Stainless 420 v. 4116 Krupp

C

Confederate

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
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Has anyone had the chance to compare Cold Steel's old 420 "sub-zero quenched" stainless with 4116 Krupp? Cold Steel makes the rather remarkable claim that it holds an edge better than both 420 and 440 grades of steel. Seeing that 4116 K is made primarily for disposable stainless applications like surgery and lower grade kitchen uses, I don't know how they reach this conclusion.
 
CS's Krupp 4116 holds up about the same as 420 HC. Don't believe anything CS tells you...except maybe the price.
 
I have CS knives in both I would say 4116 holds an edge as good or better than the 420 as far as I can tell.
 
4116 is basically a 420HC, so reach your own conclusions from that.
 
From my personal experiences over the years, I simply can't imagine that there is ANY steel that doesn't hold an edge better than 420.:(
 
I have three of them but so far I have not used them much. I will know after deer season.:)
 
Larrin said:
4116 is basically a 420HC, so reach your own conclusions from that.
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Ther are folks who say that Buck's 420HC holds up very well, certainly better than 420 standard, which is what the Peacekeeper blades were previously made of. Also, Buck charges a hefty price for some of its 420HC knives, while the Cold Steel knives are substantially less. This raises the question of how good both steels are.

I've thought about getting one of their OSS or UWK knives. Anyone got either one of the new models? I have one of their old Peacekeepers and don't have an opinion on it either way.
 
I have 3 of the new OSS knives and they seem to take and keep a better edge than my CS 420 Peackeepers or my 420 Buck nighhawks.
 
Confederate said:
Ther are folks who say that Buck's 420HC holds up very well, certainly better than 420 standard, which is what the Peacekeeper blades were previously made of. Also, Buck charges a hefty price for some of its 420HC knives, while the Cold Steel knives are substantially less. This raises the question of how good both steels are.

I've thought about getting one of their OSS or UWK knives. Anyone got either one of the new models? I have one of their old Peacekeepers and don't have an opinion on it either way.
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Well this is not a knock on quality but 420HC and 4116 are very inexpensive steels, even when industry is concerned. 420HC can be quite good when taken to a high enough hardness, the 58 Rc that Buck does is pretty good as far as very indexpensive knives are concerned. I prefer a 420HC with a bit more carbon with tighter tolerances, better forging practice, and less impurity myself, i.e. 12C27, 13C26, or AEB-L.
 
With these 2 steels you will see far more difference with the quality of the heat treat than between one or the other. I would prefer the Buck just because they know how to heat treat 420HC to get some really good performance from it.
 
Yeah, I know. I just wanted to let Confederate and whomever else is interested that not all 420's are sub par.
 
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