerber calls an "interlock" device on it: sort of a lever on the spine that adds a lock to the frame lock. I really like its location and wish it was available on more models.
I've got the small folding drop point Bolt Action. I like the lock and I love the thin flat ground blade. The pivot sucks canal water. Mine is not right and it's not a user tweakable pivot.
Alas, tis out of production. Meyerco was making it after Gerber with a pocket clip addition and there are a few of those left out there.
Phil
Alas, tis out of production. Meyerco was making it after Gerber with a pocket clip addition and there are a few of those left out there.
Phil
I had the meyerco and lost it. The ergos were kind of iffy (as with most meyercos), stud sometimes tough to get. the clip was a really low ride (like the Gerber A/F folder), but a big hunk of tang still showed over the pocket.
I am not an engineer, but I studied the lock system and could not figure any way for it ti fail, short of a catastrophic handle failure. A small spring moves the bolt into place, but then the blade pressure is on the bolt itself and the spring is not stressed at all. the direction of force makes it a very solid lock.
I am not an engineer, but I studied the lock system and could not figure any way for it ti fail, short of a catastrophic handle failure. A small spring moves the bolt into place, but then the blade pressure is on the bolt itself and the spring is not stressed at all. the direction of force makes it a very solid lock.
On my small Drop Point Bolt Action folder, I was able to hald the bolt action switch back with my thumb and "Flick" the blade open as smoothly as you could ask, yet it would lock tightly in the open or closed position when the switch was in the forward position. In this if in nothing else, it acted like a BM Axis. I cannot do that with my Parabellum, as the pivot is too tight and I have never taken the time to break it in. I think that these are some of Gerber's nicest knives. The Parabellum has a very trick sheath that allows it to be carried folded in a belt pouch that has those spring-loaded quick release belt clips that were developed and used on the load-bearing gear for the military, but the pouch also has a stiff backing and a narrow slot that allows the knife to be carried as a fixed blade, complete with retainer, with the blade open. The pouch then becomes a sort of extra pocket.
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- Mar 3, 2000
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- 4,798
I've had a Bolt Action for years, never a bit of trouble with the lock. I like the blade shape and grind, and the ergos aren't bad. Not exceptional, but not bad. The pivot pin had a couple of glued on covers which have parted company with the knife, but that doesn't bother me. It still has absolutely no blade play to this day, and locks up good and solid.
I sometimes use the method of opening you describe... pull back the bolt and flip it open. I do this simply because of the lack of thumb stud, and I only do it when I have to open it one handed. I got no problem pinching the spine and pulling the knife open two handed-wise.
I don't particularly care for the Chameleon, bolt action or no. I don't like the design, and I don't like the little plastic bolt that's on there. This is just personal stuff, mind you. I'm sure there are people out there who are happy with it.
Wish they still made the Bolt Action. I'd buy another one.
I sometimes use the method of opening you describe... pull back the bolt and flip it open. I do this simply because of the lack of thumb stud, and I only do it when I have to open it one handed. I got no problem pinching the spine and pulling the knife open two handed-wise.
I don't particularly care for the Chameleon, bolt action or no. I don't like the design, and I don't like the little plastic bolt that's on there. This is just personal stuff, mind you. I'm sure there are people out there who are happy with it.
Wish they still made the Bolt Action. I'd buy another one.
Velitrius, I remember losing one of those pivot pin covers in a hotel room in New Orleans and then finding it on my bureau the next day after the room crew had been through. Nice hotel. I got some contact cement and reglued it and then pried the opposite one off and reglued it. That was the last problem that I ever had with that matter. Now, if I could only remember the name of the hotel, I'd post its name.