Help IDing this Busse - gun shop find

A

Apec

Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
1,551
Hey everyone,

Saw a Busse at my LGS today - it looked like an ASH-1, but seems to be lacking the skull crusher pommel. I guess that could be because it appears to be stamped as a custom shop piece. Anyone know what I'm looking at?

Thanks.

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Yup, definitely looks like an ASH-1 Custom Shop piece. Hard to tell without a spine shot, but looks like a Fat ASH, too. I have not seen a pommel like that one, but looks like like a plausible cut down could have been done on the blank to render that configuration. Looks conveyed, too, which is like my Custom Shop Fat ASH that I obtained direct from the Shop some years back.

Good find!
 
What they want for it? Where the f$!# are all these gun shops carrying busse? Know this isnt 1st thread seen like this. All have ever seen round here is buck and Kershaw if lucky. Nearest Benchmade dealer 2 hrs away.
 
Decent stuff in the case as well , Dawson ? Entrek ? Older Tops.. Chris Reeve ...

Nice score on the ASH!
 
I may be wrong, but I've never seen a pommel like that and would be skeptical about its authenticity until I knew more.
 
Ulf Krogstad said:
What they want for it? Where the f$!# are all these gun shops carrying busse? Know this isnt 1st thread seen like this. All have ever seen round here is buck and Kershaw if lucky. Nearest Benchmade dealer 2 hrs away.
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Man your not a kidding around here nothing but real garbage,can't even believe they would take up space for some of the knives,would almost be a good thread in itself
 
Blueoak said:
Yes, looks fake to me.
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Gents, what about it looks fake to you? I know the pommel is not standard, but what is particularly alarming about that? Easy cut down on the standard blank to render that "flat beak" (which, BTW, the more I look at it, the more I think I like it ;)). Many customs out there. Also, I have a grinder and sander and have altered many of the pommels on my Busses as per my taste/whims. For instance, I altered my SOB prototype's pommel to be an almost perfect
ASH-1 std pommel (also brought the belly/swell of the handle way down, and enlarged the choil to a full choil like the ASH-s as well - now a "mini-ASH companion"). You may know a good deal more about spotting fake Busses than I do, so I sincerely ask. I would think that if one were to fake a design, one would generally want to follow the standard/intended design. If the idea of a change was to avoid IP infringement, well, I don't think the Chinese (for one) care much about that.
 
PeteyTwoPointOne said:
How much did they want for it? o_O
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Gun shop guy offered it to me for $250, but since I'm one of their best customers, offered to move it at $200.
Blueoak said:
Yes, looks fake to me.
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Yeah, I held off on picking it up, since it didn't look like a standard ASH. This is really one of those grey areas.

I guess only the Busse folks would know if they did any one-off blanks.

If it is a fake though, I hope they don't sell it at the prices the real deals go for.
 
u812 said:
Looks like a fat ASH-1 to me that someone did a mod to the pommel.
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That was my initial thought, but looks like the talon is extended, so the blank would have had to have cut differently from the standard pattern.
 
Apec said:
That was my initial thought, but looks like the talon is extended, so the blank would have had to have cut differently from the standard pattern.
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Ok, now that is a valid point there. Maybe that is what looks just a tad odd to me. Hmmm. I am now looking at my fat ash and at your pic, and back and forth, and and and . . . I cannot quite tell without holding them up superimposed in person. Shape can change the look of dimensions so easily in a photo. Do you have an ASH-1 to directly compare in person? Lawd, if it is genuine, $200!!! I will happily send you the money, plus a finder's fee, to send her to me! :)
 
Apec said:
That was my initial thought, but looks like the talon is extended, so the blank would have had to have cut differently from the standard pattern.
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I think it just looks longer because some of the G10 has been removed on the back bottom of the scale.
 
Kenneth F Huls said:
Ok, now that is a valid point there. Maybe that is what looks just a tad odd to me. Hmmm. I am now looking at my fat ash and at your pic, and back and forth, and and and . . . I cannot quite tell without holding them up superimposed in person. Shape can change the look of dimensions so easily in a photo. Do you have an ASH-1 to directly compare in person? Lawd, if it is genuine, $200!!! I will happily send you the money, plus a finder's fee, to send her to me! :)
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Looks like I am mistaken, the talon is not extended, I didn't notice that the grip scales don't cover the talon, making it an illusion. However, it doesn't have a rear lanyard hole, which looks like it wasn't cut in the blank, given it's position relative to the bottom handle rivet.
 
I noticed that the "scallops" were missing and thought that was messing up my visual comparison. Yup. The G10 is not as close to the talon hole as on the scalloped mags on the ASH-1 and that makes the talon's beak look longer for sure. I just grabbed my 3B2 ("slender ASH"). The bottom of the flat, smooth scales on the 3B2 is cut exactly like the bottom of the mags on this knife, making the talon's beak look the same.

If it is a fake, that is a really, really, really strange thing to do. One would have to use a 3B2 as a model for that little detail. So, again, why would a forger do such a thing?!

I think it is genuine. Garth?????
 
"However, it doesn't have a rear lanyard hole, which looks like it wasn't cut in the blank, given it's position relative to the bottom handle rivet."

I was thinking that if one ground down the pommel to flatten it just below the talon hole one would lose the lanyard hole, but now that I am looking at my ASHes closely I do not believe one would - one would have just the top of the lanyard hole remaining as a small cut out. That is, if it is ground down the way it looks to my eye in that photo. So, yeah, good point there, too. It wasn't drilled into the blank.

Again, with all the details sooo right from the pommel up, why would a forger do that? All this stuff makes me think it is bona fide all the more.
 
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