Hinderer 3 inch XM18 Non Flipper detent really stiff.

veritas

veritas

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Mar 8, 2002
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Hey guys wanted to throw this out there.

The last 3 inch non flipper I had was pre tri-way and the detent was like night and day. As a non flipper it was softer and a pleasure to both flick and slow roll.
I just got a bnib tri way non flipper and the detent is really stiff. I know Ricks knives got snappier detents in later gens but I thought they were still tuning the non flippers to be lighter. This being a 3 inch and smaller actually makes it worse. Action is good and smooth and I put some oil in the detent hole and ramp. Lock up is solid and early. The only way to slow roll the knife is to pinch in front of the studs and its awkward. Forget about slow rolling it with just your thumb using the stud. You also can't pinch both studs directly. It won't budge that way either. You can only thumb flick it and reverse flick it. Thats all. It just eats up your fingers.

I'm not really a tinkerer and it appears Sending it back to Rick is a no go as they don't tune detents according to their website.

Any ideas, tips or advice are welcome.

Regards,
Vin
 
I have a liner lock xm 3” that I wanted to use thumb stud over flipper and was same way. Hinderer told me exactly what you read. I took it apart and tweaked the lock bar myself. Took about 1/2 of the lock bar thickness out of how far it moved over and it’s now perfect. With a frame lock, you might have to play with it little by little. Easy to put back if I want, no metal removed. Crisp on the initial opening off seated, stayed put when closed and actually still flips. I might could take a touch more out and be better thumb opener but it works so I stopped.
 
Thanks for the insight. The lockup is pretty early. Not sure how comfy I am bending the lock bar the other way though lol.
 
You can try knocking the edge on the detent hole down a bit. Take it slow though, you can always remove more material, but remove too much and you're f**ked. I did this to my first XM-18, that Kim Johnson fella that assembled and tuned two of my Hinderers sure liked them detents STRONG. To his defense, the second one that I didn't touch at all worked itself in to perfection in a month or so. It's still pretty stiff for thumb opening, but the flipper action is *chef's kiss*.

It also comes down to technique, I've found that if I jam my thumb between the stud and scale, and use the scale as leverage to push the stud sideways the blade pops out with minimal effort. Slow rolling it is out of the question though, if I wanna be lowkey about it, I just two hand it like its a slip-joint. Rather have a strong ass detent that makes it impossible to not deploy the knife fully, than a weak one, and I'm sure 99% of users will agree.
 
veritas said:
Thanks for the insight. The lockup is pretty early. Not sure how comfy I am bending the lock bar the other way though lol.
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Sure thing.

Use that as a guideline. When you take it apart, you’ll find the lock at goes a lot farther over than it does when it locks up. Don’t bend it back that far. You want it to still have more travel than it needs to lock solid. If you wanted to, you could meausure how far over it is when locked, take apart and bend back so that it is farther than that measurement but less than current.

I thought about doing exactly that, but didn’t feel like going get my machinist ruler or mic from the shop so I winged it lol. It was very visibly farther so I just kinda eyeballed it.
 
Kryme said:
You can try knocking the edge on the detent hole down a bit. Take it slow though, you can always remove more material, but remove too much and you're f**ked. I did this to my first XM-18, that Kim Johnson fella that assembled and tuned two of my Hinderers sure liked them detents STRONG. To his defense, the second one that I didn't touch at all worked itself in to perfection in a month or so. It's still pretty stiff for thumb opening, but the flipper action is *chef's kiss*.

It also comes down to technique, I've found that if I jam my thumb between the stud and scale, and use the scale as leverage to push the stud sideways the blade pops out with minimal effort. Slow rolling it is out of the question though, if I wanna be lowkey about it, I just two hand it like its a slip-joint. Rather have a strong ass detent that makes it impossible to not deploy the knife fully, than a weak one, and I'm sure 99% of users will agree.
Click to expand...
What would recommend using to knock the edge down?
 
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