Please school me on the vintage S&W 6010 model Bowie knife...

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

I have a couple of old school S&W knives designed by Blackie Collins. They are quality knives that in my opinion are underappreciated. I have the folder and two of their skinners. I thought the steel was 440C. The skinner was supposed to have been manufactured by Alcas for Smith and Wesson as I remember.

I agree about them being underappreciated... They pretty much are simply off the radar.
Again, I think that just looking at one from afar, it doesn't draw much attention, sort'a bland. But, up close, with it in hand, it's qualities are much more apparent and easy to appreciate.

I was checking her out again this morning, and the construction seems A+ for a factory made knife. I guess they were considered semi custom made, and since it was actually made by S&W themselves, I'm sure they wanted their first whacks into the knife industry to be well regarded as to not tarnish their brand.

I got to wondering about who they actually had making these knives at their facility. I mean, just because they may have had some pretty anal type folks that worked on their custom S&W handguns, that talent doesn't exactly transfer over to making quality knives. And, even if they hired a few well seasoned cutlers, anybody else not in that specialized trade, would take quite some time in a learning curve to get up to speed.
The blade on this knife is just a thing of beauty! I mean, it was just really exceptionally done!

 

[Hal]

Nice looking knife.
Looks like a quality item made with attention to detail and using - what at the time were - premium materials.

Makes you wonder why S&W turned to the dark side and by '99 were turning out mostly Chinese turds.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

Nice looking knife.
Looks like a quality item made with attention to detail and using - what at the time were - premium materials.

Makes you wonder why S&W turned to the dark side and by '99 were turning out mostly Chinese turds.

I wonder if once they stopped making them, and having some made under contract by other quality sources, they didn't just license out their brand on knives to whatever company wanted to pay the price? I know that up until just a few years ago, Taylor Brands was using the S&W name under their umbrella of brands... But, I believe the S&W company bought out Taylor Brands. So, I believe S&W is actually back in the knife selling business, but only as sourced out made knives with their brand on them.
Yeah... like made in Asia stuff.

 

[riversidedep]

Once again I see we have similar taste in knives. As a kid, I used to drool over these in the mid-1970s when they were advertised in the American Rifleman magazine. Around 10 years ago, I came across a collection of them for sale (in their boxes) and picked up two hollow handled models, the skinner, and a bowie. I also bought a used bowie with about 1 inch of the tip broken off from a different seller. The knife was in a "Bubba-made" sheath and looked like it had been to hell and back. I was able to polish out most of the damage, regrind the tip, sharpen it and turn it into a functional piece just a little shorter than it was originally. If there's any doubt these aren't functional, well-made knives, I think the wear this knife had on it shows they can handle work as long as you don't pry with the tip!