Smith and Wesson knives

Sharp Knives 86

Sharp Knives 86

Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
783
Does anyone have any experience with them. I'm interested in their Texas Hold em' bowie. Most sites claim it's made from 440C SS. I don't have any experience with 440C but from what I understand it's the best in the 440 family when properly heat treated. I guess my main question is how good are the heat treatments on S&W knives particularly their bowies. Are they decent general use knives or more of a wallhanger?
 
Sharp Knives 86 said:
Does anyone have any experience with them. I'm interested in their Texas Hold em' bowie. Most sites claim it's made from 440C SS. I don't have any experience with 440C but from what I understand it's the best in the 440 family when properly heat treated. I guess my main question is how good are the heat treatments on S&W knives particularly their bowies. Are they decent general use knives or more of a wallhanger?
Click to expand...

The Smith & Wesson knives I've seen are cheap Chinese junk priced a little higher than the no-name Chinese junk.
 
Last edited:
Honestly, I use to kinda like them but lately I have finally come to realize they are pretty much junk. Their blades hold a fair edge at best but the rest of the knife is very poor quality at best. Their clip screws strip out way too easy when you try to tighten them and it is hard to keep the blade pivot screw adjusted correctly. Seems you can tighten it, use the knife to cut something tough, and then it needs tightening again. Thier liner locks are weak as well and can't be trusted. As Lynn Thompson said a long time ago, do you really want to trust you're fingers to a cheap knife with a cheap lock? Something to think about!,,vwb.
 
Smith and Wesson, (like most knife companies) make great guns, but their knives suck bigtime. Their knives are just cheap chinese junk.
 
I've only ever owned one (CK5TBS Bullseye), but I know I won't ever be wanting another. The whole thing looks like it's cheaply painted; some of the black on the clip, handle, heck, even the blade started to rub off after only a week of carrying. And I hadn't even used it yet. As with all knives, I flicked mine open and closed absentmindedly while doing other things, and I noticed that the pivot screw would loosen itself only after a few cycles. The blade now rubs the inside of the liner while closing and has huge amounts of play when open. After that the lock went haywire. At first it wouldn't lock at all, then it would lock consistently for a while, and after that it would actually move all the way to the other side of the handle. I'd fix it, but I don't have any torx drivers. I don't really trust it with hard cutting tasks, but I did try it on paper (it's strangely fun to mutilate paper :D). It was horrible. The knife would cut fine for a couple times, but after that it would simply start tearing at the paper instead of cutting through it, and this is with the plain edge part.

Overall rating: 5/5
:barf::barf::barf::barf::barf:
 
But they do make a nice tactical pen. Aside from being a unique and heavy writing instrument, its of surprising quality and materials for the cheap price.

However the clip assembly is total garbage. Had I known it was beyond repair once the screws became loose-after one day in my pocket-i would of modified it prior to any pocket time.
 
I have three Extreme Ops folders, they are every but as good and most knives that I have used in the less than 100 range, They are well made from 440C. One I have EDC for about tenn years without a hitch. You can miss a lot of good deals listening to some of the steel snobs around here,:thumbup:
 
I bought a S&W "Cuttin' Horse" folder, sight unseen, purely because of the name and the reputation that S&W has in firearms.
I have rarely been more disappointed in a knife when I opened the package. As others have said, cheap Chinese junk. I forget what I paid for it, but it was wasted money.
That "knife" now lives in the shed and is used to open paint tins and scrape gunk off the floor.
Save your money. Buy something else.
 
Does anyone know whether all of their knives are made in China? Are there any S&W knives currently made in the US?

The reason I ask is that a friend showed me a S&W lockback he purchased recently - it has Taylor references on the box but the box is also marked "Made in USA".
 
I would stay away from the Smith and Wesson or anything from Taylor brands for that matter...

They offer very cheap Chinese steel which wears out quickly and chips.
 
They also have zero resale value. I found that out the had way.
 
Thumb rule: Stay away from knife branded with firearmns maker. Only H&K supervise their knives so their brand won't be spoiled by poor knives (or have been H&K knives have been pretty good as at least some point Benchmade made their knives)

S&W, Colt, Winchester etc. Not good. Save your money for Spyderco Byrd or similar. Better value... or Opinel.
 
I don't know about that, I've been beating the hell out of my old Winchester Bowie for 4 years now and it has never broken, chipped or anything.

The knife holds a decent edge, and takes decent abuse, and that's after buying it used.
I think that even some companies that make cheap crap can produce a gem or two.
It's just trial and error.

I don't think it's wise to ever totally write off a manufacturer because of a few peoples' opinion. After all Douk Douk's, Mercator's, and Opinel are very high value knives, and are also "cheap".
 
S&W is crap. Their quality is very low. I used to buy them before I got into real knives.

Chinese knives claiming that they use 440C more often than not actually DON'T use 440C. It's a lie.
 
Sharp Knives 86 said:
Does anyone have any experience with them. I'm interested in their Texas Hold em' bowie. Most sites claim it's made from 440C SS. I don't have any experience with 440C but from what I understand it's the best in the 440 family when properly heat treated. I guess my main question is how good are the heat treatments on S&W knives particularly their bowies. Are they decent general use knives or more of a wallhanger?
Click to expand...

The ones I have seen are :barf:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top