MiniBuck 425

C

Cain078

Joined
Jul 28, 2022
Messages
25
I’ve been randomly collecting MiniBuck 425 knives over the years. My initial introduction to the 425 was when my older brother got a red one for his birthday in 1987. After waiting a whole year for my birthday to roll around, I finally became a Buck 425 owner in 1988. I used the black 425 I got for my birthday for about the next 10 years or so and left it behind at my parent’s house when I moved out. My parents still have both of those 425’s kicking around their house but they don’t get used much anymore.

I had no idea the 425 was even discontinued until the other day. The last new one I bought at a store was date stamped 2012. Anyway after digging out my collection and showing it to my wife it became pretty obvious that I really don’t know very much about Buck 425’s.

Does anybody know what colors were available?

I think I probably have most of the different colors. In my collection I have
Black
Gray
Camo
Red
Orange
Yellow
Light Blue
Green
Pink

What am I missing?

Several of my knives are new in the box and have original paperwork with the lifetime guarantee. Does Buck still honor this on discontinued knives?

Please feel free to share pics of 425’s and any info or fun facts about these awesome little knives. I’ll post some pics of mine once I figure out how
 
Your first post. Welcome. There are certainly a lot of different 425 minibucks. Translucents, damascus, TiN coated blade, plus advertising knives if you want to go that far.
Why limit yourself to just the 425 Mini-Bucks? There are actually 12 different model numbers all sharing the same 1 7/8" blade and locking system. 425, 505, 506, 507, 515, 524, 525, 526, 527, 529, 825, 826. If you expanded to include those your collection could easily reach the hundreds.
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I don't think it is likely that I'll start collecting anything other than 425's for a while. I wasn't aware that so many knives shared the same blade though. Does anybody know why the 425 was discontinued?
Looks like so far I am missing purple and peach. Now that my memory is jogged a little I remember one of my elementary school buddies got a blue 425 about the same time I got my black 425 and his sister got a purple one. So I have seen a purple one before, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a peach one

If I did this right, this should be a photo of the different colored ones that I have.

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I would love to see side by side pics of different shades. I only have two red ones and they are both from 1987. I only have one blue one so nothing to compare to. According to the box I have for the green one it is actually lime green and is from 2000. I did buy a green one from 1987 the other day, but I have not received it yet.
 
Fyi there were I think both grey and orange versions available with combo edge blades at one time.
Maybe the '05-'10 timeframe ?
They were a bonus knife packaged with another Buck I think from Cabela's.

I'm not positive on any of the details really, but in 2010 I got my 425 and in looking up YouTube reviews on the model I found a video or two featuring the orange serrated 425 that was said to have come as a bonus packaged with another Buck they had purchased.

Edit : looking on Google I can find them in black from I think the 90's, but cannot find those 2000's examples.
 
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BTW as to why the 425 was discontinued, I'd gues it's because they now have the 283 nano bantam.

They also have the 524 alumni, it has the same blade spring and frame shape...ect like so many Buck models have had except it has anodized aluminum scales.
 
If anybody has a peach one, I’d really like to see a picture of it.

Actually any pictures of any 425 would be much appreciated. :)
 
Cain078 said:
If anybody has a peach one, I’d really like to see a picture of it.

Actually any pictures of any 425 would be much appreciated. :)
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Funny, I just saw one labeled "peach" on the 'bay. It's pretty pricey, though, and the lighting's bad. It could be a mis-identified "orange."
 
From what I understand some colors are really scarce. I think the rarest is a dark green handle. A sub 2" blade really does handle many knife tasks.
 
I currently have five 425's stamped with >

After looking at them a little more closely I noticed that the rivets are different on one of the red ones and the black one. I have boxes for both of them. The yellow one also has a box, but has the same rivet as the other red one and the gray one. I'm assuming this difference is not because they came with a box? Is this how they came from the factory? Also, the blades are slightly different too....

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Buck has used pivot pin washers somewhat randomly on many of their Bucklite models over the years. There have been discussions about this on pre-1986 Bucklites, but can't seem to find them in the search.

As for the blade difference, your middle 3 are full flat ground. I have a 1988 that I put a straight edge on and there's no light shining under - definitely FFG. Strange that they had both hollow and flat grind in the same model year - 1987 in your case.
 
I would consider them different colors. Close but not the same and the boxes are labeled differently.

Congratulations on finding the elusive peach one.

The pinwheel picture is mesmerizing.
 
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