Interesting mid-production change: BM 750 Pinnacle frame lock

elkins45

elkins45

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Jun 17, 2006
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One of my favorite and most frequently used knives is a Benchmade Pinnacle 750. It's a titanium frame lock (BM calls it a mono lock) that has sometimes been called the 'poor man's Sebenza'.

I liked it so much that when I saw one on sale for a good price right after they were discontinued I bought it as a spare. The spare hasn't been needed yet and has been a safe queen. I was moving some stuff around yesterday and decided to get the new one out. As I was looking it over I discovered a fairly significant difference between it and the one I have been using for 10 year or more. Take a look at the width of the locking bars of the two knives in the picture. The top one is the original and the lower one is the unused one I bought some years later.

Look how much wider the lock is on the newer one. I didn't realize there had been two variations of the 750. I wonder what the reason was for the design change? Anybody here a Benchmade expert that can shed some light on when and why the design was modded?

DSC_4312.jpg
 
My 750 is like the top one.

Are both lock-bars as easy to move?

I'd think the newer version would be stiffer to operate the lock-bar, but more importantly the newer version would deflect less when the blade is stressed in the closing direction - an issue I have with mine.
 
Yes it probably had something to do with overextension. The larger lock bar should stiffen up the disengagement and with the added width it looks like the clip would ride against the lock bar which would also aid in preventing an overextension problem.
 
tjsulli790 said:
Is the wider lock bar version a First Production piece? I saw this on ebay and from the description it seems they went from the wider sturdier lock to the narrower one. :confused:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Benchmade-750S-...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1205|293:1|294:50
Click to expand...

Very interesting. There's nothing on the box to indicate it is a first production piece. I bought it not long after they had been discontinued, but of course there's no way of knowing how long it had been in the dealer's stock. I assumed it is newer since I bought it later, but for all I know it might have been one of the first ones produced.

If the eBay example were PE I would bid on it. The Pinnacle has certainly stood the test of time as a good working knife for me. The top one has been carried and used more than any knife I own. It's the only tip down knife I still use, and as soon as my 2-56 tap arrives it's going to become tip up.
 
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I’ve always liked the 750. I would LOVE to see more pics of the one that has a decade of use on it. There’s just something about a knife with use that appeals to me.
 
J.Mattson said:
I’ve always liked the 750. I would LOVE to see more pics of the one that has a decade of use on it. There’s just something about a knife with use that appeals to me.
Click to expand...

OK, but it will be a few days. Right now it's disassembled in anticipation of being drilled and tapped for tip up carry. You can see the marks for the new clip location in the photo.
 
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