Gunhammer vs Zt 560

S

slight

Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
883
I have been wanting a new flipper and Ive come down to two: a htm Bowie Gunhammer, and the zt 560. Should I be patient and wait for the zts to become easier to get or snag a gunhammer. Ive been drooling over custom gunhammers for quite a while.

What do you guys think?

Does anyone have any experience with the htm gunhammers?
 
I've had plenty experience. Heck, I'm the HTM mod. <---shameless plug.

I have zero experience with that particular ZT. The closest thing I can compare it to is the ZT 0350 (which to be honest is more similar to the HTM Gunhammer than the 0560) I had at one point, which was replaced by the HTM bowie Gunny. Right now I have a demo unit of the HTM Gunny in m390 steel, an exclusive that knifecenter will have once they are finished. The assist mechanism on my demo m390 Gunny is one that Darrel Ralph and the late Blackie Collins designed together. It uses a coil spring and a bar, the bar of which is never under tension. It's the fastest of any assisted mechanism knives I've ever handled. Personally, I don't care for assists at all, but this is what my demo unit came with, so I have nothing to complain about.

Both knives, the 0560 and HTM Gunny, are great I'm sure. What you should really be asking yourself is if you want a framelock or a linerlock. The HTM Gunny is a linerlock with a lockbar that is .09 inch thick, thicker than quite a few framelocks, but not as thick as the 0560. I'd say they are different beasts entirely. I would say that you really can't go wrong with either knife. It depends on what knife speaks to you more IMO. They both come from great companies that have outstanding warranties, something I've had experience with in the past.

I did have the opportunity to handle a KVT knife at Bladeshow and can attest to the smoothness of the system. I'm a big fan of bearings in pivots.
 
Last edited:
harkamus said:
I have zero experience with that particular ZT. The closest thing I can compare it to is the ZT 0350 I had at one point... The ZTs are great, but I dislike the torsion bar assist, having had one break on me.
Click to expand...
Not much comparison with the ZT 0350 and 0560. Differences with the 0560: Longer, no recurve, 3-D machined G-10 front scale, 3-D machined Ti framelock, KVT Manual opener, Quad position deep carry clip, price, Hinderer design.
 
.9" thick harkamus? God damn that must be a heavy knife! :p :D

You can't go wrong with either. Depends on how much you want to spend.
 
Thomas, if you took offense to my reply, I apologize. I meant no disrespect. I was just stating that I couldn't speak for the other knife. After having read your reply, I realized that I forgot the 560 was non assisted and with the bearing system. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I will edit my reply accordingly. There is one feature of the 560 that I believe you forgot to mention. If I'm not mistaken, you can buy different handle scales for the 560, a feature that may be of interest to the OP.

ol_sc said:
.9" thick harkamus? God damn that must be a heavy knife! :p :D

You can't go wrong with either. Depends on how much you want to spend.
Click to expand...

Sleepy me. Thanks for pointing out that typo.
 
harkamus said:
Thomas, if you took offense to my reply, I apologize. I meant no disrespect. I was just stating that I couldn't speak for the other knife. After having read your reply, I realized that I forgot the 560 was non assisted and with the bearing system. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I will edit my reply accordingly. There is one feature of the 560 that I believe you forgot to mention. If I'm not mistaken, you can buy different handle scales for the 560, a feature that may be of interest to the OP.
Click to expand...
No offense taken at all, just a quick course from me on the differences between the two ZT's. :)
 
Thomas (and harkamus) it's cool you browse General or at least Whats New and answer these questions. :thumbup: to you both.
 
That's a heck of a tough call. The styling of the Gunhammer speaks to me a bit more, but the 0560 is on my list too. Personally, I'd say the 0560 gets the nod over the S30V Gunhammer, but the M390 Gunny tops both.
 
I have a couple of HTM Gunhammers, and also spent a lot of time fondling, er, handling the 0560 and 0561 at the SHOT Show. Both the HTM Gunhammer and 056X are very well-made knives with fantastic designs that look awesome and are also very functional. They both also have some of the finest people and companies in the industry behind them.

I've owned and/or handled a ton of different folders from many different companies (HTM, Kershaw/ZT, Spyderco, Strider, Emerson, CRK, Hinderer, and more), and if I could only have, say, 5 production knives for the rest of my life, both the HTM Gunhammer (Torpedo blade, in my case) and 0560 would make the list with no question whatsoever.

I know it's something of a BladeForums cliche, but in this case I really think you need to get both. :D
 
Last edited:
I really do want both to be honest. haha I think I can swing it and I have been wanting to add m390 and elmax to my collection. I am going to have to shoot an email over to knifecenter.
 
slight said:
I really do want both to be honest. haha I think I can swing it and I have been wanting to add m390 and elmax to my collection. I am going to have to shoot an email over to knifecenter.
Click to expand...
Excellent choice. :D
 
ol_sc said:
Thomas (and harkamus) it's cool you browse General or at least Whats New and answer these questions. :thumbup: to you both.
Click to expand...

I was just a regular member before I became a mod. I browse almost all of the sub-forums here. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top