Is This a Buck 103?

T

TheFishman

Joined
Aug 23, 2022
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This is listed as a Buck 103 and a few things are odd about it. It only has Buck on the tang. It has a trademark symbol after Buck and Buck hasn't done that in years. It has the BOS symbol on the opposite side, but usually the steel type is listed with BOS. There is no steel type listed. It has what appears to be a bead blasted blade. Any idea what this is? Is it just a custom?

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Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Not sure what to make of it personally but my gut tells me it is real. One thing I notice quickly is how high the guard protrudes over the spine. Usually not that pronounced on the 103. I'll have to look at some guards on customs. BUCK and BOS appear laser etched. Funny patina on the blade. Looks more like corrosion than blasting? The ad lists the knife as D2 steel if you scroll down thru the text. I wonder how that was determined since it is not marked alongside the BOS symbol. D2 does have lowered corrosion resistance. Looking forward to other's thoughts.
 
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Seems fishy to me. BUCK and the BOS logo look photoshopped to me. The fine space around the text suggests as much.
The Buck* mark was used decades ago, but the sharp contours of the blade suggest it's a more modern production.
The guard is proud of the wood on the sides, which is normally flush.
Real conundrum... other than those things, it doesnt look bad.
I dunno....
 
I'm by no means an expert. There are distinct differences between this knife and my 103. Both the BUCK* and BOS heat treatment stamping look odd to me. The grind of the of the blade above the hollow grind area and below the spine is more even than mine. Mine gets thicker towards the point of the blade. The blade also has a steeper angel from the spine to the point than mine does. Mine doesn't have a swedge and the one pictured does. Unfortunately I think the various grind points could be a difference in the age of manufacturing of the two knives. Mine is less than three years old, maximum. I still can't shake my bad feeling about the knife pictured.

Incidentally, mine doesn't have the BOS heat treat etching or the steel type on the blade.

I would defer to DeSotoSky though.
 
Another point - The BUCK* logo and Bos logo, were never on the same blade.
BUCK* were all 440C (IIRC) and Buck's standard steel at the time. The Bos logo didnt become a thing until the switch to 420HC and was used almost exlusively on steels other than 420, and was always accompanied by the upgraded steel type.

Im going with fake...
 
It’s looks to me like it had some serious corrosion but either got soaked in evaporust or something similar. Looks pitted not blasted. Would the steel type and model # for some reason not survive that?
 
I can't imagine it coming from anywhere else than the BUCK buildings, maybe a one-off lunch box knife from an employee. Quite the mystery, this....
 
I messaged the seller last night and he said "My apologies those listing descriptions were from a duplicated listing. Don’t know much about the knife, I purchased a large collection with lots of limited edition buck knives in it. Couldn’t find any information on this one, looks factory to me. Unfortunately that’s all I know." This doesn't help solve anything. The duplicate listing information was in regards to my question about D2 steel and cocobolo handle. I didn't ask if it was factory but rather what constituted making it a "rare" knife.

As mentioned, the grind does look different than a current production 103, but it looks similar to the grind on older, pre date code 103s. The one line Buck with BOS on the opposite side is really odd since as pointed out, these two were never together. It is an interesting knife that I would love to see in person, but not at the price they are asking. I am leaning towards it being fake or some type of odd custom.
 
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Here's a photo of the tang area of my '67 103. The orientation on the tang stamp and spacer count is different than the OP's. A mystery knife for sure.
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The guard , pommel, spacers look like they came out of the Buck factory, and the sheath looks legitimate.
The blade itself also looks right to me , but not it's surface condition or the markings.
I have even less clue than anybody else here, but expect it will eventually be identified.
 
looks like the same knife..joe houser built that for me probably 2018 or there about...i had the blade purple tini coated at business in lakeside california..
it is legitimate i got the blade from joe he had stashed..i know the knife had a coa letter from joe .. Who knows what happens as knives pass through many hands- looks bead blasted now --someone must not have liked the purple.... wish i had the original purple one back now..but my house is not big enough to keep all the knives that have passed through my hands going on to new caretakers. :)
looking real close as i can --i cant tell on my pictures if the spacers between the guard slabs and near pommel are micarta as the one in op post are... its evident on that knife... could be another blade floating out there---but i do believe it is absolutely not fake....
 
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