Oct. Buck of the Month: 301 stockman, S30V steel

[jwh720]

Ordered mine today… those gaps are a little disappointing at that price point.

 

[sf fanatic]

Ordered mine today… those gaps are a little disappointing at that price point.

I agree. I’m considering sending it in to Buck customer service to see if they can remedy mine. But like I mentioned I can’t see any light coming through when the blades are open and when I flushed the inside there was just a little bleeding which I considered acceptable.

 

[Murphjd25]

These look great!

 

[rishma]

I am glad buck is doing this, premium steels are a nice option. I actually don’t care for the shape of the clip so I’m not tempted, but I’m certain these will be enjoyed.

 

[awjones]

It’s in…and everything is very well done except this huge gap between spring and liner.

 

[sceva]

Those are nice, I dislike the newer hollow grind intenesly but the flat grind is OK.

 

[echoscout]

 

[jwh720]

It’s in…and everything is very well done except this huge gap between spring and liner.

Looks like a return or at least back for warranty

 

[cudgee]

Grinds are a little bit uneven

You have taken a great photo, you can even see a burr on the apex of the blades. A touch up on a fine stone and a strop should improve it's performance significantly. Enjoy your new purchase.

 

[Ian80]

Nicely done, I really like it! Love the micarta and brass combo. The steel choice is nice too, s30v not too shabby.

 

[Matt_WY]

Just back from the post office to pickup my knife along with some cool pony car stamps. Overall impressions are favorable. Great looking knife, fairly light pull on both blades but they do snap open and shut. No blade rub (had that problem on last years BOTM), and acceptable grinds on the blade. Unfortunately they’re is a gap along one liner as previously noted. I can also see a lot of gunk along the springs, a good flushing is needed and might help pull everything together. Overall pleased, but would like Buck to do better with their slipjoints. There is a market there that they could easily tap into, but at this price point I would like to see better than average Case quality.

 

[Fixall]

Mine came in today. For a $130 knife, I am super under-whelmed. This knife has the worst gaps of any knife I've ever owned. I can slide four pieces of printer paper through the length of the gaps. The grind lead-off is uneven on both blades. The Micarta is poorly finished, with different thicknesses in different spots. It also has several voids. The primary grinds on the blades are good, and the brass looks nice at least.

Gaps

And the other side

 

[Matt_WY]

That’s a bummer Fixall . Buck is good like Case and will warranty their work. Just sucks that a person has to return a new knife that probably should have never made it out the door.

 

[euroken]

First few, thought they were just lemons...now, I'm thinking otherwise...

 

[Will Power]

I'm very fond of the 2018 Forum Knife; have 2 examples user/reserve; which is what this and the previous Micarta Buck are based on. Glad to see them using the frame etc but with this recent Green micarta it looks like they've been paying loo little attention to build quality.

Some of these pictures of gaps, poor grinds, crudely cut off springs and scale gaps to the liners look frankly shoddy. It was a mistake, in my view, not to have used pins on the scale slabs , looks and IS better than relying merely on glue. They should be able to machine those springs tighter too, others can and for the same money or less.

For me in Europe it would be hugely annoying to pay say 130 USD add 30+ shipping then have to pay 40 import tax , 200 USD to possibly get a knife like Fixall and others got. It's a real shame as I would like to be able to add to my Buck collection but I'm not putting money on this kind of finish.

Thanks, Will

 

[afishhunter]

Still gives me a bad impression though, remembering falling out shields on many old and new pocket knives of different manufacturers. Each time I handle my Buck Solitaire I think about the shield "would that fall out one day or not?". It also has pretty strong smell of some kind of glue. I always thought that is coming from a stabilized wood, but now I think maybe it's a shield, because it was glued.

Not necessarily. On at least some of the domestic 300's*, and the 110's, and 112's the shield is an integral part of the liner. There is a hole molded or cut in the cover for it to poke through.
(*I'm not sure if the offshore 300's have that feature.)

The gaps everyone is reporting are inexcusable, especially on a $130 knife, IMHO. The standard 301 (and presumably the 303, which I've never had), and the offshore 371 (and 373 which I bought to see if I liked a "medium" stockman () before springing for a 303) cost significantly less, and don't have gaps like that. Heck, my '18 BF 301 doesn't have gaps like these do. (Neither do my $9.⁹⁹ or less Rough Rider, for that matter.)

If this were someones first Buck purchase, I could understand it being their last, and believing Buck's QC was comparable to the no name Paki imports found at gas stations and truck stops.
I doubt they wouldn't/didn't tell all their friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and family, how bad Buck knives are, and to get a Frost, Master Cutlery, ROTHCO, or M-Tek instead.

Has Buck forgotten the ancient prehistoric business adage : "YOU'RE ONLY AS 'GOOD' AS THE LAST ITEM DELIVERED!"?

 

[Alex.Y.]

Not necessarily. On at least some of the domestic 300's, and the 110's, and 112's the shield is an integral part of the liner. There is a hole molded or cut in the cover for it to poke through.

I didn't know that, thanks for the info!

 

[mbkr]

I didn't know that, thanks for the info!

Discussion thread about this very topic. It has a couple of good pics showing the shield/frame.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/buck-300-series-shield-attatchment.1217026/

 

[Murphjd25]

Man, this is sad seeing all these bad ones. I got mine yesterday and I just got lucky. No gaps at all, but the micarta is a little rough. Doesn’t bother me to much though as all the gaps and crappy grinds I’ve seen. I’ll cherish this one as one of the “better” ones.

 

[Murphjd25]

As you can see only real imperfection is on the right side show side, the micarta could of been hand sanded and finished a little better. No gaps, nice even grinds. Perfect blade centering. I’m keeping mine, but I’d probably return most the ones I’ve seen here.