Steel Comparison 440A versus 8Cr13MoV

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EDCanAdamas

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How does 8Cr13MoV stack up against 440A?

Specifically, I am comparing Kershaw's 8Cr13MoV to the standard "gas station" $5 knife that tends to be stamped "440 Stainless". Correct me if I am wrong, but I also thought that most Chinese-made Gerber Knives are also 440A or some variant of 440 stainless. Is 8Cr13MoV better?

My impression was that 8Cr13MoV seems to be of a higher quality that 440A, around equal to AUS8, and below 420HC (Buck), Sandvik 14C28N (Kershaw US-Production) and VG10.

Spyderco, Kershaw, and CRKT all seem to manufacture their economy knives in 8Cr13MoV rather than 440A/440 Stainless.
 
8cr13mov is better than 440A in my opinion in every way except rust resistance, and just a small step below Buck 420HC in edge retention. :)
 
Your impression sounds about right. There are gaps in performance on all those steels but when you start talking the crappy 440's that you're referring to, they're a whole lap behind the rest of the race.
 
It does not matter what steel name is.
Respectable company will make a proper HT, so even steel is lower hardness it will not be 5$ crap.
And yes, 8cr has more carbon and higher hardness than 420.
 
Just remember, 440A bad - 440C good.

My ranking

440A < 8Cr13MoV < 420HC < AUS8 < 440C <Sandvik 14C28N < VG10
 
I have heard good things about 440C. Not many manufactures seem to use it for blades. However, I think Benchmade might have a few 440C blades still in production.
 
I prefer 8CR13MOV as a budget steel because I find that it takes a much higher sharpness than 440A.

There is nothing wrong with 440A, provided that it is done reasonably well. It is a tough, easy to sharpen steel with good corrosion resistance. People seem to forget that 12C27 (the steel in Mora knives) is very similar to 440A.
 
"Stack up" in what way? For which properties? As had been said many, many times before you can only compare specific characteristics of knife steels. Steels have too many characteristics to really allow one to say "steel X is better than steel Y."
 
EDCanAdamas said:
I have heard good things about 440C. Not many manufactures seem to use it for blades. However, I think Benchmade might have a few 440C blades still in production.
Click to expand...

I really like 440-c. Not too long ago it was considered a "super steel". There seems to be a kind of prejudice here about stainless in general. For a chopper or "survival" knife I wouldn't want stainless. But for pretty much everything else, to me, stainless is very practical and a good choice. I would rank 440-c ahead of AUS-8. And currently I have 2 in aus-8 and none in 440-c. I have had 440-c folders and I currently have a Spyderco in ATS-55 and too me they are very close in performance.

The best fixed blade hunting knife i've owned as far as ease of putting an edge on, sharpness and edge holding was a knife I got from Cabelas with cabelas logo, don't know who made it for them. 440-c
 
liamstrain said:
Just remember, 440A bad - 440C good.

My ranking

440A < 8Cr13MoV < 420HC < AUS8 < 440C <Sandvik 14C28N < VG10
Click to expand...

More like:

440A < damn near anything from a reputable company < 420HC & AUS8 < 8CR13 < VG10 < cpm154 & s30V < "exotic" steels

I've had much better experience with 8CR over AUS8 both in edge retention and rust resistance.
 
For ease of sharpening, low cost, and reasonable edge retention, AUS-8 and whatever Vic uses are my two preferred stainless steels. If properly treated, of course.
 
"I've had much better experience with 8CR over AUS8 both in edge retention and rust resistance.."

Well, I'm glad you said it first. I didn't want to be the first praising "shitty Chinese steel" but I like it too. I have 2 sogs in 8cr and 1 with aus-8. I think they are pretty much equal. Cold steel apparently does a good job with aus-8.
 
What Idaho said! Really 440a is not bad at all. But it is very low on the totem pole. I quite enjoy 440a from rough rider and 440c from other brands like Buck in their old knives and Benchmade. Do a search around the forum. Lots of other stuff matter too like blade shape and grind. It's just my opinion but I think Spyderco FFG 8CR13 blades are best out of all the pocket folders in 8cr13. I believe they put a better heat treat that is more consistent on their blades.

That said its also a great steel to learn to freehand sharpen on. But for quality normal priced folder anywhere in the 50-200 dollar range its hard to beat 154CMm VG10 and S30 out of the more common steels. There's a bunch of knives in 440C and ATS34 that are no longer the pinnacle of modern steels that I love like the Buck Yearling, Benchmade mini presidio, Pinnacle 750 and CRKT Apache S2.

I recently traded out or gave away all of my 8CR13 knives though. For another $20-$40 you will like what you find in that price range over 440a and 8CR13Mov. I did keep the 440a Rough Rider knives though and they are my preferred EDC over a Delica, Mini-Presidio and Sodbuster. I don't actually cut things on a regular basis even though I do EDC a Peanut which is why I'm ok with it. But if I ever have to get another Peanut pattern again its going to be in 1084, D2 or CV and not 440a.
 
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