yes, if you bend up that thin piece of metal that holds the plunge lock partly open in the closed position...... you can open it easily without pushing the button......when you bend it upwards and out of the way the plunge lock will engage both ways open and closed. be forearmed once you bend it it's hard to get the bend just right to get it back in place.
when you add a spring you don't want it back, because it will make the knife fly open obvioulsy. unspringed or in manual mode, it plays a valuable role. there is a bit of detent on the blade or something that kind of holds it shut...talking manual here. before i converted one of mine i didn't find it an issue, afer converting to auto i realized very quickly that strip of thin metal had to bent up or removed for safety reasons.
i'd show pictures, but i don't have a camera with me or those knives. sorry bout that. if you look at the top of the knife you'll see that metal strip with a hole in the end of it on the pivot side of the blade end. take a pen, paperclip unfolded, or small screwdriver or whatever you are comfortable with and bend it up slightly. you don't need to pull hard at all to get it out of the way. you'll see.....hope that helps.....
