Henry Rifle Forums

I'm in the market for a new Buck 110 Folding Hunter .... the more I read, the more confused I get .... OK, no surprise there ..Embarrassment .. I've owned and heavily used 2 Buck 110 Folding Hunter knives .... the first used to the point where I had to send it back to Buck for a new blade ... that 110 has been given to one of our sons to keep for our oldest grandson .... we now have a second grandson on the way and his father will be given the one I use now .... in looking for a new one, I've found some are made from 5160 BOS Carbon Steel https://www.amazon.com/Buck-Knives-Carb ... ing+hunter .... some are made from 420HC (HC = High Carbon ???) steel https://www.amazon.com/Buck-Knives-Fold ... unter&th=1.... info as to which is best would be appreciated

Maybe this will help? For instance, my SOG mini trident which is an excellent little carry knife is AUS-8 steel which is one of the better steels but I read that it's best quality is the ease of resharpening but it may not hold an edge as long as others. I have no complaints at all. Then again, I suppose it depends on how much you use it and what you are cutting. I also have a Buck 110 Folding Hunter and have mainly used it for gutting and cutting deer. I have had it for about 30 years and never sharpened it. But then again, I don't shoot a deer every year.

http://www.knifecenter.com/info/knife-blade-materials

This is my favorite Buck Hunting Knife made with 420HC,

On the Buck web site, they post the below descriptions of the two steel options you are looking at on the 110. As an intro statement, they provided a kind of rule-of-thumb. I guess there is not a perfect steel meeting all needs.

Types of Blade Steel
"No matter how good the blade steel, there are always trade-offs. Corrosion-resistance vs. edge-retention. Edge-retention vs. sharpening ability."

I also think that Dutch is right on when he noted, that it also depends on your planned use of the blade:

420HC Steel
This is Buck's standard blade material because it approaches the wear resistance of high carbon alloys while delivering the corrosion resistance of chromium stainless steels. Add our exclusive heat-treat process and you have a very user-friendly combination of superior corrosion resistance with excellent strength for wear resistance and durability. You also have a blade that is easy to resharpen. For best performance we harden to a Rockwell hardness of Rc 58.

5160 Steel
Commonly known as spring steel, 5160 has excellent shock absorbing properties making it resilient to shattering and extremely durable as a knife steel. We harden to 57-58 Rc to maximize its performance.

link appreciated ... it appears that both are good .... with Buck's guarantee, they'd have to be

The 420HC is a decent stainless steel, but does not have great edge retention. The upside is that it's very easy to sharpen.

5160 is a carbon steel and will rust. It will hold an edge better than 420HC, but there are better carbon steels available.

The best steel choice in the Buck line is S30v. It is a steel with great edge retention AND corrosion resistance. The only down side is that it can be quite difficult to sharpen.

based on that, the 110's I've owned used 420HC .... it might be interesting to give a 5160 a try .... info appreciated

based on reading the links in this thread, with my other 110's being made 420HC so, as mentioned above, I decided to give their 5160 BOS Carbon Steel a try .... it should be here tomorrow .... guess its time to touch up the edge and clean her up really good so as to get her ready for our coming grandson .... looking forward to seeing if I can tell any difference

All of the Buck knives I use regularly (110, 112, 301, 303) have blades with 420HC steel. They are easy for me to put a very sharp edge on the blades, they don't rust easily, and they retain their edge a reasonable amount of time. I sweat a lot working in our hot & humid summers and I need a pocket knife that will not rust.
I am kind of set in my ways (an understatement according to my wife) and will stay with the dependable and reliable - 420HC for me.

Steve51 wrote:All of the Buck knives I use regularly (110, 112, 301, 303) have blades with 420HC steel. They are easy for me to put a very sharp edge on the blades, they don't rust easily, and they retain their edge a reasonable amount of time. I sweat a lot working in our hot & humid summers and I need a pocket knife that will not rust.
I am kind of set in my ways (an understatement according to my wife) and will stay with the dependable and reliable - 420HC for me.

agree with your assessment of the 420HC used by Buck .... I am looking forward to giving their 5160 BOS Carbon Steel blades a try .... ours is supposed to arrive today so I should know something soon