Sowbelly pattern?

JD Mandrell

JD Mandrell

Joined
Apr 20, 2001
Messages
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At the Marion Gun & Knife sow this weekend, I also wanted to buy a pattern I had never owned before, so I picked up a Sowbelly. My first thoughts on them were how odd the curve was, but I was suprised to find out how well it fits into the hand and comfortable it is.

I picked up a Schrade 129OT with sheep horn scales, one of the Taylor/Schrades. Some of my early handling of the Taylor/Schrades left me unimpressed, but I have to admit this one is nice. There are some slight gaps on the ends of the scales where they meet the bolsters, but overall fit and finish is nice. The backsprings are very strong, which in the past has been a big complaint of mine on "chinese made slipjoints", their backsprings tend to be to weak, but not this one, walk and talk are 100%!

Blades are supposed to be 440C and seem to be, all 3 were shaving sharp and there is no blade rubbing at all.

For $18.00 it's well worth it and not a half bad looking knife either.

Schrade-129OT-1.jpg


Anyone else like Sowbelly's?
 
I like this pattern a lot, but haven't gotten around to purchasing more than one. Mine is a Chinese made one as well, a Boker Magnum. Fit and finish seems great and I really like the size, shape and heft of it. Plus, I'm a stockman freak.

The Fightn Rooster fancy sowbelly has been on my list for quite a while now. Maybe I'll suck it up and sink the $75 into one now that you've got me in the mood.

That's a great looker you got for $18.00!
 
That's a nice looking slip for $18, even if it's not 440c.

Is it marked as 440c or did the guy just tell you that?

I was at a gun show with a buddy of mine and he was looking at a knife table. The seller heard me tell my buddy that he'd be better off with AUS8 than one of the chinese knock-off's and the guy behind the counter said "well, 440 is every bit as good as AUS8", I asked him which 440 he was referring to and he said "huh?"...

I like Sowbelly's myself and agree they fit wonderfully in hand.

Here's a Winchester like mine (don't have a pic of mine handy)

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Here's one from Gary Crowder that now has blaze orange G-10 scales. Gary changed out the bone with the G-10 I provided when a pin cracked the bone.

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Finally, this is a jumbo pattern sowbelly by Gary also. I picked this one up on the secondary market and it's become one of my most carried blades. The heft of the knife, beefy blades and overall styling make it a great knife to carry and use.

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cpirtle, those are nice, that last one is truly a working piece of art!

As for the 440C on the Schrade, here are the "specs" given.

. 440C Stainless Blades
. First production run and "Schrade Classics" etchings.
. Genuine Sheeps Horn Handle
. New Style Old Timer Inlay
. Nickle Silver Bolsters, solid Brass Liners And Pins
. Lifetime Guarantee
. Imported From China

I am a longtime fan of 440C and while it's not scientific or perfect, I can usually tell from handling the difference between 440A and 440C. Not sure why, 440C blades always seem "heavier" to me than 440A.

Does that even make sense? yuk yuk

Does Gary Crowder have a website?
 
longbeachguy said:
That's a great looker you got for $18.00!
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I carried it last night, and I have to admit it's growing on me fast, I even ordered 2 gunstock stockmen in this sheep's horn this morning as XMASS presents for my brother and nephew.
 
Thanks TLC!

Gary does not have a web presence but he's very responsive to email and you can contact him at: garysue@cwis.net, tell him Chad sent you ;)

The bolsters on the jumbo sowbelly look wavy in the picture, that was just an anomole', the only bumb that should be there is the exposed pivot pin which I happen to like, but Gary will do them either way. If you contact him I think you will be very impressed with his prices, I gave him about $250 for the smaller black bone one.

He also made the Barlow in my avatar to my spec's for about $275 IIRC.

Like Ray Cover, his prices are much better if you buy direct.

Glad to see published spec's on the OT, I admittedly did not look them up before asking the question. I wonder if these are coming from the same factory Buck is using to make their imported 440c knives...?

I agree with you on 440c, it has a different feel. Same with ATS/154 IMO, they just finish and feel differently.

Keep us up to date on how these work out, I think a lot of people are quietly waiting to see how well this new wave of imported slips hold up and perform.
 
cpirtle said:
Glad to see published spec's on the OT, I admittedly did not look them up before asking the question. I wonder if these are coming from the same factory Buck is using to make their imported 440c knives...?
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Would be interesting to know, I have both and the Buck is slightly more polished and smoother than the Schrade, but the Schrade is really well built. This one jsut seems like a very heavy use slipjoint, and the backsprings are really good. The backsprings on most Chinese imports have been much to weak for me, especially on most Rough Rider's and the various names you see them marketed under. Whoever made this Schrade is much better at it.

Keep us up to date on how these work out, I think a lot of people are quietly waiting to see how well this new wave of imported slips hold up and perform.
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I might do a full review on it after carrying it awhile, the anti-Chinese/Schrade folks may scalp me though. I'm curious to see if the 2 gunstock stockmen I ordered in this series are as good as this sowbellly. That would give me a better look at their quality control.
 
Here is one by Tony Huffman. Excellent work at an excellent price. The last I heard he no longer makes knives. Unfortunate.
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I've seen the ads, but outside of the ads and internet purveyor websites, where does the steel spec for the Taylor/schrade come from? The taylor website doesn't list the schrade line. Is it in a product sheet with the knife?

The Buck chinese product are supposed to be 440C, but they aren't stamped with the steel and there is nothing in the box to indicate blade steel. The chinese product is not listed on their current website.
 
Thomason said:
Here is one by Tony Huffman. Excellent work at an excellent price. The last I heard he no longer makes knives. Unfortunate.
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Wow, that Hufman is SAWEEET!
 
brownshoe said:
I've seen the ads, but outside of the ads and internet purveyor websites, where does the steel spec for the Taylor/schrade come from? The taylor website doesn't list the schrade line. Is it in a product sheet with the knife?

The Buck chinese product are supposed to be 440C, but they aren't stamped with the steel and there is nothing in the box to indicate blade steel. The chinese product is not listed on their current website.
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The spec's for the Schrade were listed over in the Schrade forum awhile back, and the 440C info' for the Bucks came from C.J. Buck himself in the Buck forum in this post.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2948330&postcount=4
 
Huffman made some sweet knives. I remember a conversation with him a few years ago and he told me then that he wasn't going to take orders, he was just going to make them at his own pace and make the stuff he liked. Then a year or so later he stopped making knives all together.

I had a piece from him when he was early in making them, it was probably one of the first 20 slips he sold, and it was right up there with some of the best makers. IIRC I paid the whopping sum of $175 for it. Now I see his pieces going in excess of $500 occasionally so it shows how good of work he did.

Hope he gets back into it!
 
brownshoe said:
The chinese product is not listed on their current website.
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I believe the Chinese stuff is not on their web page because it's sold exclusively through WalMart, could be wrong though.
 
cpirtle said:
I believe the Chinese stuff is not on their web page because it's sold exclusively through WalMart, could be wrong though.
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They are not excusively sold through Wal-Mart though, they have them at Smokey Mountian Knife Works, and I have seen them in Gander Mountain stores when I went to one last month in Kentucky.

Gander Mountain had both the American and Chinese mades in blister packs.
 
The Last Confederate said:
They are not excusively sold through Wal-Mart though, they have them at Smokey Mountian Knife Works, and I have seen them in Gander Mountain stores when I went to one last month in Kentucky.

Gander Mountain had both the American and Chinese mades in blister packs.
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Very interesting... wonder why Buck would choose to muddy the market like that. I could understand an exclusive run for one vendor though.

Seems to me I remember hearing that they may stop making slips in the USA all together, maybe this is a test to see how well they're received before shutting down US prouction on them.
 
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