420HC is a bottom of the barrel steel. The reason Buck uses it instead of their former 440C (which was great) is that they can turn out knives easier and cheaper. So, they heat treat it really well. It is not up to the level of 440A (when properly heat treated), AUS8, 440C, BD1, and etc. It is far better than 420J, though. It is an okay steel, and good for small pocket knives and etc. But do not expect too much out of it.
This hasn't been my experience with it.
420J2 is bottom of the barrel IMO, and it hurts Buck's reputation that they use it on any knife they make.
The best 1095 I've used is Schrade USA's and Mora's and I've found Mora and Opinel's 12C27 to be indistinguishable from good 1095 in use. I find Buck's 420HC to be in the same group. If there's a difference, I can't tell it in the cutting I do.
I can tell a HUGE difference between these 3 steels and Buck's 440C (great for abrasive cutting like cardboard but a bit harder to sharpen and not as nice for wood working) and Buck 420J2 (embarassingly and horribly soft).
420HC is definitely easier to produce as it is fine blankable but I don't think this is the only reason they went to it. The biggest display of Bucks that I see retail is in a hardware store in rural Vermont near where we vacation. The owner of the shop is 2nd generation and they've been selling Bucks for a long time. I was nosing around the display once and got talking knives and he made a point that Buck no longer uses stainless steel and that the use a carbon steel now, since HC stands for "high carbon". He concluded his speech saying, "Nope! You can't sharpen stainless. Buck's carbon steel is much better than their old stainless. Couldn't sharpen it."
Now, we rely on this guy for paint and hardware supplies so I wasn't about to correct him in front of a few of his adoring fan/customers but despite his misunderstanding of the terms, he had a point born out on the farms and hunting camps and reported back to him and his dad by their customers... Buck's 440C was hard for the average customer to keep sharp.
Buck's 420HC is easy to sharpen, takes a keen edge and is hard enough to hold that edge at fairly thin angles. Case's 420HC, which is several points softer looses it's edge faster and is a step behind Bucks.
Lastly, I don't think Buck got rid of 440C. They've replaced it with S30V.
