M4 Millie--satisfied or dissappointed

[goodeyesniper]

The steel fitting for the Ti lock tang does not prevent the tang from overextending, but that's not something I've ever worried about. I mention it only because someone said the steel fitting acts as a tang stop on their knife.

i think you misunderstood them. The steel fitting prevents the lockbar from overextending when you disengage the lock.

 

[JNewell]

i think you misunderstood them. The steel fitting prevents the lockbar from overextending when you disengage the lock.

Sort of an inside-out Hinderer arrangement. :thumbup:

 

[RDA]

Just got mine, blade is fairly well centered (A-), the grind is pretty good and pretty even (B+), the blade is fairly sharp (B+), the titanium scale is very good (A-), the G10 scale is perfect (A+), the lock-up is 50% (A), the lock-up is solid/tight (A+), the grind where the lock blade touches the blade isn't as smooth as it could be (B-) but might smooth out with use and the blade action is very smooth (A-).

If I was going to say one thing I don't care for, it would be the screws that attach the steel lock insert, they protrude to the point they nearly touch the blade and I would go so far as to say they are a bit unsightly on an otherwise very well finished knife. It would have been nice if they had been recessed similar to the other screws used on the knife.

Overall, I am satisfied.

Regards,

Rich

 

[Twindog]

i think you misunderstood them. The steel fitting prevents the lockbar from overextending when you disengage the lock.

I can overextend mine when I disengage the lock. There is nothing to stop it, other than the pocket clip.

 

[Reeek]

I can overextend mine when I disengage the lock. There is nothing to stop it, other than the pocket clip.

There should be a small lip of the steel insert that overhangs the Ti lockbar that hits the inside of the Ti scale to prevent over-extension if it's done right.

 

[goodeyesniper]

I can overextend mine when I disengage the lock. There is nothing to stop it, other than the pocket clip.

if you find the pictures of the guy who disassembled his on the spyderco forums, you'd see how it works. And I believe you'll find that you actually can't overextend it, even though the lockbar can still travel slightly outside of the frame line.

 

[pwet]

here it is, Mr southard disassembling his M4 milie

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45799&highlight=military+m4

 

[tomdogma]

i do own one
but i am not going to vote, since my answer is somewhat in the middle (closer to satisfied), I like the military model and also own an orange g-10 and the all titanium model. This model is a bit lighter then the all titanium version which i like, it has M-4 steel that Spyderco seems to heat treat very well (i also own a m4 Gayle Bradley which is fantastic). I like the idea of the steel lock surface with it's built in "RIL" Overall the fit and finish is decent, but mine opens and closes very roughly, and this bothers me. In comparison to the all titanium version which opens very cleanly and smoothly this one is a bit hard to open! I wonder if the steel lock interface is a factor in this by changing the height of the ball bearing slightly...or?????. i also heard that the surface of the blade that come in contact with the ball is a bit rough and this can contribute to this. Overall this knife is a great concept but the manner in which in opens and closes takes away a lot of the enjoyment of it. hopefully it will break in and this problem will go away. I did put a little oil in it but the problem persists.

 

[Twindog]

There should be a small lip of the steel insert that overhangs the Ti lockbar that hits the inside of the Ti scale to prevent over-extension if it's done right.

Mine may not be done right. What stops the lock tang is the pocket clip.

 

[goodeyesniper]

Is it actually contacting the clip right there? Mine looks like it is too, from the angle your pic is taken from, but if you let some daylight shine through and look at it head on, you can see it stops just short of hitting the clip. I'm guessing there's enough of a variance where it could hit the clip, but who knows.

Judging by the grime in your knife it looks like it's seeing some use, so that's good

The hardest use mine has seen was cutting the end off of some vacuum line that was splitting on my jeep earlier today

Used my Tenacious for the first time today since having the military. WOW, the linerlock feels like a toy after the framelock. I can see why people like these framelocks, even if it's only the illusion that they are much stronger than a good linerlock. Definitely gives a different feel. This military snaps open like a bank vault snaps shut, and there's enough resistance to disengage the lock that I feel I could never accidentally close it, while not being too tough to disengage a few dozen times in a work day.

 

[Joshua J.]

Satisfied? Immensely satisfied.

Is the knife perfect? No, not by a long shot. The thing is, it's a R.I.L. CPM M-4 Military with a G-10 scale!!!:thumbup:

 

[Joshua J.]

The lock bar on my example hits the clip as well. However, with the clip off the mechanism worked as intended. Maybe it's put there for those that go clipless?

 

[distorted]

I certainly dig the knife and am completely satisfied, but maybe i also have one where the lockbar contacts the pocket clip before the lip on the steel insert can do its job. I was able to pinch a piece of paper between the lock bar and the clip when moving the lockbar. I can see how the steel insert will prevent the lockbar from traveling too far, but i think the bar does make contact with the clip. Well at least it does on mine.

No biggie, two lockstops! haha...

 

[shunsui]

Mine may not be done right. What stops the lock tang is the pocket clip.

Interesting, mine does the same thing. Hits the clip first, but just barely. Probably the system they used on the all Ti Millie.

We also share a cosmetic blemish on the last jimping line on the choil. Thought mine was unique.

 

[JNewell]

Mine may not be done right. What stops the lock tang is the pocket clip.

Remove the clip and the tab on the insert will stop the lockbar. Unless you got a massively defective knife, the tab will work.

 

[stevewest]

I voted satisfied, but have to comment that I am not as satisfied as I would like to have been. Maybe the fact that every Spyderco knife I have recieved either new or off the forum has been close to perfect (with the exception of my CF stretch) has something to do with that. I got mine about a week ago. It came with what I would consider a dull blade - actually had a flat spot on the curve. Blade was somewhat off center. Spent about an hour the other night getting the edge down to where it would shave - not quite done with it yet, but it works for me right now. I don't have a problem with the blade centering - its off just a bit, but not enough to cause any problems whatsoever. I guess what I want to say is that it did not quite meet the standards that I have come to expect from Spyderco. That being said, love the knife and would buy it again, knowing what I know about it now. I have 4 other milis - BG42, S90, D2 and a S30. I knew what to expect, hence the slight dissapointment with the sharpness of the knife. Other than that, I am very satisfied - F&F is great, love the steel - pretty darn hard to get an edge when there isn't one tho!, scales are fantastic, lockup could not be better. I was somewhat concerned about the weight as several folks that have the all Ti version have commented about it, but the M4 has been in the backpocket the last 4 days and I haven't noticed it at all. Very nice product, and I will enjoy having it in my EDC rotation.

 

[KeithAM]

Mine is like Twindog's--the clip stops the lockbar. To satisfy my curiosity, I removed the clip, and tab on the steel insert does indeed act to stop the lockbar from traveling too far. So the feature works, but it only works with the clip removed, at least on mine. So unless I go clipless or tap the scale for tip up carry, the feature is redundent.

 

[pwet]

received mine this morning, i voted satisfied.

for a production knife it's perfect. tight lock, centered blade with a beautyfull grind and sharp edge, very nice overall finish, flicks open nicely right out of the box, lock doesn't stick (but pretty hard to disengage, i'm surprised the cutout is pretty thin, it's probably because the flexing area is very wide ?)

now if it was a custom knives i would tell you that the edge bevels are rough and not completely uniform, that there is a weird blemish at the edge of the TI lockbar, that the jimping on the choil isn't perfect (as seen on previous pics) that the action isn't as smooth as glass and you can actually hear and feel the ball riding the ridges of the tang, and probably a couple other things if i pay more attention and put my "uber picky i bought a 800$ custom lens"

but no i won't complain about all this because it's a production knife and the 8 month wait doesn't make it a custom knife, there are tolerances, if yours isn't up to the tolerances spyderco will fix it, if not enough buy a lochsa or whatever you want ...

me is happy

 

[JNewell]

Mine is like Twindog's--the clip stops the lockbar. To satisfy my curiosity, I removed the clip, and tab on the steel insert does indeed act to stop the lockbar from traveling too far. So the feature works, but it only works with the clip removed, at least on mine. So unless I go clipless or tap the scale for tip up carry, the feature is redundent.

...or install one of STR's clips!

 

[bammann45]

Mine is like Twindog's--the clip stops the lockbar. To satisfy my curiosity, I removed the clip, and tab on the steel insert does indeed act to stop the lockbar from traveling too far. So the feature works, but it only works with the clip removed, at least on mine. So unless I go clipless or tap the scale for tip up carry, the feature is redundent.

Same goes for mine -- the lockbar hits the clip....