Steel of the Past Question...Buck 119

[Guyon]

Just bought a Buck 119 over on the For Sale boards. The seller bought it in the late 1980s but never used it. Looks like new.

What kind of steel do you think it has? It's clearly stainless, and I'm figuring probably 440C. But I thought someone here might know for sure...

 

[Larry Oden]

Guyon,
Buck used 440C until about 1981. Then, they started using 425m until about 1994. If the knife has a year mark on the tang and if it is from 1986 to 1994, the knife is definitely 425m. If there is no year mark, it could be 440C but is most likely 425m. Please check Buck's website for year marks.
Speaking of year marks, Buck currently has a twist on 110s being sold.
It seems they received an unexpected, very large order from a well known retailer and suddenly ran out of 110s. Because they had some 110 blades made up with the following stamp for 2002 (BUCK/ picture of small anvil / U.S.A.), they went ahead and made up a few 110s to get them through 2001 with the planned 2002 year mark. (The anvil replaces the planned symbol, a squared off U, for 2002.) At any rate, the 2002 110s will also have a 100 year medallion. That means that there are a few 110s in the pipeline with the 2002 anvil, no 110 number on the knife at all and no medallion. I have been ordering them for some of my collector friends now that the word has gotten out. Buck tells me there will probably be less than 1000 of these 110s made. If you want one, contact a dealer who is willing to order more 110s. As I stated, I have ordered several for collectors and they are just coming in this week.

 

[Guyon]

Larry,

Thanks for the info. I suspect it is 425M then. I have no experience with this steel. Any remarks?

Also, I couldn't find the year marks on Buck's website. Here's what the blade has stamped into it:

BUCK
119 X
USA

Does the "X" signify a particular year?

 

[guy g]

ok,you're gonna love this. the 'X' is for 1990.The list of year stamps is there . try this: Bucks web site,click on "about Buck" click on "Technlogy & innovation" then click on "Tech Faqs" first item up should be year marks. Some day i'll be computer literate and do this a lot faster..
guy

 

[Guyon]

guy g: Thanks for the info. 1990 it is.

In return, I offer you a computer literacy tidbit. If you want to put a link in a post, try the following:

1. Open a new window in your browser. You can do this by right clicking on any active link and selecting "Open in New Window".

2. Use this new window to go to the page you want to link.

3. Highlight the web address, right click on it, and hit "Copy".

4. Go back to the other window where you're posting, put your cursor where you want the link, and right click again. Select "Paste".

That's it. The board's software takes care of the rest because it recognizes the http address as a link.

Of course, if you know the web address, you can just type it in. But usually I have to look them up in the above fashion. For example, I just pulled up the thread you led me to. Here it is:

http://www.buckknives.com/cms/index.php?Category=22

 

[guy g]

Great, thanks for the info. I printed it so i'll have it handy.
guy