What is 420 modified steel?

[Wind_Slash]

I was looking at the specs for the US M9 bayonet made by Ontario knife company and it said that the blade is 420 modified. What does that mean in comparison to like 420 J stainless? Is it any good?

 

[jimnolimit]

it's my understanding that 420 modified will have a little more carbon than 420 J, but both are fairly low carbon stainless steels. being that 420 mod is a fairly low carbon stainless steel will mean that it will have pretty good toughness and good corrosion resistance, but it's edge holding will be on the low end compared to other stainless knife steels.

 

[Mephtyrm]

They're talking about 425M, which slightly outperforms non-Buck 420HC
Listed below is contents of both steels.
425M
Carbon-0.40-0.54
Chromium-13.50-15.00
Manganese-0.50
Molybdenum-0.60-1.00
Phosphorus-0.04
Sulfur-0.03
Silicon-0.80
Vanadium-0.10
-
420HC
Carbon-0.46
Chromium-13.00
Manganese-0.40
Silicon-0.40
Vanadium-0.30

I'd said anything around the level of 420HC should be good steel if you can sharpen. It'll sharpen easily and will hold an edge a little shorter than AUS-8.

 

[jimnolimit]

They're talking about 425M, which slightly outperforms non-Buck 420HC
Listed below is contents of both steels.
425M
Carbon-0.40-0.54
Chromium-13.50-15.00
Manganese-0.50
Molybdenum-0.60-1.00
Phosphorus-0.04
Sulfur-0.03
Silicon-0.80
Vanadium-0.10
-
420HC
Carbon-0.46
Chromium-13.00
Manganese-0.40
Silicon-0.40
Vanadium-0.30

I'd said anything around the level of 420HC should be good steel if you can sharpen. It'll sharpen easily and will hold an edge a little shorter than AUS-8.

ontario's website lists the steel as 420 modified. i don't know what steel producer supplies the 420 modified to them but bohler lists 420 modified as:

0.38% carbon
0.9% silicon
0.5% manganese
13.6% chromium
0.3% vanadium