Info on a Colonial Knife?

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Pug-butter

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Greetings from Minnesota, and pardon the lack of pictures. I'll be describing the knife as best as I can, and see if anyone can help.

We left South Dakota today and are headed back to our homes on the east coast. Along the way we've visited a lot of thrift stores. The latest one had a stockman in good condition, vintage and "unused" (there are shallow scratches on the bolsters and all 3 blades) for $15. I've found a lot of info on the company itself, and they've apparently outsourced to China, but this model is not on their website—or, for that matter, anywhere else on the Web, as far as I've seen.

The clip blade is marked as "COLONIAL PROV. R.I." One of the pen blades says "USA," indicating it was made prior to their move to China. This is the first stockman pattern I've owned, and I like it a lot; the scales are black, jigged, probably delrin but possibly bone. It's got the dimensions of an equal-end cigar jack, and gives a really nice grip. The shield says "WANAMINGO ELEV.," which indicates it was a commission for that company.

The clip blade has a nice long pull. It has a swedge that is strangely ground into only one side of, giving the spine a "bent" appearance, though this is evidently its design. There is a slight gap in one of the slabs, but this is otherwise a really nice knife for the prices I've seen.

What I'm interested in knowing is the quality of the steel. Reviews for their products are good, but no real specs are given. How is the edge retention on pre-China Colonials?

Edit: I forgot to add, the snap on this knife is great. It opens and closes real tight, and there is no blade play whatsoever. So I'm only really curious about steel quality.
 
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That's one of a few sources I have found.

The few catalog entries that list steel type say 440A, but those are tactical models, and this thing seems to be too well-made for that. Although it would explain their low price point.

The website says their 440A is hardened to 58-60 RC. I've never heard of that before.
 
They seem to list all their steels(440a 440c 1075) at 58-60 rc. Maybe its some sort of mass typo? If your stockman is carbon steel its a decent chance its 1075. If you really wanna know you could email them with pics and ask.
 
Pug-butter said:
That's one of a few sources I have found.

The few catalog entries that list steel type say 440A, but those are tactical models, and this thing seems to be too well-made for that. Although it would explain their low price point.

The website says their 440A is hardened to 58-60 RC. I've never heard of that before.
Click to expand...

Two comments on the hardness.
  • Phil Gibbs, who was a designer for Camillus, tells me that Camillus used to get its 440A up in that hardness range. I believe Phil Gibbs.
  • The Chinese don't use American alloys, they use their own. I have seen some use 8Cr13MoV and call it 440A. I know from experience that 8Cr13MoV can be hardened to that range. I have several that I measured at 59 HRC
 
A former Colonial employee on another forum says 1095 High Carbon, and 1075 for their 'budget' line.
 
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