Queen steel 440C

Joined
Dec 30, 2006
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19
Is the old Queen 440C stainless a good user steel? How's edge retention and sharpenability compared to, say, Case CV? Thanks.
 
I believe it was 440A not C. Not the highest performer of the 440 series of steel but acceptable. Other than being stainless (if that is your requirement) I'd find nothing to recommend it over Case's CV imho.
 
Blues, thanks for the reply. Apparently, Queen used 440C before they switched to 440A (in the late 70s early 80s?). I guess it used to be a more common stainless before all the 'supersteels' came along.
 
Well, 440C is an excellent stainless and many top makers still think of it as a very good steel for their using knives. It takes and holds a good edge and is very rust resistant.

It is much harder to sharpen than CV but with the right hones you'll be fine.

Here's an old excerpt from Joe Talmadge's Steel FAQ:

440 A - 440 B - 440C The carbon content (and hardenability) of this stainless steel goes up in order from A (.75%) to B (.9%) to C (1.2%). 440C is an excellent, high-end stainless steel, usually hardened to around 56-58 Rc. All three resist rust well, with 440A being the most rust resistant, and 440C the least. The SOG Seal 2000 is 440A, and Randall uses 440B for their stainless knives. 440C is fairly ubiquitous, and is generally considered the penultimate general-use stainless (with ATS-34 being the ultimate). If your knife is marked with just "440", it is probably the less expensive 440A; if a manufacturer had used the more expensive 440C, he'd want to advertise that. The general feeling is that 440A (and similar steels, see below) is just good enough for everyday use, especially with a good heat treat (we've heard good reports on SOG's 440A heat treat). 440-B is a very solid performer and 440-C is excellent.
 
Queen's 440C was just fine, this Trapper was bought by my late father in the 70's specifically for skinning sheep and cattle (and raising the "pitch" on more than a few bulls "moo" if you know what I mean! :D ) can't begin to count the number of animals it cleaned, including fish and fowl and small game as well.

Family-Queen-30-Dad.jpg
 
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