The Buckmaster

B

bruce

Joined
Dec 4, 1998
Messages
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As I, remember the Buckmaster was the impetus for the Buck M9 bayonet. Since I don't see the Buckmaster (or the M9 for that matter) advertised anymore, can anyone answer a few questions?
1) What was the blade thickness? Seemed to thick and heavy for most applications.
2) What were the two screw-on spikes for?
3) What kind of steel and what Rc hardness?
4) How did it perform for it's intended uses?

Thanks.
 
Bruce, I don't know the specs, but remember seeing it at Big 5, and what I remember is that it was between 12 and 13 inches long, around 1/4 inch thick, saber ground and very heavy at 2 pounds. The reason for the weight was because of the metal hollow handles. Most hollow handled knives were either thin steel or aluminum. The Buckmaster was steel, if my memory serves me correct. I can't remember the steel to well, but seem to think it was 440A. I haven't seen one listed or for sale anywere in many years so this is just from memory. I was considering buying one until I picked it up. The thing was very heavy. Looked tough though. Also, I think it was a little overpriced. Again, from memory I think it was around $180.00, which is why I did not seem to be popular after the Rambo movies were gone. For another $120.00 you could get the ultimate Hollow handle knife the Chriss Reeve Project 1 series. I think if the price had been more reasonable, say towards $80.00 or so, it would have sold well.

This knife is not even listed in Buck's catalogue anymore.

I hope this helpts you
 
So it's actually slightly thicker than 1/4 inch. 0.275 inch versus 0.25 inch. Does it tell you what steel it is, Qanjiang?
 
The reason I asked is because I think Buck use to use 440A for some knives(I could be mistaken). Maybe BUCK can answer this as well as whatever happened to this elephant.
 
All, Sorry so long in responding to this....
1. the Bluprinted thickness for the Buckmaster is.288-.290". Edge thickness before sharpening was .030-.035". Overall blade length before sharpening was 7.5"
2. The spikes were supposedly grappling hooks
3. The steel was /is 425mod. Since we always recieved these forged, I don't believe these were ever made of 420 hc
4. I personally never used one, I never have liked the style or weight. I don't think I even have one. I prefer the bayonet as a survival/camp knife. Anyone have first hand knowledge of the usability?

The reason for the demise was slow sales. During the Rambo years, the knife solds lots of units, but lately sales were slow. It really was an old design as far as that goes. Sometimes designs outlive their useful life and a new one comes in.

Jeff

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Jeff "Without data it's just another opinion" Hubbard
JeffH@buckknives.com
www.buckknives.com
 
Jeff, when these knives were popular I had bought a few hollow handled knives, but could never quite bring myself to get this one because of the weight. At over 2 pounds for an average size knife it was heavy. But definitelly sturdy.
 
Jeff, in the thread about the Buckmaster, you brought up to M9 bayonet. My understanding is that some outfit called Lancay got the latest M9 contract and there were some changes to the bayonet. Having worked in military R&D before, I got a copy of the original Letter Requirement stating the required features of the M9 over the M7. Do you know what changes were made to the "new" M9? How does the Lancay version compare to the earlier Buck version? Also, I heard the Marines were asking for a few variations on the M9 also, but because of the cost of having their own bayonet, they cancelled the project. Do you know anything about that? Thanks in advance.

Bruce L. Woodbury
 
Cobalt, weight/size is why I never cared for the Buckmaster

Bruce,
The Bayonet contact is held by Lancay. The last contract we held was terminated for mutual convience. The Major Differences I know of are these:
The blood groove has been removed to allow Lancay to laser cut the blade.
The cutter assembly was changed for a two piece braze design to a one piece cast design.

The Mil-k-70606 document has all the testing and feature parameters.

Buck made 325,000 bayonets under Phrobis III in the late 80-early 90's. We also did 5000 units for the Marines in a different and in our opinion a better configuration. They were all stainless instead of a mix of carbon steel for the parts and 425 mod for the blade. I believe thy were done with a full tang insted of a blade tang-rod config, I'll have to check my notes. The marines liked them, but the military wanted to buy the same bayonets for all services.

We did 15,000 for the Austrailin army.
Also 5000 for ABU-Dabi in a sand colored config.
There was also 5000 for the Netherlands.

All except for the Contract version were all stainless.

Jeff

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Jeff "Without data it's just another opinion" Hubbard
JeffH@buckknives.com
www.buckknives.com
 
Jeff, are the all stainless bayonets one piece?

Also, was the Buckmaster costly for you guys to make. It seemed quite expensive for it's time. I've seen them at Gun Shows lately for the $60-$80 range and at that price, I may pick one up.
 
The only one piece Bayonets sold were the Marine contract(5000) (I'll verify that).
All others utilized a blade / tang rod combo.

The Buckmaster was expensive to produce (i.e. the High Sugg retail). The hollow handles were machined in and out ($$$) and the Pommel also. A typical rule of thumb is mfg costs are approx 1/4 sugg retail. This is typical of many industries.

Jeff

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Jeff "Without data it's just another opinion" Hubbard
JeffH@buckknives.com
www.buckknives.com
 
The pins in the guard of the Buckmaster were not grappling hook attatchments. I remember small flyers in the last of the Buckmasters we had saying that using the beast as a grappling hook would void the warranty. Can you imagine having that thing coming back down on yer dome? Even in the sheath that'd hurt a considerable amount-of course, anyone not using the knife in the sheath for that purpose would be a beneficiary of the natural selection downsizing campaign. The pins were anchor pins, so you could wedge the knife in some rocks or the crotch of a tree and run a securing line off the lanyard loop attached to the hollow handle cap/pommel. Man, I've been in the biz way to long if I'm remembering stuff like that.

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A flute with no holes is not a flute, but a donut with no holes, is a danish.
 
I have one around here somwhere.The points unscrew,if you don`t want them?I have way to big a house and,too much stuff.

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