New 301 Stockman Arrived

R

Redhat

Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
197
Well it arrived today. I haven't owned a Buck traditional pocket knife since my 311 Trapper back in the '70's so I was very excited to try one. It is bigger than I imagined but not too big...fits my hand well. All three blades are decently sharp with no rubbing. My favorite is the clip point followed by the sheep's foot...I could do without the spey all together and all are smooth and easy to open as I like. On the down side, they all exhibit a bit of wiggle side to side but I'm not sure that affects function at all...still I wonder why? The clip and sheep's foot look good but once again, for me, the spey has a jacked up crooked tip like my last Case Trapper, I must attract such traits....ha! The bottom edges of the bolsters are sharper than the top for some reason. I don't know if it is designed this way or not? All in all it seems to be a usable knife though, so we'll have to see how it does.

I know one thing though...if Buck made a knife the same length with just the clip and sheep's foot, I'd buy it!
 
How's the opening and closing action? Is it pretty soft, or do the blades have some decent snap? A little side to side wiggle isn't too bad. It's when it turns into a wobble that you might want to send it in to get fixed.

I've never been fond of the spey blades, but they do work great for scraping, for when you don't want to mess up the edge on the other two blades.

I don't remember who posted the pictures, but there was one member here that had a custom 303 made with just the sheepsfoot blade and the clip. You're definitely not the only one that would like to put a model like that in their pocket. Maybe that's something SKBlades could pull off..
 
StuntDouble said:
How's the opening and closing action? Is it pretty soft, or do the blades have some decent snap? A little side to side wiggle isn't too bad. It's when it turns into a wobble that you might want to send it in to get fixed.

I've never been fond of the spey blades, but they do work great for scraping, for when you don't want to mess up the edge on the other two blades.

I don't remember who posted the pictures, but there was one member here that had a custom 303 made with just the sheepsfoot blade and the clip. You're definitely not the only one that would like to put a model like that in their pocket. Maybe that's something SKBlades could pull off..
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On the blade snap...I'm not really cultured enough to know what's good or bad. They all snap shut and open easy. I'll through this out there though, I have a SAK alox soldier I bought in '05. Pulled it out the other day and none of the blades snapped on closing. I lubed it up and now it's back to normal.
 
If you know someone who knows how or you want to try yourself. You can buy a good used one or find one at a sale and remove the spring and blade and have a custom 2 blade. You likely can re-use the brass spring pin but will have to have new bolster pin to hammer down to fill the stretched hole. Or maybe grind the spey into a awl point and lower the kick on the tang as much as possible. Not handy, then you will have to wait for the future. I have a 321 bird knife with the gut hook removed and it is a thin long bladed knife. If I was a special agent I would carry it in my sock. I am the one that had Leroy remove the spey blade and spring. Did three sent one in to Buck to suggest a new model issue and no one ever called and said thanks for the knife. 300
 
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300Bucks said:
If you know someone who knows how or you want to try yourself. You can buy a good used one or find one at a sale and remove the spring and blade and have a custom 2 blade. You likely can re-use the brass spring pin but will have to have new bolster pin to hammer down to fill the stretched hole. Or maybe grind the spey into a awl point and lower the kick on the tang as much as possible. Not handy, then you will have to wait for the future. I have a 321 bird knife with the gut hook removed and it is a thin long bladed knife. If I was a special agent I would carry it in my sock. I am the one that had Leroy remove the spey blade and spring. Did three sent one in to Buck to suggest a new model issue and no one ever called and said thanks for the knife. 300
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300...you got the inside connections...just tell the good folks at Buck what us persnickety customers want! I'm sure they could please us all if they just tried...:D
 
300Bucks said:
If you know someone who knows how or you want to try yourself. You can buy a good used one or find one at a sale and remove the spring and blade and have a custom 2 blade. You likely can re-use the brass spring pin but will have to have new bolster pin to hammer down to fill the stretched hole. Or maybe grind the spey into a awl point and lower the kick on the tang as much as possible. Not handy, then you will have to wait for the future. I have a 321 bird knife with the gut hook removed and it is a thin long bladed knife. If I was a special agent I would carry it in my sock. I am the one that had Leroy remove the spey blade and spring. Did three sent one in to Buck to suggest a new model issue and no one ever called and said thanks for the knife. 300
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I thought that was your knife, but I wasn't 100%. It's a shame you never heard from Buck and that you're out a knife. The least they could have done is say "Thanks, but no thanks".
 
Like I said no one said "Thanks for the free knife." So much for connections. Your more likely to get contact than me. If your ever at a knife show or other event where Buck has a booth, then that is when you need to have your list of requests to talk about...If your so inclined writing a letter to the company president will get the most exposure, especially if you included photo alterations or drawings of your idea knife......I have moved blades and scales around using Photoshop, anyone with basic computer fingers could do the same. 300

These are the 300s Leroy Remer fixed up for me.




If you do it yourself or get someone to do it use a late 80s model and you don't have to take the knife all apart. These new models required them to take off scales to re-pin the springs.
 
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300Bucks said:
Like I said no one said "Thanks for the free knife." So much for connections. Your more likely to get contact than me. If your ever at a knife show or other event where Buck has a booth, then that is when you need to have your list of requests to talk about...If your so inclined writing a letter to the company president will get the most exposure, especially if you included photo alterations or drawings of your idea knife......I have moved blades and scales around using Photoshop, anyone with basic computer fingers could do the same. 300
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I thought they had a guy that checked in here from time to time?
 
300Bucks said:
Like I said no one said "Thanks for the free knife." So much for connections. Your more likely to get contact than me. If your ever at a knife show or other event where Buck has a booth, then that is when you need to have your list of requests to talk about...If your so inclined writing a letter to the company president will get the most exposure, especially if you included photo alterations or drawings of your idea knife......I have moved blades and scales around using Photoshop, anyone with basic computer fingers could do the same. 300

These are the 300s Leroy Remer fixed up for me.




If you do it yourself or get someone to do it use a late 80s model and you don't have to take the knife all apart. These new models required them to take off scales to re-pin the springs.
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Excellent! Thanks for adding the photos. Really seems like a no-brainer to me.
 
Redhat said:
On the blade snap...I'm not really cultured enough to know what's good or bad. They all snap shut and open easy. I'll through this out there though, I have a SAK alox soldier I bought in '05. Pulled it out the other day and none of the blades snapped on closing. I lubed it up and now it's back to normal.
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Now that your SAK Soldier is back to normal, how does the Buck's snap (or walk and talk) compare to that of the Soldier?
 
Wardo46 said:
Now that your SAK Soldier is back to normal, how does the Buck's snap (or walk and talk) compare to that of the Soldier?
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I'd say the SAK has better snap on all blades/tools. The Buck is okay on the clip, weaker on the other two. Both knives are smooth opening. I've never considered myself a SAK guy but tallying up, I may be...I have a Classic, Hunter, One-Hand Trekker, Cadet, Soldier and Farmer.
 
Thanks, Redhat. : :thumbup:

Weak springs is the biggest complaint I see on the 300 series Bucks.

With all those SAKs you're definitely a "SAK guy." :D
 
Wardo46 said:
Thanks, Redhat. : :thumbup:

Weak springs is the biggest complaint I see on the 300 series Bucks.

With all those SAKs you're definitely a "SAK guy." :D
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Maybe but it's taken about 20 years to amass that small amount. BTW, if one sends back a Buck for weak springs, what is the typical result?
 
I never understood the weak spring 300 series discussion until very recently. I've only collected vintage long pull series 300 Bucks and they all seem to have a good snap while still being easily opened. I also picked up a Buck 302 solitaire and it has a good snap when closing also but recently I acquired the Buck collectors BG-42 301 and it can only be described as soft. It has zero tension or snap when closing and feels worlds apart from my early Camillus manufactured models. I was pretty disappointed.
 
I wasn't specific enough in my comment. I should have said weak springs is the biggest complaint I see about the most recent 300 series Bucks (not those made by Schrade or Camillus). My bad.
 
That weak spring action is what keeps me from buying another 301. Otherwise, it would be a perfect work knife for me, what with the stainless blades and nigh indestructible Valox handles.

I can understand not wanting to produce a knife that's a nail breaker to open, but they could increase the tension several times over and it would still be easy to open. As it is now, the last couple I handled had very little open detent on the main blade. I guess I could always look for an older model.

Redhat, I'm not sure what they'll do for weak springs. I think other folks have sent knives in for the same reason, and got them back unchanged because they were "in spec".
 
StuntDouble said:
That weak spring action is what keeps me from buying another 301. Otherwise, it would be a perfect work knife for me, what with the stainless blades and nigh indestructible Valox handles.

I can understand not wanting to produce a knife that's a nail breaker to open, but they could increase the tension several times over and it would still be easy to open. As it is now, the last couple I handled had very little open detent on the main blade. I guess I could always look for an older model.

Redhat, I'm not sure what they'll do for weak springs. I think other folks have sent knives in for the same reason, and got them back unchanged because they were "in spec".
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Just for giggles, I called the warranty / repair department and asked if they could fix it. Didn't get much of an answer as they said they would have to see it to determine what they would do. So I followed that with a call to customer service and simply asked if the knives were supposed to be that way. We had a good conversation but didn't reach any real definition of what "right" should be except the blades should have some resistance when opening and locked open and snap when closing. I also mentioned that I'd really like a 301 ish knife minus the spey blade!

FWIW, I picked up a 389 Canoe with jigged bone handle today for $17 and it is well put together.
 
Redhat said:
Just for giggles, I called the warranty / repair department and asked if they could fix it. Didn't get much of an answer as they said they would have to see it to determine what they would do. So I followed that with a call to customer service and simply asked if the knives were supposed to be that way. We had a good conversation but didn't reach any real definition of what "right" should be except the blades should have some resistance when opening and locked open and snap when closing. I also mentioned that I'd really like a 301 ish knife minus the spey blade!

FWIW, I picked up a 389 Canoe with jigged bone handle today for $17 and it is well put together.
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Hopefully they jotted down that note. There's at least two people that want a 301 build like that.

I keep seeing those Canoes at the local 'Mart, as well as the jigged bone Stockman. Good to hear the one you got is well built.
 
StuntDouble said:
Hopefully they jotted down that note. There's at least two people that want a 301 build like that.

I keep seeing those Canoes at the local 'Mart, as well as the jigged bone Stockman. Good to hear the one you got is well built.
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The scales don't blend perfectly with the frame but have a slight bit I can feel...but the blades both function right. I guess the big question is how well the steel performs for everyday stuff.
 
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