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A.G. Russell gunstock 3 5/8"

Well, I finally got my first A.G. Russell knife. It is a Gunstock 3 5/8" folder with cocobolo scales and I couldn't be more pleased. It is VERY comfortable to hold and use. I didn't measure it but the spine is over 1/8" thick where my thumb rests when I put my thumb there. The extra width makes it more comfortable to my thumb. Some may prefer ab little jimping right there under the thumb but I like the fact that it is smooth. Jimping could be added by a skilled craftsman. The blade is 8Cr13MoV stainless and 2 7/8" long and the knife is 3 3/8" closed. The edge angle out of the box was too high for me so I put a 30° angle with a 40° edge angle on it. I may lower this angle later. But, these angles should be fine I think. I cut up some cardboard and it held an edge just like other knives using this steel I've owned. That (I believe) says the heat treat is good, producing an edge that takes and holds an edge well. The edge has a very slight recurve shape near the heel. So recurve sharpening tools may be needed. I used some 1" wide stones on my EP and they are fine. There are 1/2" wide stones for the EP that do a better job on recurves but I wanted other type stones to finish the edge with and I only have them in 1" wide size. There is a notch at the heel on the edge so If anyone wants to "sharpen" it down you could have a perfectly straight edge with no recurve. I like the option of doing this. It eliminates any reason not to buy this knife if you don't like recurves. A slight recurve is nice for cutting string, rope, etc. The steel is easy to sharpen. This is possibly the perfect size EDC knife, for me anyway. It has a little leather thong in the (very small) lanyard tube. If I want to replace the thong with a different material it would need to be some micro-para cord. The 550 size won't go through the hole. There are two LARGE nail nicks on the spine (both sides) near the rear of the blade that can be used to open the knife one-handed. These do not provide the best one-hand opening feature but they work. The lock spring is a coiled spring at the rear of the handle instead of the slightly bent straight springs I have seen. The spring is strong and holds the blade locked in the open position VERY securely. This spring is strong enough that it's a little hard to push to release the lock. I would rather have the spring too strong instead of too weak for safety reasons. This would be a drawback for anyone with arthritis or hand problems requiring enough strength to release the lock. This spring may become a little weaker over time as the knife gets broken in. Time will tell about that. The blade locks in the open position with no blade play at all.

Very nice EDC folder in my opinion. I think I'll be keeping this knife because I'll be using it. Knives I seldom or never use end up getting sold or traded or given away over time. If anyone were to ask me I'd recommend this knife. Oh yeah, the price is good to. :)

Jack

CClick the link below to see the lockspring.

http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy288/jackknifeh/AGRGunstock3-8l...

Tags: AG, Gunstock, Russell

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on October 11, 2013 at 9:20

Thank you Jack you make some great points on the knife. I like a strong spring as I always have a fear of that blade closing on some of the things I do. Sounds like a good knife, not surprised... its an AG Russell!

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Permalink Reply by John McDowell on October 11, 2013 at 10:18

thats a nice,ilke those gunstocks.cant go wrong with A.G. russell.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on October 11, 2013 at 15:39

I often wondered where the names for different models come from. Stockman, peanut, copperhead, etc. Maybe I've just missed some obvious connection but the gunstock name seemed to just jump out. The handle looks like a gunstock. Even feels just as comfortable.

It took a while last night but I thinned the edge and now have it shaving sharp. On my arm that is. I know it's not sharp enough for my facial hair. Tonight I plan on finding out how sharp I can get 8Cr13MoV. I sharpened my son's Spyderco with the same steel the other day and I didn't seem to be able to get the crisp sharpness I have on other blades. This being an AG Russell knife I'll see if it seems the same or different. I had a SOG with VG-10 and several Spydercos with VG-10 and the blade on the SOG didn't hold an edge nearly as long as the Spydercos. I'm assuming this had to do with the heat treating. Don't know for sure plus my "testing" if you want to call it that is far from scientific or maybe not accurate at all. Anyway, still loving the knife after a whole 27 hours. lol

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on October 11, 2013 at 16:46

Interesting Jack and I suspect steels used as well as heat treating is a reason for variance. Curious to know just how sharp you can get the knife.

Jack Haskins, Jr. said:

I often wondered where the names for different models come from. Stockman, peanut, copperhead, etc. Maybe I've just missed some obvious connection but the gunstock name seemed to just jump out. The handle looks like a gunstock. Even feels just as comfortable.

It took a while last night but I thinned the edge and now have it shaving sharp. On my arm that is. I know it's not sharp enough for my facial hair. Tonight I plan on finding out how sharp I can get 8Cr13MoV. I sharpened my son's Spyderco with the same steel the other day and I didn't seem to be able to get the crisp sharpness I have on other blades. This being an AG Russell knife I'll see if it seems the same or different. I had a SOG with VG-10 and several Spydercos with VG-10 and the blade on the SOG didn't hold an edge nearly as long as the Spydercos. I'm assuming this had to do with the heat treating. Don't know for sure plus my "testing" if you want to call it that is far from scientific or maybe not accurate at all. Anyway, still loving the knife after a whole 27 hours. lol

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on October 12, 2013 at 0:14

Jack, that would be the difference in Heat Treat. I'm looking forward in seeing what you think about it.

A.G. Russell tends to aim for a higher Rockwell than most other manufacturers I think. We'll see how you end up liking it.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on October 12, 2013 at 6:30

The lockspring is at the rear of the handle. It's a coil spring that looks just like a spring is supposed to look. :) This is the first knife I've had (or seen) with a lock spring like this. You can see it in the rear of the handle in this picture. Is this very common in lockback knives?

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Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on October 12, 2013 at 9:14

This is the edge bevel on the blade at 15° per side (30° inclusive). There is a very small 40° edge bevel on the edge. If you notice in this picture the recurve is almost gone. Most of the recurve for cutting purposes seemed to be at the rear of the edge. To be beneficial I think the curve should be at the front so it keeps rope, netting, string, etc. on the edge. Since sharpening a recurve adds a little complexity to sharpening I decided since I wasn't going to benefit during cutting I'd just sharpen it without trying to retain the curve. There is still a little bit but not much. The recurve will go away completely after a few sharpenings. I did get it very sharp. It now shaves every hair it touches on my arm. I divide arm hair shaving into 3 categories. 1. No shaving at all. 2. Shaving but it takes 2 or more strokes. 3. One stroke and every hair is cut and you have a small pile of hair on your edge. Actually, this is a beautiful sight and I think deserves it's own picture. lol I may take pics of that in the future. :) This knife is now at a 3. I doubt if I can get it sharper to the point it will ever cut better. The blade is too thick to be called a great slicing knife. The blade just above the bevel is 1.2mm thick. That is twice the thickness on a lot of knives this size. The blade behind the edge on the Queen is .64mm thick. I don't remember the thickness buy my Spyderco Bradley Folder (3 3/8" long blade, 3mm spine thickness) is about the same thickness as this small Queen. The blade on the AGR is a full flat grind and the spine is 3.66mm thick. This is what I'd call a WORK knife with a blade 2 7/8" long. Not a big knife but very sturdy. It doesn't feel as strong as the Spyderco but then not many folding knives do. I am carrying this knife and my Queen small lockback in the same pocket. I think it's a nice pair easily grabbed for the job at hand. The A.G.Russell has a very nice fit & finish. The Queen doesn't have the fit & finish attention to detail that the AGR does. It looks nice but if you examine it you can see flaws. Not a problem or complaint. Just a comparison.

Here is the AGR and Queen together for size comparison.

In my opinion the A.G.Russell Gunstock 3 3/8" knife is an outstanding EDC knife. Not too big for the small jobs and for a smaller knife it seems strong enough to handle the tougher tasks like cutting small limbs so they don't poke you in the eye as you walk under them. (ouch!) In my yard this is a pretty common task. :) This knife is not EASY to open and close with only one hand but it is VERY doable. This is a big plus for me when evaluating and choosing a knife to carry. I don't need to open a knife using only one hand often but when I do, I appreciate it very much. I could plan ahead and open the knife, lay it down and then position whatever I'm cutting so I can hold it with one hand then pick the knife up and cut. It amazes me how often I don't plan ahead. lol

Jack

Has anyone seen this type of spring used in lockback knives before? Just curious.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on October 14, 2013 at 0:13

Jack, A.G. does this with all his current lockbacks. I believe he feels that the coil spring is

More durable
takes up less space in the frame which makes it possible to make the blade on the knife wider. If you compare his current lockbacks with those made by other companies you'll see that A.G.'s blades have a fairly wide profile.

And no, I've not seen this system implemented by anyone else. I did however see it described in Stefan Steigerwalt's "How to make Lockback knives" book as one of the possible variations on the spring system.

Jack Haskins, Jr. said:

The lockspring is at the rear of the handle. It's a coil spring that looks just like a spring is supposed to look. :) This is the first knife I've had (or seen) with a lock spring like this. You can see it in the rear of the handle in this picture. Is this very common in lockback knives?