lone wolf harsey t2 vs harsey beretta

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bebop

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Mar 17, 2009
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I am stuck between purchasing the harsey Lone Wolf T2 Ranger and the large harsey BH Beretta.
Both are designed by Bill Harsey and have very similar designs but a few distinct differences. I have read quite a bit about the T2 ranger but cannot find much of anything about the Harsey Beretta folder. Does anyone have any advice or information concerning either or both knives.

BH Beretta looks like a better knife then the T2 ranger from the specs i've looked at.
Price is identical, about $110 which i think is a amazing price for the quality and materials used for these knives.
 
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Welcome to the forums;funny you posted this, i just ordered a beretta bh off their site yesterday.i've read good things about it,but it is a large folder, made in italy,s30 blade with flipper. i have a lone wolf harsey,its an older large one with the micarta handles,it almost dwarfs a strider,well made,solid.the t2 is a bit smaller, you should know that the pocket clip on the t2 is set up where the knife sticks out f the pocket a bit,the beretta seems similar,mounted for tip up in a similar place like the buck strider. beretta should arrive friday or sat, i will post further info when it arrives. i think the t2 would be less noticable when carried,(i think the t2 is the 4" blade)seems a bit smaller than the beretta. they also made a 3" blade beretta with otherwise similar materials.i had str make a lowrider pocket clip for the harsey,but it was no easy task,due to the position of the large pivot disk & screw holes. he didnt like the final outcome of it,but i like it better than the original.the beretta on their website is 104.95,+ shipping & taxes bring it to about 123.00 but it still looks like a bargain.ill post more info when it arrives....
 
Hi bebop, I don't have the large BH Beretta, but I do have the smaller version. EXCELLENT Folder. S30V Blade Steel, G10 scales, Ti Liners, and Ti Clip. Solid knife and Very Well Built. Smooth opening and solid lock up. I don't have any complaints ...From Experience With It, I DON'T THINK YOU'LL BE DISAPPOINTED ;). Hope this helps some. Take Good Care and Be Safe Always.

God Bless :)


-ROOK-
 
Thank you both, this is great information. Goldie I look forward to when you receive the bh beretta as you can provide precious info.

Bebop.
 
The Berreta is a large knife. It is thinner than the Lonewolf. It actually looks like something Spyderco would do as it has good G-10, the titanium liners, specifically the locking liner are well done and lockup is excellent. The blade is thicker than the common .125" used on a lot of folders. I got mine from Beretta for an EXCELLENT price. I can't really say why it reminds me of a Spyderco, it just does!:confused::D:thumbup: I say go for the Beretta.
 
The Beretta is a nice knife. I ordered 3 of the larger ones about 4 months ago. They are larger than the specs on the website say they are. I wish I had a smaller one.

I did have to send one back for exchange because the blade wasn't centered. If the blade is off 3 milimeters the blade will hit the titanuim liners. The tolerances are very tight.

The knife come very stiff out of box, but after 100 openings the blade really flies out with a flick of the wrist. It also has phosphorous bronze washers. I'm pretty sure along with the liners the spacers and thumb studs are titanium also.

Here's a pic next to a ruler with a Blade Tech MLEK Magnum above it.

023.jpg


Hope that helps.
 
I have the Lone Wolf T2 and love it. This thread prompted me to look into the Beretta, and the differences I see are: Beretta made in Italy, LW in USA. Beretta has Titanium liner and clip, LW Stainless. The LW handle is rounded just a bit, and I think it fits my hand really well. The Beretta looks like the scales are flatter, so it would be thinner in the pocket. Beretta is tip up, and the LW is tip down carry. The LW is quite a pocket-full. I like the Harsey designs, and that Beretta looks like a lighter weight, thinner alternative to the LW. It might just boil down to your carry preference (tip up or down).
 
Some pros i see just from pictures and specs of the "BERETTA"
-Better jimping than LW jimping
-G10 vs FRN
-Looks like their is better protection from splipping and cutting yourself on the blade, lets say a example would be from stabbing real hard.

A "con" i could see in the beretta
-The blade looks weaker then the flat grind on the ranger.

I am also wondering what the lockup and the strength of the joint is like between the two?

I can only assume things just from pictures.
Im looking for the best quality as I would like it to last a long time under hard use.
So i guess it comes down to which is more of a tank and is the most fuctional.

Thank you all for your insite.:D
 
Here's some pics from different angles for those that are interested in the Beretta.

066-1.jpg


069-1.jpg


071.jpg


073.jpg


085-1.jpg


086-1.jpg


072-1.jpg
 
(k12s) your pictures caused me to buy the knife,as posted on the for sale section.your the culprit :D
 
Me too, just bought one from Beretta USA, they were on sale.
Can someone tell me if the screws holding the scales protrude from inside the liners as much as on the Lone Wolf Harseys? Should I get my benchstone ready to trim the damn screw like I had to do on all of my Harseys?
 
I don't know about the T2, but I do know that you can't go wrong with the Beretta. It has to be the nicest folder I've handled as of yet.

Granted, my price range in folders only goes to about $150 or so. The Beretta is still beautifully crafted. I think few things can compare for that price. If I had $300 dollars laying around, I'd actually think about buying three more.

It's simply a well-crafted blade and beautiful to boot. :)
 
Is the Harsey Beretta the same as the Beretta BH Tactical 3.75?

Also, did you modify the flipper? On the berettausa website the flipper doesn't look like it's sanded flat like on yours.
 
It is certainly not a copy. This knife is made by Fantoni, an Italian knifemaker that worked with Lone Wolf in the past to produce the Loveless fixed-blade knife. Apparently, they had a licensing agreement with Beretta to market this model in the US under the Beretta name. If you look, you will see the small rectangular manufacturer's logo both on the Beretta and on this model. By the way, the same knife was sold by Beretta for 105$ in the US and is sold for 200 euros in Europe (large model).
What is more interesting about your picture is that it was taken from the site of an Italian online knife retailer, Coltelleria Collini. As you can see on the top image, you can read S125V on the blade, which would make this knife one of the very few in the world to use Crucible's newest premium steel. However, if you go to the Fantoni website, they list this knife as having an S30V blade. That would not be the first mistake about this model: on the Beretta site, sometimes the large model is described as having a 3.25" blade, sometimes a 3.75" blade (I think the small model is 2.95").
I wrote Fantoni an e-mail about this "curiosity" and will post their explanation as soon as I receive their answer.
 
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This is getting very interesting.
I looked at the Coltelleria Collini site and the large model uses s30v both on the picture and on the discription, but on the small model the picture says s125v while the description says s30v.
 
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I bought one of the large BH Tactical knives directly from Beretta last summer and it is one hell of a knife. I really don't think you'll find a better knife at that price. I paid $100 for mine. The only thing is the size is not 3.75 ( as the box says ) the blade is about 4"

Here's a pic of my knife along side an Emerson Mini Commander

DSC00197B.jpg
 
JPD1998 said:
I bought one of the large BH Tactical knives directly from Beretta last summer and it is one hell of a knife. I really don't think you'll find a better knife at that price. I paid $100 for mine. The only thing is the size is not 3.75 ( as the box says ) the blade is about 4"

Here's a pic of my knife along side an Emerson Mini Commander

DSC00197B.jpg
Click to expand...

So that would make it halfway between a T2 and a T3 in terms of size.
In the meantime, I received an answer by Mr. Renzo Fantoni, from Fantoni, the manufacturer. He explained that they had made a few blades using S125V in the past but although they still had some of that steel left they had no immediate plans to produce more. Also, if you check the Coltelleria Collini site, you will see that they show a picture with S125V on the blade, but the specs say S30V. They probably used an old stock picture from Fantoni.
I would assume that the Beretta and the Fantoni are absolutely identical and Beretta just puts its name on it for commercial purposes (it gets to market a nice knife, conversely Fantoni uses the Beretta name to enter the US market).
Does anybody here knows what happened between Lone Wolf and Bill Harsey?
I cannot imagine why Lone Wolf would discontinue their most popular line of knives ever. Was Bill Harsey asking for too much money? I doubt he gets nearly as much from Fantoni, they must sell a fraction of the volumes Lone Wolf used to sell.
 
i'd go with Beretta. Handled Fantoni (big one) and was impressed. Reminds me MT Socom, yet beefier and feels better in hand.ps: i used to own LW T3... well its a monster ... try it out if you love reaaly big folders!
 
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